The Alternate Times

By Alicia Burgess

September 12, 2029

The United States, now more than ever, is a land of opportunity. One where we welcome immigrants from all countries and treat them with dignity. It’s not something we always could say in the past, but I’m proud that our country has improved by leaps and bounds in the past year.

That said, it’s time we adjust to the reality that stopping unauthorized immigration from the New Confederacy must be a priority.

I have family in the New Confederacy, as do many of us. I have fond memories of visiting Miami, New Orleans, and Myrtle Beach. But the New Confederate states made a choice to leave our country, and we can’t let sentimentality get in the way of securing our southern border.

Anyone who wants to immigrate into this country is welcome to follow the rules. No one is entitled to stay here indefinitely because of some relationship they or their home country may have had to ours in the past.

And there’s good reason to limit immigration from the New Confederacy. They have abandoned most vaccination and public health requirements. They adhere to fanatical religious and political doctrines that suppress the rights of women and minorities. They are likely to bring guns and drugs into the United States in violation of our laws.

Ours is a generous country with foreign aid programs designed to improve the conditions for people in impoverished or unstable countries. Part of our responsibility as a prosperous nation is to help those less fortunate than us.

Unfortunately, helping the less fortunate can’t mean that we indiscriminately invite in people with an ideology that is literally hostile to the United States. All we ask is that they come into this country the right way, depart when it’s time, and respect our country’s values while they’re here.

Alicia Burgess lives in Portland and has extended family in the New Confederacy.