The US Constitution (Section 1) gives congress the authority to set laws governing how to become a naturalized citizen. US Code Section 8 Chapter 12 (I think) defines the rules congress has set.
Proposal:
- resolve to embed rules for become a naturalized citizen in the US Constitution thus removing the jurisdiction from congress, and
- resolve to change the period of good behavior required from 5 years to 15 years
- resolve to bar all naturalized citizens from holding any elective position at any level of government (local, county, state, and federal) reserving that privilege to native born citizens
- resolve to deprive naturalized citizens who commit and are convicted of felonies of that citizenship and deport them and their dependents upon conviction where they are to remain during appeals
- resolve to ban citizens from receiving any and all transfer payments and benefits financed by US taxpayers until they become citizens to include allowing their children to attend public schools
Rationale:
Recent border control lapses resulted in large numbers of unvetted immigrants which resulted in overwhelming some communities with new arrivals who did not participate in building those communities and who in all probability do not share the goals, customs, values, and mores of those communities. Even less recent arrivals (the Somalis in MN, for example) sometimes threaten and/or adversely affecdt the communities they settle in in concentrations.
Providing benefits to immigrants - especially those who entered without following the laws (illegal immigrants) - creates a financial burden on taxpayers who have only very indirect influence and no control over the process.
Four (5) years (60 months) is a short time period in which most immigrants cannot and do not assimilate and adopt goals, customs, values, and mores of communities they settle in. The period of 5 years for naturalization was chosen when the US was expanding and needed additional population to develop resources and build the nation’s economy. That situation no longer exists and has not existed for perhaps a century or more.
Immigrants tend to suppress wages because they are willing to work for less. Immigrants take jobs that citizens should have first claim to fill.
Law-breaking by immigrants should cause loss of the privilege of citizenship just as it does for citizen offenders. The only difference is that citizen offenders are not deported. Deporting even naturalized citizen felons sends a clear message to all who came or would come and claim naturalization privileges.
Because politicians and political parties view immigrants as additions to their voting base and power, it is extremely unlikely that congress will ever make the changes needed. It is too much of a “third rail” for any to propose or support. Such is one of the weaknesses of our representative system.