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I live in Guatemala and I work throughout
Latin America.

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And I want to speak to the millions of fortunate
Hispanic immigrants living in the United States

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– legally or not.

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I have a question for you: why do you support
the same policies in the US that caused you

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to flee your home country?

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The policies I’m talking about are those
that lead to a bigger and bigger central government.

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You know only too well that the more power
the government has, the more corrupt it becomes.

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My home country, like most other nations in
Central and South America, is very poor.

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54% of the population lives in poverty, and
13% live in extreme poverty.

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Half of all children under five are chronically
malnourished.

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Crippling government corruption is the norm.

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Opening a new business can take months, even
years, because of a multitude of regulations

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that are designed to line the pockets of bureaucrats.

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So, the cost is much too high for the average
citizen.

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Quite simply, unless you’re politically
connected in Guatemala, you probably want to leave.

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And in the last 20 years, many Guatemalans
have left—or, to put it more honestly, they fled.

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The fortunate ones reach the United States,
the freest and wealthiest nation in human history.

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There are at least 1 million Guatemalans living
in the U.S.

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Nearly every Mexican and Central and South
American immigrant in the United States, whether

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they immigrated legally or illegally, moved
or fled to the US for the same reasons—economic

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opportunity and the freedom to shape their
own lives.

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In short, you came to the United States to
participate in what Americans call

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the American Dream.

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But have you ever asked yourself: Why is the
United States so free, so much less corrupt,

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and so much more affluent than any Latin American
country?

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The answer lies first and foremost in the
unique American belief in limited government.

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Why?

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Because the smaller the government, the less
the corruption.

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And the smaller the government, the more individual
freedom and personal responsibility –

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and given those things, along with hard work and
talent, you can accomplish your life’s goals.

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So back to my question: Why would you support
policies that keep expanding the power of

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the government – when they are the very
policies that doomed your home countries?

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Is it because you think that when Democrats
offer you free stuff,

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it means they really care about you?

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Do you think that when Republicans talk about
enforcing immigration laws,

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it means they are going to send you back?

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Let’s be honest.

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You didn’t come here for free stuff.

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You came for the economic opportunity that
allows you to work and earn.

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And of course a nation has an obligation to
enforce its borders.

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Certainly every country in Central and South
America does – in fact, much more so than the US.

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Perhaps you believe that your home country
is poor not because of failed socialism and

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corrupt big government, but because of issues
unrelated to ideology — not enough natural

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resources, imperialism, and so on.

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Or, worse, you believe that the US has gotten
rich on the backs of poorer nations.

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But these narratives are false.

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There are many nations blessed with abundant
natural resources that are poor –

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and they are poor overwhelmingly because of corrupt
governments and policies

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that destroy incentives to produce.

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Look at Venezuela, which has vast oil and
mineral reserves, but has shortages

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of every basic necessity. Why?

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Because of socialist policies; because of
those same deceiving politicians who promised

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to “fight for the people,” and give you
free stuff.

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Are you going to fall for these lies again
in your adopted country?

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Do you think by electing politicians who will
“fight for the people,” “fight for social justice,”

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and raise taxes on the “one
percent” who are “exploiting” the wealth

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of the “99 percent” that you will get
ahead?

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In other words, will you support the same
policies and vote for the same types of politicians

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here who made such a mess back home?

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The United States became wealthy because its
government stayed out of the way of its citizens.

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The more power you give to the government,
the less power you have to control your own life.

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Prosperity and opportunity diminish as government
grows.

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So, why did you, like so many of my fellow
Guatemalans, come to the U.S.?

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Because your society was broken.

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You chose to make a new life in the United
States.

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You could have gone to another Latin American
country with a similar culture

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and the same language as your home country.

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But you didn’t.

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Because the United States is different.

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Please help keep it that way.

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I’m Gloria Alvarez author of The Populist
Deception for Prager University