President John F. Kennedy conditioned his 1963 immigration proposals to Congress on adoption of a formula which would take into account three factors:

(1) the skills of the immigrant and their relationship to our need,

(2) the family relationship between immigrants and persons already here, so that reuniting families is encouraged, and

(3) the priority of registration.

JFK’s first priority was based upon the requirement that immigrants must not displace American workers and must be skilled so as to avoid being a welfare burden. Regarding his second priority, JFK referred to “such persons already here” as “United States citizens and lawfully resident aliens.” This priority is consistent with the requirement that immigration be denied for families of those who have chosen to enter the U.S. unlawfully. His third priority is consistent with common-sense fairness of getting-in-line.

Admission of refugees into the United States has long been the subject of special refugee legislation. The Refugee Relief Act of 1953 required that no visa would be issued to any alien under the Act unless an assurance had first been given by a citizen or citizens of the United States that such alien, if admitted to the United States, would be suitably employed without displacing some other person from employment and that such alien and the members of such alien’s family who were to accompany such alien and who proposed to live with such alien would not become public charges and would have housing without displacing some other person from such housing. The Act further provided that each such assurance was required to be the personal obligation of the citizen or citizens giving or submitting such assurance. A thorough security screening was also required along with documentation that guaranteed readmission to the country in which the applicant obtained a visa. (JFK’s proposal also required such proper vetting of applicants.)

Testing Harris-Walz immigration policies against JFK immigration standards reveals wide noncompliance with both JFK standards and the standards of a huge majority of Americans:

1. JFK would oppose Walz’ enactment of Minnesota law providing for free school lunches for illegal immigrants, since his requirement that immigrants not become public charges would be violated.
2. JFK would oppose Walz’ enactment of Minnesota law granting free college tuition for illegal immigrants, since his requirement that immigrants not become public charges would be violated.
3. JFK would oppose Walz’ enactment of Minnesota law granting taxpayer-subsidized health care and health insurance for illegal immigrants, since his requirement that immigrants not become public charges would be violated.
4. JFK would oppose Harris-Walz open borders immigration policies, since his priorities above would be violated and such policies have encouraged millions world-wide to violate U.S. immigration law.
5. JFK would oppose Harris’ fly-in of border-crossers or other border-crossing without vetting, since his requirements of vetting and security screening are being violated.
6. JFK would oppose Harris’ allowing thousands of illegal Russian and Chinese immigrants to cross the border, since his requirements of vetting and security screening (especially as to communist and terrorist links) are being violated.
7. JFK would oppose the Harris-Walz policies approving establishment of sanctuary states, cities, and counties, since such sanctuaries violate all his priorities and encourage massive violation of U.S. immigration law.

The motivations of Harris and Walz and have not been fully and truthfully disclosed, but the disastrous consequences of Harris-Walz policies are now painfully apparent to all Americans. One study has quantified the monetary side of that burden at an estimated $150.7 Billion annually. To understand what $150 Billion means in physical terms, consider that number (based on assessed value) is equivalent to about 900 of the tallest buildings in Walz’s home state (the renowned 57-story IDS Center). That is an average of 18 such buildings per state, annually.

Over 13,000 illegal immigrants living in the U.S. are convicted murderers according to ICE reports. So far in FY24, 24,376 Chinese nationals have been encountered at the Southwest border, 24,214 of them apprehended illegally crossing the border. Border encounters with Chinese nationals in March 2024 increased over 8,000 percent compared to March 2021, and have surpassed all last fiscal year -- just six months into FY24, according to a House report. The report also discloses that in March, CBP, including Air and Marine Operations (AMO), seized 1,392 pounds of fentanyl coming across the Southwest border, bringing the total for the fiscal year to 9,657 pounds -- enough to kill roughly 2 billion people. Per the New York Post, the Biden-Harris administration has lost track of more than 320,000 migrant children without parents, many of whom could already be in the hands of criminals and sex traffickers.

The issue to be resolved in November’s election is whether decisions as to who will be permitted to cross our borders, and under what circumstances, will be made by government officials elected by voters who follow the wisdom and guidance of JFK or by voters who find the disastrous costs and consequences of the Harris-Walz policies to be acceptable.

Image: National Archives