Border problems such as the confusion over resident tuition fees for illegal alien students are confusing for people outside the region. For those who live and work with these problems daily, they're manageable.
Conservative politicians who portray themselves as protecting America throw up their hands and pass the buck, saying it's better to make exceptions to federal law than to enforce it rigidly. Their speech reveals their ignorance when they say "immigrant" instead of "illegal immigrant," or do not distinguish between citizenship and state residency.
The Left, forces of revolution, know this is a battle of definitions, of propaganda, so they take advantage of conservatives’ ignorance and brand them "anti-immigrant" when conservatives are actually "anti-illegal immigrant." It's easier to say "immigrant" than "illegal immigrant," so they take advantage of this to drop the important word "illegal" and the public picks it up, not using the phrase "illegal alien" anymore.
When conservatives mimic this change, they become enemies of America, the immigrant nation.
The masses we see at demonstrations have been raised with this ruse in definitions--and as the language changes the law blurs. No one distant from the border can grasp the problem because it all seems one bothersome, murky mass, lacking definition, a matter of hearsay.
Professionals close to the border often use the term “undocumented” immigrant because it clearly defines the person’s status without judging him legally, allows governmental systems to function more smoothly. This is apolitical, purely a matter of efficiency.
US citizenship versus state residency is regularly confused. Illegal alien applicants for welfare in California are eligible for all State programs but not programs that are federally funded. What is the definition of a California resident? A person standing on California soil--if a person is physically in California he is a California resident and eligible for emergency benefits, no matter his US citizenship status.
Those benefits are mostly medical, covering threat to "life or limb," which includes pregnancy. Because pregnancy is potentially life-threatening, the client's basic needs are met through her term. The unborn baby will be an American citizen, so his federal benefits begin as soon as the pregnancy is verified, including cash to the mother to ensure proper nourishment of the baby. As mother and baby are still one, an American citizen inside an illegal alien, the mother is housed as part of that provision for the unborn.
So an illegal alien will be well taken care of as long as she is pregnant or has US citizen children under 18 years old. It behooves her to stay pregnant as much as possible.
State universities receive federal money which must not be spent educating illegal aliens. State and federal monies are thoroughly mixed in their systems so this is impossible to avoid as long as the university admits state residents—but does state residency trump federal regulations, allowing resident fee status for illegal aliens? There is no threat to life or limb here. This is a matter for professionals in that field to decide, subject to the approval of elected officials. If educators are liberals and politicians are conservatives, we can expect a long battle—let’s get to it.
The problem has already been solved by students thousands of times without changing the law or making exceptions; we should learn from them. Somehow, illegal alien students planning on college have attained legal residency status sufficient to attend state universities and pay resident tuition. They are very quiet about how they do this but they do get it done and go on with their lives becoming polished professionals, improving their residency status step by step until they become citizens. They consider this part of their professional development.
Types of residency is another area where politicians seem completely ignorant: a person isn't simply a citizen or an illegal alien. There are several levels of residency status according to need: student visas, work visas and others, all of which earn the immigrant a visa card commonly called a "mica" (mee-kuh). Professionals who work with people of various residency status know the codes on the mica, the colors and numbers, and help these folks along.
The highest non-citizen status is "permanent resident" which allows all the rights of citizenship except voting and does not need to be renewed. The permanent resident card is not a mica--it looks completely different. Many people in this status often do not bother to become citizens because of the hassle involved and because being a permanent resident is almost identical to being a citizen.
Our politicians, the decision makers, seem distant. Most of them have never had to leave home, have never spent a night outdoors or missed a meal other than camping; they have little empathy, even those who feign concern.
They speak of a "humane solution" then go on to the next subject, washing their hands of this mess and going on to more familiar topics. But for the sake of people both sides of the border the situation needs to be firmly resolved.
A competent leader, a person of the people, of dignity, would admit his ignorance and assign an apolitical group to find apolitical solutions to these problems, subject to his approval. They would ask the professionals in education and homeland security, the students and graduates who have solved these problems without government help what must be done--the subject is too large for a political debate.
We are spoiled by the example of General MacArthur in the reconstruction of Japan, for example. He fundamentally rearranged Japanese society, demanding that authorities rewrite their national constitution and breaking up all the pre-war power structures that led them to war. MacArthur was so liberal, so populist in his efforts that American columnists accused him of being a Communist--but he reconstructed Japanese society to his personal, American standards of decency.
That's what we need now, at least on our border with Mexico. Is there a politician who can stand up to this example?
Richard B. Jones is a bilingual probation officer, migrant teacher and welfare worker in rural West Texas; he has lived and worked in many places including China and the Middle East. His blog is: TheCaprock.com
