Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And today, I'd like to address an open letter to the illegal alien on why it is in his own best interest and the best interest of his wife and children and family, why it is in your best interest to adopt biblical conservative principles and join us, whether it's in the realm of politics, religion, or immigration.

This issue is fresh on the hearts and minds of Americans as a great surge in immigration, crossing our southern border immigrants, crossing our southern border has been happening, especially since the expiration of Title 42, a provision which permitted border agents to turn back immigrants suspected of carrying the COVID virus. Well, it's estimated that the flood of illegal aliens coming into the United States has reached a new high, especially in this month, estimated already in May at 180,034, and the month isn't even over. Dear illegal alien, perhaps this is you.

Whether you crossed a searing desert along our southern border on foot, surreptitiously, risking your life, your health, and your dignity, or whether you flew comfortably into a regional airport a while ago with a student visa, which you have long overstayed. Whether you realize it or not, you have helped create, in your own small way, a constitutional crisis that goes to the very heart of who we are as a people here in the United States of America, a constitutional republic.

Every generation of American has at least one issue that tests its existential core, whether it be liberty and the American Revolution, slavery and the Civil War, perhaps racism in the Civil Rights Movement. Well, today, this issue of illegal immigration, and our constitutional integrity is one of those issues. We are in the midst of trying to resolve it, and I'm afraid that our side, and I consider myself an unabashed biblical conservative, is badly mischaracterized. Our side is badly mischaracterized and misunderstood by many, too, misunderstood, misunderstood, excuse me, by most immigrants crossing our border without documentation.

So, please, let me ask you to put aside your preconceived notions of who I am when I say I am a biblical conservative in favor of border security, but that's not all. I'm also in favor of equal opportunity for all. So, do not let the soothing promises of those who dangle government programs and goodies before you and say they have your best interests at heart, don't let those kinds of things entirely color what you think my intentions for you may be. No, they may be more salutary in the long run than you can imagine right now.

But please, prepare your mind for concepts and a point of view on life that may be new and unthought of by yourself, but maybe not as well. First of all, let me ask you, dear illegal alien, let me ask you a very simple question. Why do you want to come here? One reliable on-the-ground poll conducted by Latino Decisions, an organization called Latino Decisions. Well, they found that of the thousands of illegal immigrants polled, 77% said they came here illegally to find better jobs or opportunities for themselves and their families.

Another 12% said they came to reunite with family members who had already come here. Far down the list came other reasons, like freedom from oppression or escape from the law in their own land, or even a chance to live in a free democracy. The chief and overriding reason that illegal aliens come here is for jobs, economic opportunity, and the chance to prosper. And to this, I can say, amen. Who can blame you for wanting to work here that pays many multiples of what you might earn in Mexico or any other country in the world, for that matter?

I certainly cannot blame you for wanting to see a dream come true. Oh, just a few examples that touched my heart. For example, of a chain of restaurants throughout the Southwest, for example, Marcelino Garcia, a Mexican immigrant who founded Chilinos, an 11-chain restaurant in the Oklahoma City area, who promised on entering the United States of America. I promised never to ask the United States government for anything, and I never have. I love that.

He said, and once again, this is Marcelino Garcia. He said, I promised never to ask the United States government for anything, and I never have. I love that spirit. Or perhaps you are someone like the National Hispanic Construction Association. Oh, becoming a contractor up and down the West Coast instead of a common laborer.

And the National Hispanic Construction Association has dozens of success stories of Hispanic immigrants starting their own contracting firms, or even seeing your name on a fine California Chardonnay, originating from your vineyard, like Ronaldo Rabladas, who is a Mexican immigrant who went from harvesting grapes to producing them. And he now has his own vineyards in Napa, Sonoma, and Lake Counties, too. He has 14 vineyards with over 300 acres in Napa, Sonoma, and Lake Counties. Ronaldo Rabladas. Oh, I love his success story.

