It appears that americas open arms policy towards immigration has lost its luster after 230 years, especially after 9/11. Under increasing pressure from constituents to do something about the massive illegal immigration problems at our borders, legislators begin the process of doing what they do best, nothing. Well, nothing outside of igniting a pre-election firestorm that is…
In Washington, DC, when an issue is too hot and too complex to handle head on, the obvious answer is to pontificate and when that fails, legislate. You're not supposed to notice that had we enforced any of the already existing immigration laws over the last 50 years, we wouldn't be having this conversation now. Nor are you supposed to figure out that any new law they pass now will be enforced (or not enforced) with the same vigor as the old. It's called kicking the can down the road.
Legislators legislate, that's what they do. any problem that can't be solved with a piece of legislation can't be solved in Washington DC. Of course, if legislation alone would fix the problem, past legislation would have already fixed it.
Partisans across the board are angling for voter blocs and the Latino vote just became a hot commodity for the upcoming mid-term elections, which brings me to the real message I have for you on this subject.
Like fixing Social Security, fixing our immigration nightmare will cost somebody votes, no matter how they address the issue. Politicians aren't in the business of losing votes. So not too many are likely to be in the business of solving tough problems either.
Congressional (open border) Democrats have been pounding Bush over the head for not doing more to secure our borders for the last five years now, under the guise of a bogus concern for national security. But the second any effort was made to actually address the issue, Democrats took a quick head count and immediately jumped sides to defend the poor downtrodden illegal immigrants, accusing the Bush administration of cruel and unusual punishment of their new prospective special interest voting bloc.
Congressional Republicans have avoided addressing the issue for so long that they are beginning to get nervous about what they read in the tea leaves for November, growing increasingly concerned about their base and feeling the need to at least appear to be taking action on the matter before the election rolls around.
Meanwhile, illegal immigrants and those who support the notion of an open society where our laws, language, principles and traditions don't matter, take to the streets in protest against any effort to address illegal immigration at all.
Protesters brandish signs saying "This is OUR continent, not yours," "We are indigenous! The only owners of this continent!" and "If you think I'm illegal because I'm a Mexican, learn the true history, because I'm in my homeland."
They have already established their election year slogan, "Today we march - tomorrow we vote."
Clearly, an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living and working in america have no real concern for american laws, further placing in doubt any notion that yet another new law can solve this problem. If that doesn't sink the idea for you, go read a similar effort signed by Reagan some 20 years ago that was supposed to solve the same problem. It looked good on paper, but if it had worked, would we be here right now?
Yet it is an election year and constituents want to see action. So Washington takes the only action they know how to take. They once again attempt to legislate the problem away. That provides a paper trail to prove that they did "something". But what else does it accomplish?
We have not yet reached a consensus on the cause of our immigration ills. So how can we hope to come up with the right cure? and will any cure be acceptable to all parties involved? Hardly…
Unless I'm missing something, there is only one reasonable cure for the problem and that is to enforce the laws these people broke the moment they set foot on US soil in the first place. If you are here illegally already, what other law do we need? Did we forget to pass a law establishing our right to enforce our laws?
Frankly this is just as insane a notion as the idea that gun laws will keep guns out of the hands of criminals. If criminals cared about what our laws say, they wouldn't be criminals, now would they. If laws alone worked as a means of keeping people decent and honest, we wouldn't need prisons. Prisons exist for the sole purpose of enforcement.
The same rule applies here. If illegal immigrants cared about american laws, they wouldn't be here now. Since they don't care what our laws say, what difference can one more law make? If not enforced, the answer is none! and we have no reason to believe that anyone in Washington is interested in enforcing any of these laws, old or new.
So why another law? That brings me to the "guest worker" (amnesty) program…
The guest worker idea is designed to entice these lawless visitors into compliance. Do they look enticed by this idea to you, as they march in your city streets with signs saying, "Gringos must leave, not us?" They don't look enticed to me, by this generous offer.
and with the standard "gasoline on the fire" help from Democrats busy mining for votes with yet another class warfare toy, is there any chance that anything positive can come from the effort? Sadly…I don't think so.
The real truth of the matter is, until somebody is willing to enforce our immigration laws, it doesn't make any difference at all what those laws say, does it?
are our current laws un-enforceable because they are unfair or unreasonable to people seeking a US residence? Legal immigrants don't seem to think so. Those same laws even allowed 14 of 19 9/11 hijackers to enter the US legally. So how unfair could they possibly be?
Enforcement is our problem and I can't even imagine another law improving the situation, much less solving it. Unless of course, someone in Washington wants to sponsor a bill that would increase the existing penalties and fund an all out search, capture and deport mission while standing the National Guard on our borders?
Is there anyone in Washington proposing that we even attempt to enforce immigration laws? Not that I have seen. I hear lots of typical Washington hot air, but where's the bill?
Until I see a bill that addresses our enforcement problems, I can't get on board. and unlike my Democrat friends, eagerly strip mining america for much needed votes, I couldn't care less how people unwilling to live by our laws feel about the issue. They can march in the streets from now till November and their opinion means nothing, because they have not earned the right to have an opinion in the country they clearly don't respect.
as for those seeking to penalize people who hire illegal immigrants for casual labor, I suggest you rethink your position. any immigrant willing to toil in the hot sun picking fruit for minimum wage in order to earn his family a better life is likely to be the kind of immigrant we wouldn't mind having around.
It's the immigrants that you won't find on anyone's payroll, but will find robbing your local 7-Eleven or surviving by way of the gang lifestyle that's the problem. Stop the decent people from finding honest work and guess where they will go to survive from there? Besides, why penalize tax-paying employers for a problem our lawmakers are responsible for? This nonsense only makes sense to people who spend too much time listening to politicians yak.
I'm disappointed how many americans seem to have overlooked these minor details.
I can't think of another thing to say about this…. Can you? If we aren't going to enforce existing laws, why bother to pass a new one?
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