As is often pointed out, America is a nation of immigrants. Throughout our history, waves of immigration from different nations have constantly reshaped and rebuilt our country, and these immigrants have indeed become new employees, new customers, and often new owners of American business. Therefore, the Natural Law Party will preserve and protect Americaıs long-standing openness to citizens of the world who seek a better life for themselves and their families, even as we propose a practical approach to immigration that will help prevent illegal immigration and slow legal immigration in a fair and balanced way.
The steadily increasing influx of immigrants in recent years, coupled with ongoing legislative and demographic changes affecting the relationship between immigrants and native-born Americans, has transformed public perception about Americaıs long-honored "melting pot" tradition. In the eyes of many Americans, affirmative action laws have backfired to produce reverse discrimination; the rise of multiculturalism in our schools now threatens the existence of traditional curricula; and the American melting pot has become instead a "salad bowl" in which uninational immigrant populations do not assimilate into American culture, forming instead a self-sustaining subculture and, in some cases, a permanent underclass. In addition, efforts to stem the tide of illegal immigration, especially through our southern borders, have been only moderately successful. Consequently, the flow of immigrants into America is now seen by many as a threat to cultural integrity, job security, and the principle of unity in diversity that lies at the basis of our national heritage.
To offset this growing imbalance, the Natural Law Party proposes a "balanced immigration" policy that would allocate immigration quotas to each nation, thereby preventing dominance of any one nationality or ethnic subculture in Americaıs "melting pot" tradition. We also support increasing the size of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to enforce balanced immigration. Such a policy would still allow those seeking a better life or a haven from persecution and war to become Americans, while simultaneously protecting those who are already American citizens from diminished opportunities for better education and better jobs.
The Natural Law Partyıs plan to increase border defense through reassignment of selected military personnel and resources is an effort to discourage illegal immigration. Our countryıs financial resources--particularly in todayıs economy, which often fails to produce enough jobs for our own people--should be protected from undue attenuation by those who are not American citizens. Once in office, the Natural Law Party intends to implement a pro-growth economic policy, with a balanced budget by 1999 and a low flat tax of 10% by 2002 based on hundreds of billions of dollars saved through our cost-effective solutions to the nationıs problems. This policy will significantly increase the financial resources available to our own citizens.
To disincentivize illegal immigration in a more progressive way, however, the Natural Law Party will help improve economic conditions in neighboring countries through a foreign policy emphasizing U.S. know-how. American management expertise and technical assistance in such critical areas as business administration, entrepreneurship, education, sustainable agriculture, energy conservation, and emerging environmental technologies, supplemented where necessary with economic support, should become the principal instrument of U.S. foreign policy. This new type of life-nourishing assistance will allow many developing countries to become financially self-sufficient and eliminate hunger and poverty, thereby creating a more fulfilling life for their citizens. Such a policy would contribute to a more affluent and flourishing global trade and a more prosperous family of nations.
In addition, the Natural Law Party is deeply committed to education and intends to implement proven programs to develop Americaıs human resource--the most tragically underutilized and precious natural resource we possess. Only the growth of intelligence and creativity in our citizens through such programs can promote innovation, drive economic growth, and raise the national standard of living. Moreover, only education that develops the full potential of our nationıs students can keep them in school, off the streets, and out of the reach of crime (see question 8). Consequently, the Natural Law Party will not deny education to children born in America to illegal immigrants, since without access to education such children are at much greater risk for drug abuse, crime, and poverty.