We should make it as easy as possible to be able to get a legal

Hear the words of Gary Johnson, spoken with clarity and purpose: “We should make it as easy as possible to be able to get a legal work visa—not citizenship, not a green card. Just a work visa, with a background check and a Social Security card so that applicable taxes would get paid.” These are not careless words, but a call to balance mercy with order, compassion with law. They strike at the heart of one of humanity’s oldest questions: how do we welcome the stranger at our gates, while keeping justice within our walls?

When Johnson speaks of the legal work visa, he envisions a path of dignity for those who come not to take, but to labor, to build, to share in the burdens of the land. He does not speak here of full citizenship nor of permanent belonging, but of a bridge—a means by which the foreign worker may enter lawfully, contribute honestly, and partake of the rights and responsibilities of labor. This bridge does not demand surrender of one’s past, but it opens the door to participate in the life of a nation without fear.

The mention of the background check is not idle. It is the safeguard of the community, ensuring that openness does not become vulnerability. It is the ancient principle that a city’s gates must be both open and watched. For compassion without discernment may invite chaos, but discernment without compassion becomes cruelty. In Johnson’s vision, both are held together—welcome and wisdom, inclusion and responsibility.

The Social Security card and the paying of taxes carry a deeper meaning still. To pay into the common treasury is to acknowledge that one’s labor is bound to the destiny of the nation. It is a recognition that even if one is not a citizen, one still has obligations to the community in which one dwells. Herein lies a quiet nobility: the worker from another land is not a shadow in the marketplace, but a contributor to the common good, walking in light and law rather than hiding in fear.

History itself provides us an example. Recall the Bracero Program during World War II, when the United States, in need of labor, invited workers from Mexico to toil in its fields and railways. They came by the hundreds of thousands, and their labor fed the nation and fueled its economy. Yet because the program lacked sufficient protections, many suffered exploitation, underpayment, and hardship. Johnson’s words reflect a lesson learned: that if work visas are made lawful, accessible, and fair, the worker is dignified, the employer is accountable, and the nation is strengthened.

The meaning of this quote rises beyond policy into principle: that justice must walk hand in hand with mercy. To force workers into the shadows is to create two nations—one of legality and one of fear. To provide a lawful, simple path for labor is to unite these into one, where all who work are seen, acknowledged, and protected. It is not a grant of citizenship, but it is a recognition of humanity and of contribution, a middle way between exclusion and full belonging.

Children of tomorrow, let this lesson be written upon your hearts: welcome those who come to labor with fairness, but also with wisdom. Demand systems that are clear, just, and humane, so that no man or woman is forced to live in secrecy while building the prosperity of others. In your daily lives, do not despise the stranger who works beside you, but honor their labor as you honor your own.

And so, the wisdom of Johnson’s words endures: that to make work visas accessible is not weakness, but strength; not disorder, but order; not exploitation, but justice. For when labor is lawful, the nation thrives, the worker is protected, and the bonds of community grow strong. This is the path of balance, the way of harmony between nations, and the lesson that must be passed on through the generations.