OPINION:
Peter and Margaret Llewellyn were married in July 1847. I paid a visit this week to High Street Baptist Church in the town of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, to see where my great-great-great-grandparents exchanged vows.
Peter worked as an iron miner, and Margaret ran the household. One of their 12 children, Thomas, came to the United States with his wife, Elizabeth, in 1878. They lived the American dream and paved the way for mine.
Thomas Llewellyn worked as a blacksmith in Philadelphia. They had two sons and two daughters. Eventually, they moved to the Midwest and had five more daughters.
One of their sons, Thomas Rees Llewellyn, married Ethel Marie Shader. She was my great-grandmother and lived to be 101 years old in Door County, Wisconsin.
Her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren went on to success in many areas, including education, medicine, business and religion, and one even became governor of Wisconsin.
Our country is filled with stories of family members who came to the United States from all over the world. Some of them happened generations ago; others took place just last week. We are a beacon of liberty and prosperity.
Each year, more than 1 million people legally immigrate to America. We have more foreign-born citizens than any other country in the world. An estimated 50.6 million of these citizens — more than 15% of the population — were born outside the United States.
Eight years after Thomas and Elizabeth Llewellyn arrived in the United States, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York.
Inspired by the Roman goddess of liberty, Libertas, she holds a torch in the air in one hand and a tablet in the other with the Roman numerals that spell out July 4, 1776.
A bronze plaque in the pedestal holds the words of Emma Lazarus in her poem “The New Colossus”:
“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
A reporter once challenged my statement that America needs makers, not takers, when it comes to legal immigration. He invoked the words, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
What he did not understand is that America is open to those who follow the rule of law. That means more than legal entry across our borders.
It also means that those who are of working age and able should work instead of being dependent on the government.
So why can’t the federal government do a better job with the legal immigration system? When we go to the airport, my wife, Tonette, and I use Clear to bypass the Transportation Security Administration line. They scan our eyes and confirm our identity to match our boarding passes.
Similarly, I can order items online and track them all the way to the time they will arrive at my door. If we can successfully use technology for travel and commerce, we should be able to use it to operate a more effective and efficient legal immigration system.
We must protect our land-based points of entry just as strongly as our others — air, rail and sea. We cannot be a strong nation if we cannot defend our borders. What we see under President Biden is an invasion. It must end.
If we can track our online purchases around the world, why can’t we track people who want a work permit in the United States? When proponents of amnesty programs talk about 11 million people who are in our country without legal status, most of them are people who had work permits that ran out.
We must use modern technology to track everyone who wants to legally work in America. Keep them up to date, make them pay their taxes, and ensure that they are legitimate.
It shouldn’t be complicated: Those who yearn to be legal American citizens, wait their turn, and fulfill the requirements — including a real education on the history of the United States.
Thankfully, the American dream is even more available for legal immigrants today than it was for my ancestors many generations ago. We welcome those who long to breathe free.
Let us ensure that we have a working system for legal immigration and one that rewards legitimate employment.
May we ever be vigilant in our defense of liberty.
• Scott Walker is a columnist for The Washington Times. He was the 45th governor of Wisconsin and launched a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He lives in Milwaukee and is the proud owner of a 2003 Harley-Davidson Road King. He can be reached at swalker@washingtontimes.com.
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