Immigration Debate III

Let me begin by providing a little personal background. I grew up in south and central Texas. I live in central Texas now, and work 3 days a week in a Texas-Mexico border town. My wife is from Phoenix, and still has family there. We visit AZ once or twice a year.

I've lived with, worked with, and am friends with Mexicans and Americans of Mexican descent (yeah, yeah, 'some of my best friends are Mexican' - just because it's trite doesn't mean it isn't true).

I've employed illegal aliens as day laborers more than once. I've also seen firsthand the consequences, both good and bad, of a lax border and immigration policy. So I think I have a reasonable perspective on the situation down here on the border, one that is a damn sight more reasonable than a lot of the commentators braying about it whose idea of Mexican food is Taco Bell.

There has been much sturm und drang over Arizona's recent passage of SB 1070, a law intended to enforce federal immigration laws. The noise of the debate has overridden the signal - that is, there are so many people speaking out who have no idea what the bill does and doesn't do that the message of the bill has been drowned out. Below is an excerpt from the actual bill.

"The legislature finds that there is a compelling interest in the cooperative enforcement of federal immigration laws throughout all of Arizona. ... The provisions of this act are intended to work together to discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens and economic activity by persons unlawfully present in the United States."

Primoris, let's clarify a few points. First, "illegal" isn't a race. Thus a law targeting illegal activity or behavior isn't racist. In fact, the bill expressly prohibits racial profiling.

Second, the bill doesn't send people off to concentration camps or ovens. Thus the bill isn't going to turn Arizona into Nazi Germany.

Third, and perhaps most important, all the bill does is require that state and local LEOs enforce existing repeat existing federal law. It is a federal crime for aliens to not carry specified registration or immigration documents with them: "...every non-citizen in the United States has been required to carry such documents since Congress passed the Alien Registration Act in 1940."

(Note 1: in most cases this requirement can be met by something like a green card, which is about the size and shape of a drivers license - not an onerous burden to carry in one's wallet or purse.)

(Note 2: as others have pointed out, this bill is much less draconian than Mexico's laws regarding illegal immigration.)

So all the drama and furor directed towards the bill is from people who (a) haven't read it, (b) don't understand it, (c) don't care what it says, or (d) all of the above. There's a reason they're called knee-jerk liberals.

(Update: more evidence that liberals react first, think later. MSNBC, the network liberals love to love, outdid itself with a headline reading "Law makes it a crime to be illegal immigrant." The New York Times continues to prove its irrelevancy with an editorial that falsely stated "The statute requires police officers to stop and question anyone who looks like an illegal immigrant." Is it any wonder that viewers/readers of these two liberal fountains of misinformation are turning to other more reliable and accurate sources of news.)

Secundus, let's look at the principal reason for the bill. First and foremost, it's to protect the citizens of Arizona. As state senator Sylvia Brown, the bill's sponsor, explains, Arizona citizens are being threatened, terrorized, beaten, and murdered by a literal invasion of illegal aliens flooding across the border. To cite just one statistic: in recent years 80% of law enforcement officials wounded or killed in Arizona are attributable to illegal aliens. Another indicator: Phoenix has become the kidnapping capital of America, in large part due to the drug and immigrant smugglers.

These things are happening because the federal government is failing in what is arguably its most important duty - safeguarding its citizens - by not securing the U.S.-Mexico border. That leaves no alternative but for the border states to take matters into their own hands.

Tertius, there is a tendency for people on both sides of this issue to consider illegal aliens as a homogeneous group, either all virtuous, hard-working individuals seeking only a better life for themselves and their families, or all criminals and freeloading parasites. The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in-between.

A large number of illegal aliens are here because America offers, at least for the time being, social mobility that is only dreamed of in Mexico. There are basically two socioeconomic classes in Mexico; very rich, and very poor. The only way to move up is by becoming a criminal. That's why narcocorridos are so popular.

America is still a nation where in one generation an immigrant's children can advance to middle class or beyond. Case in point: my father is the only one in his family born here. His parents and siblings were born in Poland. He worked hard his whole life so that my sister and I could go to college and have a better life (at least in terms of material things - I don't think we could improve much on his values and character).

So I have absolutely no problem with people coming here in search of a better life. I only wish there was a way for them to be admitted through the front door, instead of having to sneak around back and break in through a window.

And that's where the feds should come in. Protect the borders, implement (and enforce!) a reasonable* immigration policy, and a lot of problems would be solved. Unfortunately, several administrations, both dems and repubs, have failed to do so, leaving us with the current mess.

* What's reasonable, you ask? Well, how about starting with a guest worker program? Many illegal aliens don't want to move here or become citizens. They just want better-paying jobs. So let 'em come here and work, and take the usual cut for income taxes, social security, and medicare. Win-win.

(Note 3: Mexicans in the U.S. sent over $25 billion back home in 2008. That's over 2% of Mexico's GDP, and is one reason why the Mexican government is so upset about the AZ bill. As usual, follow the money.)

Another plank in our immigration policy should be to imprison illegal immigrants. Deporting them, as we do now, is like catching that mouse in your kitchen and then taking him outside and releasing him. How long do you think it will take him to find his way back inside? But if you throw his little mouse ass in mouse jail, and make him work on a mouse chain gang, cleaning up litter, painting over graffiti, etc., then next time he might take his chances in the woods instead.

And while we're at it, let's seriously punish firms that hire illegals. Remove the cheese, and the mice won't be attracted.

Another morsel of cheese that needs to be removed is the concept of anchor babies. Citizenship should only be granted to the children of parents who are here legally.

Of course, all this starts with securing the borders. While there is some merit to the argument that static defenses are easily breached, the Berlin Wall was pretty effective. That might be a little extreme, but I do think that more physical barriers, at least along heavily traveled routes, would be helpful.

Beefing up the law enforcement presence would likewise be a good move. In fact, a military presence wouldn't be a bad idea. The narco smugglers are using military weapons and tactics. LEOs are neither equipped nor trained to deal with this type of foe.

"Another rancher testified that daily drugs are brought across his ranch in a military operation. A point man with a machine gun goes in front, 1/2 mile behind are the guards fully armed, 1/2 mile behind them are the drugs, behind the drugs 1/2 mile are more guards."

Even more chilling, some border ranchers have reported finding Korans on their property, evidently left there by illegal border crossers.

Bottom line - this country has greatly benefited from the contributions of immigrants. No one wants to stop legal immigration. All we want to do is implement a system that allows honest, hard-working people in, while keeping parasites, criminals, and terrorists out. Is that too much to ask from the feds? Evidently it is...