Is Intolerance Good for Immigration Policy?

Retired Air Force Officer explains why it can be good for Americans

Darrell Ahrens isn’t an intolerant man, but he believes that intolerance has its place in America today – and that when it comes to immigration policy, it’s not a negative thing.

“Sometimes intolerance can be a genuine expression of love,” said Ahrens, a retired marine and former Air Force Officer, as well as author of the book Divine Love/Divine Intolerance (www.curlyscorner.com). “As an example, the idea of protecting our borders and tightening our immigration policy has a lot of people pointing fingers and using words like ‘racist’ or ‘bigot’ at those of us who take a dim view of our porous borders. But it’s not about that at all. It’s the fact that we have tolerated that situation and accepted illegal immigrants into our nation and our economy that has produced the current crisis. That’s why maybe a little intolerance is what we need to shine a new light on the issue.”

Ahrens believes that immigration reform isn’t just about securing borders for reasons of national security or even about American jobs. He believes it should also be about fairness to those who are trying to enter the country legally.

“The average amount of time it takes for someone to become an American citizen is several years,” Ahrens said. “Some people are paying thousands of dollars in government application fees, and several thousand more if they employ an immigration attorney. So, how do you think they feel when they make an effort to honor our laws and regulations, but see us tolerating a vast population of illegal immigrants just because they’re already here? It’s not fair, and one of the founding principles of this country is fairness and justice. Intolerance of illegal immigration is a way of ensuring justice for those who are going through the legal process of immigration.”

Ahrens is further concerned that the immigration debate is simply one of the many symptoms of the bigger problem – our unnecessary adherence to principles of political correctness. He believes that we are so concerned about not offending people, that we are unable to have a real public debate about the issue.

“As soon as someone raises their voice about our borders being as porous as a sieve, that person is labeled as a racist or a bigot, and that’s just ridiculous,” he added. “We have immigration laws already, and we have people who obey them and those who disobey them. We should reward those who are in the country legally, and punish those who aren’t. That’s what laws are for, and being in favor of a policy that protects our borders is not an inherently racist or bigoted position. It’s about protecting America and Americans. But we have so succumbed to this group mentality that we can only talk about the policy issues that don’t offend people of color, when it has nothing to do with ethnicities. It has to do with national security and the justice all Americans want for themselves. It’s an example of over-tolerance – tolerance that goes to such an extreme that it actually undercuts its original goals of being fair to everyone. So, against that landscape, I think a little intolerance is just what we need to set things right again.”

Darrell Ahrens is a former U.S. Marine, Air Force fighter pilot, high school teacher, and pastor. He holds a BA from Chapman University and an MS from Boston University. He has also attended Fuller Theological Seminary where he was awarded a Masters of Divinity degree. He has been married for 45 years and has 2 children, 5 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.