In the Post-Enlightenment Age, Westerners have come to understand government to have two primordial functions: 1) provide a fair and unbiased judicial system, and 2) protect and defend the country from invasion. Whatever other functions are granted to a governing body, these two are the raison d’être for creating the government in the first place.

The word “invasion” stems from the Latin intrudere, meaning “to thrust in, force in,” with the clear implication of an outside entity applying force to press an object into some other entity. We also derive “intrusion” and “intruder” from this root. This is distinct from other concepts, such as inicere, the root of “inject,” which is “to throw in or on”.

With meaning and intent established, we can dissect the current situation in the US. I believe I am uniquely qualified to comment, since I am both a native Texan and know the border situation over time, and I am an immigrant. Inventing Bitcoin: The... Pritzker, Yan Best Price: $6.63 Buy New $11.93 (as of 09:44 UTC - Details)

Growing up in Texas, I know from experience the border with Mexico has always been porous. The two countries were once a single entity, after all. There are places in West Texas where the Rio Grande is just knee deep and people (including myself) routinely walk across. When I was a kid, Houston newspapers published the bull fighting results every week and matadores were minor celebrities. I know the states in Mexico as well as I do those in the US. I studied Spanish three days a week from first grade. I’ve worked along side illegal immigrants most of my life.

The major difference between years ago and now, is that most of the illegal immigrants then were seasonal workers who came up to work the fields during planting and harvesting, then went home again. No one fretted too much about a few thousand folks who stayed and did yard work and landscaping, or worked as maids. There were strong cultural ties and a symbiotic relationship between Texas and Mexico.

When I immigrated to Indonesia, I began by going to the consulate in Houston and applying for a 45-day visitor’s visa. After arriving here, I had to renew it once while my long-stay permit, known as an ITAS, was processed by my sponsor, a local company I came here to work with. The ITAS permitted me to stay a year, and with my work permit together cost about USD2,000.

Over the next five years, I had to renew my ITAS and work permit (IMTA) every year, and to do so I had to leave the national jurisdiction to get the stamps — usually going to Singapore — then returning for another year.

To get an IMTA, an employer must first apply and be approved to hire foreigners at all. There are a wide variety of jobs and sectors in which foreigners are not allowed to work, either for security reasons, or because the required skills can be found in the indigenous work force. Despite being approved, the employer must apply separately for each foreigner hired, and the employer must assign a local employee to shadow the foreigner with the goal of training the local worker to take over the job. Anatomy of an Illness:... Cousins, Norman Best Price: $2.95 Buy New $8.99 (as of 09:44 UTC - Details)

I had to get a national tax number, called NPWP, and each visa renewal required me to give a photo, fingerprints and signature, and I was strictly forbidden to work anywhere at anything other than my registered job.

By the time I got married, I had spent USD10,000 to maintain my immigration status. My wife then became my sponsor and I eventually got my ITAP, which is permanent alien resident status, and my KTP, or national identity card. That cost me USD3,000 for five years. I’ve since renewed it and I now no longer need a sponsor, but I still need an IMTA to hold a “job”. I still cannot own land, though I can buy a building (a house or apartment) for 99 years. If my wife dies before me, I have one year to sell all my real estate holdings or lose them. And through all of this, I’ve renewed my passport three times, at USD250 a pop, plus photo cost.

I could apply for citizenship, but Indonesia does not allow dual citizens, so I would have to pay about USD5,000 to renounce my US citizenship, plus another USD5,000 to get my Indonesian citizenship. This process would likely incur audits on both sides of the Pacific, which would incur additional expenses.

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