Immigration

Due to the recent demise of the Kennedy/McCain Immigration Bill, I wanted to put a few thoughts together about our current problem with illegal immigration.

I had written a long, drawn out statement, but I deleted it. I was just recovering lots of ground, so why go through all of that again.

A few points:

1)READ “Mexifornia” by Victor Davis Hanson (no relation, link to the right). For those of you unfamiliar with VDH, he has a very unique perspective on this issue. He is a Professor in the University of California and teaches Classics. He also is a farmer in California's central valley area and works the small family farm he grew up on. His mind is sharp, he works and lives in an area heavily affected by this issue, and he has a very deep understanding for how America has changed in the last fifty years. Lest someone think I'm pointing you to a Limbaugh-esque tirade, VDH is a Democrat, though of the old school and not the current liberal ruling elite mentality. He offers some wonderful insight and it's not a blame/deport them all fest, not in the least.

2)This border wall issue. When someone says “build a wall” I know they have never been on the border. I live in Arizona and started exploring the border country when I was attending the University of Arizona in Tucson. I'm telling you that no one is going to seal either border – north or south. It's too large, too remote, and too wild. To build a fence is a waste of money that can be better spent elsewhere. It's going to cost a fortune, be ugly in a beautiful part of this nation, and do absolutely nothing for our security. In fact, it will diminish it because it's a fell good measure that will incline people to relax.

3)This isn't a racial issue no matter what Geraldo Rivera says. It's an issue encompassing a racial class, but it's not racial at it's core. People are upset about it because there is chaos and no accountability. We see hospital bills left unpaid to the point places such as Brownsville, Texas, has considered closing their hospital. Maybe they have, I only heard they were thinking of it. Talk to anyone in the medical field in any border state and the problem is huge.

4)Like it or not, this entire thing is going to end up with amnesty. We might as well face it, swallow the pill, install a guest worker program, and get on with business.

5)The only way it's going to stop under the current laws is by closing down the small business owners who would hire Americans if Americans were willing to work those sorts of jobs. I know people in both the construction and restaurant businesses, and they simply can't find willing Americans. Our unemployment is less than 4.5%. The large corporations can afford to pay the fines and fight in court while still being an active, thriving business. We need the workers. If we have a guest worker program, at least they can be taxed and tracked. And, most of the illegal workers are very hard workers. I was on a job site one time where a demolition crew was working. Those guys worked so hard I felt like a slacker for only doing 80 hours a week (then, no more hours like that for me anymore.)

6)We need to stop catering to the illegals, allowing them to function without becoming Americans by nature and attitude, citizenship can come once they prove themselves. This is heart of the issue as the years go by. We don't raise our own kids to be proud of their heritage, it's going to be impossible to instill a patriotic attitude in new immigrants. This one is all on us, folks. We have to demand more of our youth and a whole lot more of our schools.

7)English has to be the language of choice. If you don't speak it, you will get no where. Spanish services will do to the Hispanic population what welfare has done to the blacks – created a low economic comfort zone that affectively keeps them always at the poor end of our society. We have to stop doing such things.

8)No matter what we do, we cannot ignore the legal immigrants. These people follow all our laws, come here to better themselves, and we make them go through an overly complicated process that is frustrating, takes years, and costs thousands of dollars in legal fees. That is unacceptable to say the least.

9)Yes, entering the USA illegally is a crime – hence the “illegal” moniker. But, there is a difference between a guy coming north to find work hard at a better life and the scumbag pusher and thief who is a leach on society. We can't use the same paint brush on all “criminals.” Once we realize that, amnesty is easier to accept.

10)This is a hot button issue. Everywhere I go, this is the issue that gets people worked up. The politicians don't want to touch it because they don't want to lose the Hispanic vote. Well, only citizens can vote, and lot of the Hispanics who are citizens have lived here all their lives and feel like victims, too.

11)We have to demand more of Mexico so that a better economy is possible, enticing fewer people to come north. Right now it's businesses as usual with graft and corruption and keeping huge amounts of money in the hands of a few families. They need to let go of the reigns and pass laws making it easy to open a business. The free market will take it from there.

Those are a few of my talking points on this issue. I live in a border state and a lot of the talk I hear coming from the east and from those who never leave the urban area of Phoenix is unrealistic. I say we make an arbitrary date, say January 1, 2006. Prove you were in the country then and everyone gets a free pass – legal gets their citizenship, illegal gets a guest worker pass. All business register their guest workers, and then it's a whole lot easier to weed out the bad apples and figure out who is causing problems.

There is obviously more to this issue, but that's a good place to start.