Washington: An influential Republican Congressman has told the House that US immigration policy has reached a breaking point and warned that failure to act could permanently alter the country’s character.
Congressman Glenn Grothman from Wisconsin called immigration the single most important issue facing Congress and the White House. How it is handled, he said, will determine whether “America fundamentally changes or not.”
Grothman said the scale of immigration, legal and illegal, is far larger than most Americans realise. “Right now in America, every year about 800,000 people are naturalised,” he said. “We don’t talk about that enough.”
He said the national debate focuses almost entirely on illegal border crossings while overlooking other major pathways into the country. In addition to naturalisations, Grothman said about 500,000 people enter each year on work visas and another 500,000 on student visas. Many, he said, remain in the United States after their visas expire.
Grothman also criticised the way birthright citizenship is applied. He said the Constitution is being misinterpreted when children born to foreign visitors automatically become US citizens.
“If a woman from China flies into San Diego, has a child, and comes back, the way we are interpreting the law right now… is that child becomes a US citizen,” he said.
Taken together, he said, these policies have pushed immigration to historic levels. More than 15 per cent of people living in the United States were born abroad, which he described as an all-time high.
Grothman said the number of people being naturalised each year is about four times higher than when he was a child in the 1960s. He argued that the United States has “nobody to apologise to” for seeking limits.
On illegal immigration, he blamed the Biden administration for what he described as a massive surge at the southern border. While acknowledging that exact figures are unclear, he said an estimated 8 to 10 million people entered the country unlawfully during that period.
“In addition to all of these other people, 8 to 10 million people were being allowed into the country,” he said.
Grothman said the issue goes beyond numbers. He questioned whether large-scale immigration could weaken the country’s political culture and commitment to limited government. “They may not respect our Constitution,” he said of some newcomers. He warned that elections could shift toward demands for government benefits rather than civic duty.
Addressing accusations of racism, Grothman said US immigration patterns do not support such claims. He listed the top countries from which people become naturalised citizens: Mexico, India, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Vietnam, China, El Salvador, Jamaica and Colombia.
“I think it would be odd for a racist country to let the ten most common nationalities come here”, as he said, critics describe as people of colour.
Grothman argued that lax enforcement of asylum laws undermines the entire immigration system. If people believe they can enter the United States illegally and remain indefinitely, he said, the country effectively has no immigration law.
He sharply criticised governors and mayors who limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, citing Illinois, Minnesota, New York and California. He warned that such policies send a signal that laws will not be enforced.
“What would happen if the word got out that people could stay simply by reaching those states, he asked. He said the result would be overwhelming migration from countries such as China, India and across Africa.
To prevent that outcome, Grothman said the United States must strictly enforce existing laws and limit the number of new citizens. He said naturalisations should be capped at about 800,000 a year, or possibly fewer.
Grothman also argued that global conditions have changed since earlier eras of migration. Poverty in much of the developing world, he said, is far lower than it was decades ago, weakening the argument for open borders.
“We must enforce our immigration laws,” he said, acknowledging that doing so would be difficult and contentious.
He urged future presidents to stand up to state and local officials who oppose federal enforcement. The president, he said, must have “the courage and the moral steel” to remove people who are in the country illegally.