So, dear immigrant friend, many countless millions of Americans have dreamed the same or similar dreams, and they've aspired to the same or similar ambitions. Many immigrants have achieved them, too. Wonder of wonders. I trust that something of the same kind maybe motivates you to come to the United States of America. And the next question that I will ask you, then, is decisive as to whether the opportunities you seek for yourself and your children, whether they will endure.

And that question is, why do you think these better jobs and opportunities for unlimited success are here and not somewhere else? For example, like your home country. Oh, there is a reason the United States of America has flourished and prospered beyond any other nation in the history of the world. You may not realize it. I don't want to patronize you.

You may realize it, but you may not realize. But it is America's founding principles that created the circumstances and environment for prosperity. If you would guarantee success and prosperity for you and your children, it is in your own best interest to preserve, sustain, and protect those founding principles. Let me describe for you seven of the most significant of America's founding principles that relate directly to your immigration to the United States of America. Number one of those seven significant principles.

Number one, it is the individual who creates wealth in the private sector. Oh, each of these terms are significant. It is the individual who creates wealth in the private sector. As you have observed in the instances of Mr. Garcia, Rabladas, and these men relied upon their own individual intelligence and initiative and hard work to succeed for themselves and their families. They did it not because of, but in spite of, government interference.

Oh, remember Mr. Garcia, I promised I would never ask the government for anything. I love that spirit. The public sector, the government cannot and never has created a dime of wealth. It is impossible by its very nature for government to create wealth. Government by definition is a parasitic entity created by the people for very limited purposes.

Things like administering justice or police or military or maybe even border security. Yes. Well, as long as that parasite, that is the creature who draws his nourishment from the host, that is the public sector, as long as that parasite enjoys a symbiotic relationship with its host, providing a service to it, well, then we can say that things are good. But the host parasite must always keep in mind. Who is host?

That is the private sector that actually creates wealth to supply the parasite. So both host and parasite must always keep that in mind. Who is the host and who is the parasite? That is the government who sucks the resources from the private sector in order to supply limited and defined services. Oh, when the roles are reversed, oh, the parasite eventually sucks the host dry.

And ironically, both of them die. So my dear illegal alien friend, I must ask you if some of the things you are doing might not be undermining this principle. How tempting are the government freebies? With free food stamps, I can feed myself and my family. With free health care, I can keep my family healthy.

With a free Obama phone, for example, I can stay in touch with my family in my home country. With free government assistance, I can pay the rent. On and on it goes. Just only know that in the end, there is nothing free for you or for your fellow citizens. You will pay in the erosion of your own character.

Things like self-reliance or your work ethic or your pride in ownership. All of these things you will pay in the erosion of your own character. And additionally, the so-called free stuff the government hands out will be called due by history. Yes, history will call all those bills due. You, me, and our children will pay the bill through inflation and taxes and the heavy borrowing that we have done.

You are undermining the very liberty and prosperity you came here to find, dear illegal alien. Don't do this. No, no. Instead, join us. Join we, constitutional conservatives, and ensure those liberties and prosperity for you and your children.

While the second principle that we must all keep in mind when we are considering holding up the principles of America that will keep fresh new immigrants prosperous and free, as well as we who have been born to it, the second important principle is big government tyrannizes and limits the individual while limited government liberates and unleashes the individual. Oh, big government tyrannizes, limited government liberates. Our founding fathers were close students of what John Adams called the divine science of government. Oh, yes. Our founding fathers saw government, the study of government as the divine science.

As they analyzed the various forms of government throughout history, they observed that most of these governments in history were monarchies. That is, a ruler who got his power in a royal family, like Spain, from which Mexico inherited her former government. Or they were oligarchies, that is, governments by a small group of men. Or they were tyrannies, that is, cruel, arbitrary rule by one or just a few men. All of these governments reflected the self-serving interests of the government and those that comprised that government.

