How We Honor Our Heritage

This letter to the editor, by John Krizek, appeared in the Hudson Star Observer on July 3, 2025.

Let’s honor our American heritage by embracing solutions that unite rather than divide us. 

Rather than pursuing inhumane, costly, and ultimately unworkable deportation strategies, we should establish a fair and achievable path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in America. 

This approach is not about rewarding lawbreaking; it is about finding practical solutions to a complex problem. 

Undocumented immigrants have established deep roots here, with children who are American citizens. Separating families is cruel, disrupts our communities, and runs counter to our values, as we are a nation built of and by immigrants.

Deporting the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants now living and working in America would deeply harm our society and our economy. 

About 4% of the total American workforce are undocumented immigrants. Their sudden removal would devastate key industries, including agriculture, construction, and hospitality, all of which depend heavily on immigrant labor. 

A well-designed path to citizenship would allow undocumented immigrants who have for many years lived, worked, and paid taxes in America to emerge from the shadows. It would help reduce their exploitation, as undocumented workers are often vulnerable to abuse and underpayment due to their precarious legal status. That would help our American economy, too. Legalizing their presence here would enable them to work openly, pay more in taxes, and invest in their futures, thereby strengthening our economy and benefiting us all. 

Every path to citizenship should ensure that only immigrants who are law-abiding and willing to integrate into society are granted American citizenship. We should require undocumented immigrants to register, undergo thorough background checks, pay any back taxes owed, learn English, and demonstrate a commitment to American values before earning citizenship.

Comprehensive immigration reform that balances security with compassion has bi-partisan support and is achievable. Providing undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship is the right choice for our communities, our economy, and all our futures.