POLITICAL LOYALTY OF AMERICAN IMMIGRANTS By T.S. Khanna

 

Political Loyalty of American Immigrants

By T.S. Khanna, July20, 2022.

Foundation For Better Government.

 

               Issue: Immigrants’ loyalty, when their Homeland is at odds with America.

America (USA) is a nation of immigrants from all over the world.  What transforms a country to a nation is the bonding of citizens by common values (Individual liberty), common purpose (economic welfare), common faith (struggle for success), common conviction (can-do-self-confidence), common dream (better life), and common devotion (pursuit of happiness).  This bonding has created a nation of “American Exceptionalism”.

 

One of the hardest decisions in life is to leave one’s home, family and the familiar society, breaking ties to plunge into unchartered waters, no matter how glamorous from a distance.  Legal immigrants take courageous decision, leaving the country of their birth and come to the country of their choice----America.  They are noted for their courage to brave the risks of living in a social vacuum of a strange society with powerlessness and loneliness, while trying to establish their new home.

 

What motivates them to make America their new home?  It is the opportunities that become available only in a free society of America.  Here the culture of freedom with risks and rewards prevails with individual liberty and personal responsibility.  Here the government encourages innovation, not obstruct it.

 

The emphasis on individual liberty is to facilitate full growth of the individual potential to improve his/her lot, thereby of the society.  The spirit of individual liberty is to encourage faith in one’s-self; the practice of such liberty demands not to obstruct others’.  It is this spirit and practice of liberty that eventually percolates in every immigrant’s mind and becomes his conscience and courage, a part of the “American Exceptionalism”.

 

Successful immigrants give full credit of their success to themselves, ignoring the opportunity this society and the U.S. Government provided.  They forget that much more struggle in their birthplace may have been fruitless.

 

This society and American Government have not occurred accidentally; they are the result of great efforts and thoughtful verbiage of Founding Fathers of this great nation.  Their experiences under a dictatorship had transformed their thinking for the benefit of the future generations and the humanity.  They regarded freedom of human beings as a God given right that cannot be taken away by any government.  They are still living in every word of the American Constitution; they are still resounding in every corner of America.

 

It was because of their supreme effort that a unique society and an exceptional form of government were established, never conceptualized before in history.  Part credit of immigrants’ success in America goes to the make-up of the society and the Constitution as the basis of governmental operations.

 

The brewing worldwide conflict may bring some immigrants homelands at odds with America.  Here the issue of political loyalty arises.  Logically speaking, the immigrants owe their political loyalty to the U.S. Government for two reasons: 1. Personal indebtedness to the society and the government (moral Obligation) and, 2. The defense of American society for the benefit of the future generations.