Immigration extremes, demography, and the Inability to change

July 12, 2025

OPINION by ANDY CALDWELL

The left in America has always frustrated any attempt to reform our immigration system by way of their demands for amnesty, read that full citizenship rights, for all illegal aliens.

They would want us to believe this has to do with their compassion for humanity but their motivation has to do with their insatiable cravings for pure political power. They understand that they need more voters, and their literal bread and butter approach to securing the same is handing out a multitude of benefits and various means of protection to illegal aliens, as well as to lazy and lawless Americans, for that matter, to secure their support.

What is not lost on most Americans is that this mix of immigrants who recently invaded our country included some hard-working people who want the American dream for their children, along with terrorists, international gang members and jihadists, convicted murderers, rapists, and child molesters.

Hence, the extreme stance of elite progressives is to welcome and embrace the tired and the poor, along with all menaces and burdens to society. This is one of the main reasons why they lost the last presidential election.

Some conservatives, on the other hand, want all people who came here without our government’s permission to be deported summarily and immediately, end of story. On their part, they fail to respect the fact that some of the immigrants who broke the law did so out of desperation and aspiration.

That is, they were living in a hell-hole country, and they wanted the American dream for themselves and their children. While it is inexcusable to break the law, it is also inexcusable that our current immigration system is broken thereby precluding the ability of business owners in construction, hotel and restaurants, and agriculture to get the workers they need to serve us.

 

That brings us to the failure of our immigration system to consider Occam’s razor which states that the simplest explanation for a phenomenon is likely to be the most accurate one. That is, we are in the throes of an immigration crisis because of two internal phenomena in addition to the motivations of immigrants to want to come here to better their lives or for nefarious purposes.

Pertaining to internal phenomena, we must first mention our birth dearth, for as the saying goes, demography is destiny. The birth dearth in America means that we are losing population and if it weren’t for immigrants coming here and multiplying as they tend to do, our ability to maintain our society and economy is doomed.

The math in this statement is a historical fact proven time and time again throughout the course of human history, including in the seminal work of Carle Zimmerman “Family and Civilization.” Not to mention, “What to Expect When Noone is Expecting” by Jonathan Last, and “How Civilizations Die” by David P. Goldman.

The second inconvenient truth is that too many Americans raised today consider it demeaning or even impossible to take on certain occupations, such as being a farmworker or a domestic. That is, the work is considered beneath their dignity, or it is too strenuous an occupation.

This has been the case for decades in America, but it certainly wasn’t the case when I was growing up. Children and teenagers in rural America back then were certainly willing and expected to do field work during the summers for spending money, but no more.

My mother and father both also worked in a cannery during the summers as well. In urban areas, kids cut lawns because virtually nobody had a gardener. Kids, rather than the homeless, collected recyclables for cash. It was common for children to have paper routes, while teenagers took on part-time work during the school year and full-time work in the summer.

According to USAFacts, teen labor force participation was above 50% throughout most of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. It dipped below that in the early 2000s. Between 2000 and 2010, the rate fell from 52% to 35%.

Moreover, the same website indicates that Hispanic or Latino teens tend to have more year-round employment with less seasonal variation compared to other racial groups.

Unfortunately, something much worse has happened among the youth in America today besides the aversion to work. That is, an astounding number of youths are baffled about some very basics in life. How bad is it?

According to polling, a shocking 30% of the Gen Zs surveyed could not identify a flathead screwdriver, while 21% couldn’t recognize a wrench. Moreover, in answer to the question how many Gen Zs does it take to change a light bulb, we may never know!

The pollsters found that nearly 25% of Gen Zs had no idea how to change a light bulb in a ceiling lamp, with many claiming that climbing a ladder is “too dangerous” while one in five also worry that the bulb might be “too hot.”

I believe that the two extremes having to do with our immigration problem, namely amnesty for all or deport them all, is untenable for a variety of reasons. Amnesty for all is untenable because it will simply invite more immigrants to arrive hoping for the same outcome, amnesty, in the future.

Ronald Reagan proved that in 1986 when he signed The Immigration Reform and Control Act. It is also unfair to those who have waited in line for years on end to come here legally.

People that come here illegally should have to forfeit forever the opportunity to become a full-fledged citizen, meaning among other things, they never can vote. That should take the winds out of the democrat party’s sails.

On the other hand, I believe that the people who come here to neither be a menace nor a burden to society because of their willingness to work hard, play by the rules, pay their taxes, and accept no handouts, should have the opportunity to work and live here with permission by way of a thoroughly vetted guest worker program.

I believe this because I have been employed for 45 years in an ag and industry-related occupation, including four years in a hiring capacity.  But don’t take my word for it!  Do your own poll.

Ask your children and grandchildren if they would go and pick strawberries after having been informed they could make over $30 per hour. Or ask somebody working behind the counter of Starbucks or at a Walmart the same question.

In the battle between amnesty for all or deport them all, I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that we are a nation of immigrants, and that worked well for us for centuries. Additionally, there is the inescapable fact, which has affected various empires going back for thousands of years, and that is, demography is destiny no matter which side of this debate you are on.

Andy Caldwell is the executive director of COLAB in Santa Barbara County and host of The Andy Caldwell Radio Show, weekdays from 3-5 p.m. on  FM 98.5, FM 99.5, AM 1240, AM 1290 and FM 96.9.