And they did not serve the greater good of the people, of the individuals who were being ruled over. As John Adams puts it, he says, in the earliest ages of the world, absolute monarchy seems to have been the universal form of government. Kings and a few of their great counselors and captains exercised a cruel tyranny over the people, unquote. That was John Adams' observation on the earliest forms of government. So, our founding fathers studied and decided on a constitutional republic because it was shown to give the greatest liberty to the individual and the smallest powers to the government.

Our constitution was so composed that it limited big federal government. For example, things like the separation of powers into three branches of government. Checks and balances, where one of those three put a check and balance on the other. And the 10th Amendment, which reserved all powers not specifically delegated to the federal government to the states and individuals in the country. Wow.

The federal government was limited. And it gave limitless, then, our constitution gives limitless powers to the states and to individuals. Our founding fathers' judgment has been justified, too, in the crucible of history, as we see individuals under a constitutional republic flourish as no other in the history of man. So, dear prospective illegal alien, please, always keep this uppermost in your mind and do nothing to compromise it. It is by the sweat of your brow that you will earn your bread and your bread alone.

And thereafter, it is your property, too. It is your property to do with as you please, despite a parasitic federal system. Well, the third principle that we must keep in mind, dear illegal alien, the third principle that we must keep in mind, if we are going to keep the nation you are immigrating into, must be, number three, God, and not government, has given us unalienable rights. Yes, always keep this uppermost in your mind. It is God, and not government, that has given us unalienable rights.

So, dear prospective immigrant, I understand that God, and religion play a large role in your life, and I say amen to that. So it does in my life, and in the lives of our founding fathers. In fact, those immortal words of our Declaration of Independence reflect this, where Thomas Jefferson penned, he said, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Unquote.

Oh, dear illegal alien, dear prospective immigrant, were you aware that Jefferson's first draft actually read life, liberty, and the pursuit of property? His colleagues on the draft committee, which were James Madison and Franklin, well, they advised him to change life, liberty, and the pursuit of property to happiness. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, because that word happiness was broader, and property was included in it. But the fact remains, a man's property acquired through his own individual laborer is his own, and cannot be seized or taken by anyone without his consent.

If and when you become a citizen, dear prospective immigrant, you should be able to rest assured that your property, that is the wealth created through your labor, you must be assured that your property is your own and no one else's. So, my dear immigrant friend, I must ask you, if your assumptions about our big, bloated federal government and its exponents might not be undermining the very principles that make you free and prosperous, that will make you free and prosperous in this country. Perhaps you look to it, that is the big federal bloated government. Perhaps you look to it and its enthusiasts for government programs, like food stamps.

Perhaps you listen to the siren song from Washington, D.C. concerning amnesty and citizenship. Perhaps you listen to advocates who get you an illegal ballot with which to vote. Be careful. Be careful, dear prospective citizen, dear prospective immigrant, dear illegal alien, be careful. Your rights are given you by God, not by government.

Your rights are inherently his to give and cannot be taken away. Government, when you and it assume they are the source, government can take them away. And it eventually does. It can take away then what it purports to give. Instead, embrace Mr. Garcia's credo, which is, I promise never to take anything from the government.

Oh, number four, then. The fourth principle that we must always keep in mind, dear prospective immigrant, dear prospective citizen, dear illegal alien, the fourth principle that we must always keep in mind when considering your immigration to this land of liberty is, your rights are guaranteed and protected by the rule of law. Your rights are guaranteed and protected by the rule of law. Oh, dear prospective immigrant, how many governments do you know who rule by men in power? The recently deceased Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is a most recent example.

While Venezuela has a thin veneer of the democracy, it was really Chavez who dictated what went on there. It was a rule of men and not of law. That's the case throughout most of the world, too, whether we speak of Morsi in Egypt, Kim Jong-il in North Korea, or Putin in Russia. And so it has been throughout human history, and so shall it be, with the exception of the United States of America, and perhaps a few European republics. Here in America, the tradition has been the rule of law versus the rule of men.

