Posted by
jarhead on Friday, May 18, 2007 4:25:27 PM
So today we have what John McCain would have us believe is the best immigration reform we can hope for. But why reform?
We already have laws that prohibit illegal immigration, we already have laws that make it illegal to employ illegals and we now have the authorization to build a fence. What have we done with all this existing capability?
We have communities all over the nation thumbing their noses at federal law by providing sanctuaries for illegal including law enforcement organzations prohibited from cooperating with federal authorities. We have employers hiring large numbers of illegals not because they can't find U.S. citizens who'll do the work but because they can pay them under the table with no need to worry about benefits or state and federal madated contributions. And while we have legislation authorizing a fence we still don't have a fence. If there is no will to enforce existing laws then why in God's name do we think a raft of new laws will be any more enforceable?
The United States is a sovereign nation entitled to secure borders. These secure borders in OTHER nations serve several goals. They promote security assuring that criminals are not allowed into the nation. They also allow each nation to assure that the right folks are immigrating to match real needs with in the nation. And most importantly in this time of global war with that faction of Islam focused on world domination it is doubly important to assure that any nations borders are secure. So what is there to reform?
First we need that fence and very fast. How much longer can we expect to get lucky? At some point the terrorists will exploit our lack of border control and American lives will be the price paid for political expediency.
We also must come down very hard on those who employee illegals. This aspect of the illegal immigration situation is quite simple. The laws of supply and demand are clearly at work. So long as we tolerate a demand for illegals generated by unsrupulous employers there will be folks coming here to take those jobs. Remove the demand by punishing such employers harshly and the supply will self correct. We must understand the simple fact that a large segment of jobs that here to fore could be expected to be filled by middle class legal citizens-Carpentry, Masonry and a range of other tasks that won’t raise the price of lettuce but do put hardworking legal citizens out of a job-are being performed by a legion of illegals being paid under the table with no benefits nor even a living wage by our normal standards. But there are also some folks that we really do need so we should respect those we do need to have here by paying them properly, providing benefits and bringing them out of the shadows. We have a quota system that currently does not account for this need. That system needs to be adjusted where necessary AND those jobs should be opened to EVERYONE wishing to immigrate to our nation including those patiently doing the right thing and obeying our immigration laws. Surely there is no justice in rewarding the lawbreakers and line jumpers with fast tracks to citizenship and continued retention of illegally obtained jobs while those who would obey our laws and honor our nation’s sovereignty are pushed aside.
So we don't need reform so much as we need a strategy that recognizes that we've gone too long without real border control and a strategy which focuses on enforcing existing laws. What we don't need is a raft of new laws no more enforceable than the old as a way to pretend we've done something. Our conservative congressmen and senators need to stand way back and look at the big picture, stop worrying about bi-partisanship as a goal unto itself, and take a principled stand against this nonsense.