That is, John Adams explained the founder's understanding when he wrote that good government and the very definition of a republic is an empire of laws. He called it an empire, not of men, but of laws. In America, the government governs the citizenry according to the law, not by the whims or fancies of our leaders, although that seems to have been changing here in the recent past, by requiring our leaders, at least in principle, by requiring our leaders to enact and publish the law, and then to adhere to the same law that applies to each citizen themselves. The rule of law acts as a potent barrier against tyrannical and arbitrary government.

We have seen some of this indeed being transgressed in the recent scandals concerning Joe Biden's administration or the FBI or the transgressions of the Department of Justice even. Ah, we are becoming more and more a government of men rather than law. So we must return to that principle. The rule of law requires that the same law govern all citizens. Founding father Samuel Adams observed that the rule of law means that, and I quote him, there shall be one rule of justice for the rich and for the poor, for the favorite in court and the countrymen at the plow, unquote.

Oh yes, the same law for all of these. So by requiring both the government and the people to adhere to the law, the rule of law serves as the foundational first principle for protecting our liberty. So my dear immigrant friend, I must ask you if the things that you are doing presently are destroying this principle that makes liberty here in the United States the envy of the world. Oh, and it is, is it not? Oh, the principle of the rule of law indeed makes liberty here in the United States the envy of the world.

That's why you're coming here in many respects. And then, but to think of it, your very first act in this country violates the rule of law by coming here illegally. Do you understand this contradiction? How many other laws then have you broken in the course of your stay? Have you considered that your lawlessness has seriously compromised this principle of the rule of law for you and for your children?

By transgressing the rule of law, you have put in jeopardy the very principles that ensure the liberty and prosperity for which you came. Oh, better to cherish and observe those laws that you might strengthen those laws. Oh, dear prospective citizen, dear prospective immigrant to the United States of America, I understand fully why you have emigrated here and why you desire then to prosper here. But just understand that some of the things you may be doing, some of the people under whose influence you are falling may be enticing you to destroy the very principles by which you prosper and by which your family indeed finds the liberty it seeks.

Indeed, you will find here liberty to labor and to retain the fruits of your labor and your wealth. It is you who creates wealth, not the government. They do not create wealth. It is the people by their labor who create wealth. And then as you bear the fruits of your labor, then you create wealth yourself and you prosper and you have the liberty to do so here in America.

Make sure that your actions and that your initial steps to come here and then to become citizens of this country do not undermine that principle. And also remember that it is the living God. So many of those of you who come here are indeed religious people. You love the Lord Jesus Christ. You love your church and you have prospered in it and you have cherished it and you have taught your children the principles of your religion.

Just remember that those same principles are what our founding fathers based so many of the principles of our constitution upon. That is upon the rights given us by God, life, liberty, and the pursuit of property, the pursuit of happiness as well. So just understand that we cherish that with you. I just encourage you to seek out those of us biblical conservatives who hold these principles so dear and just encourage you to examine those and examine those in an unbiased way. And I think you'll understand and embrace them eventually.

So many of your compatriots have. That's been manifest here in recent elections and in recent organizations and other fellows who have stepped forth and declared their sympathy with and adherence to biblical conservative principles that have made this nation great. The very reasons that you are emigrating to this great country. So I encourage you to do so. And thank you for listening and thank you for kindly considering the things that I lay before you here today.

And we'll consider then next week several other further principles that I hope you'll keep in mind as you take your place here in the greatest country and God's green earth and give thanks to God for it and for what is established here. This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. We meet for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. And you can find then a catalog of our previous radio messages. Some of you have been inquiring to me about our previous messages.

And we have a whole catalog of those stretching back almost 10 years now at our website, our podcast website, which is americastruths.org. One word, americastruths.org. And you can access access those and all future messages there at that website. New Geneva meets for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. And you can call us for further information or feedback at area code 208-523-0196. 208-523-0196.