How broken things are kept broken

Today's Washington DC Examiner has a thoughtful common-sense editorial about how to fix the horribly broken immigration quagmire which so plagues this country. Excerpt:

Job one on immigration reform is regaining control of America's borders.

Allowing millions of unknown foreigners to enter our nation illegally is foolhardy in the extreme in the post-Sept. 11 era. You would never let strangers move into your own home uninvited, then pay the intruders for being there. But that's exactly what we've been doing at the national level for too many years.

Since 1980, illegal immigration has cut the going rate for unskilled labor in half, yet the cost of living continues to climb. Taxpayers are forced to make up the difference. A national policy that compels American workers to accept government handouts while importing even more poverty cannot be defended. As long as there are fellow citizens who lack good-paying jobs, health insurance and educational opportunities, immigration must be controlled -- and then only those who follow our laws and respect our customs should be allowed to enter.

The 700-mile fence along the Mexican border approved by the last Congress is a first step, but only that. So much more remains to be done.

Employers who cannot find enough workers should get a limited number of temporary guest worker visas without waiting years for approval. However, such visas must be issued under much stricter controls, with employers and visa holders both required to regularly check in with immigration officials.

We don't advocate the wholesale roundup of the 12 million illegal aliens already here, but we do insist that those who break our laws be immediately deported upon serving their sentences, as is required under federal law. It's time the federal government takes this enforcement duty seriously. This will require unprecedented collaboration between federal and local law enforcement agencies. Jurisdictions that support such efforts should be rewarded. Those that refuse to cooperate or actively oppose the effort should be severely penalized.

The editorial has a lot of good ideas, but I think there are two major reasons nothing gets done:
  • 1. Collusion between Republican politicians in bed with businesses seeking cheap labor and Democrat politicians seeking new voters;

  • 2. A debate dominated by inflexible activists with extreme positions unpalatable to the majority.
  • When the "choice" is seen as open-border-liberals versus draconian round-em-up-and-deport-em-conservatives, any consensus based on common sense becomes impossible, and politicians are free to work their usual smoke-and-mirrors game of collusion.

    Were I more of a paranoid conspiracy theorist, I'd almost think offering people phony or bad choices was deliberate strategy.

    posted by Eric on 01.09.07 at 08:01 AM





    TrackBack

    TrackBack URL for this entry:
    http://classicalvalues.com/cgi-bin/pings.cgi/4400






    Comments

    Bush, pundits, and the media continually offer the false choice between amnesty vs. mass deportations, and continually ignore attrition. There must be a reason for that, right?

    TLB   ·  January 9, 2007 11:58 AM

    This editorial is exactly right, of course. But it hardly matters because none of that is ever going be done. The fence, by the way, is not going to be built. Border control is not going to happen.

    The Democrats are now in charge and they want amnesty. They see lots of votes coming their way, and they are right. George Bush also wants amnesty [God only knows why] and will sign the amnesty bill as quickly as the Dems can get it onto his desk. Shouldn't be too long.

    Flash Gordon   ·  January 9, 2007 12:23 PM

    I should point out that the Dems could never get an amnesty bill without help from the Republicans in the Senate, given the Senate's rules and the size of the Republican minority.

    But that won't be a problem. I predict that even John McCain will be one of the R's to support amnesty. But if not it won't matter. His vote isn't needed. There are enough others in the stupid party willing to go along to assure passage of an amnesty bill.

    Flash Gordon   ·  January 9, 2007 12:30 PM

    The border problem was here in the 1950s. Eisenhower agreed that something had to be done. The problem then, as now, was political. Major Democrats, like Lyndon Johnson, were for an open border. Eisenhower decided to act. He brought in a retired Airborne General to head the INS. He transferred politically-connected border patrol managers to other posts. With 1,070 agents, he managed to deport about 800,000 illegals. Some were put on trains and released deep in Mexico, others were put on ships and released deep in Mexico. For the details, google for eisenhower border. In all, a little over 1 million illegals left the country, either on public transportation, or on their own voilition - seeing what was going on around them.

    ZZMike   ·  January 9, 2007 05:34 PM

    Post a comment

    You may use basic HTML for formatting.





    Remember Me?

    (you may use HTML tags for style)



    January 2007
    Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
      1 2 3 4 5 6
    7 8 9 10 11 12 13
    14 15 16 17 18 19 20
    21 22 23 24 25 26 27
    28 29 30 31      

    ANCIENT (AND MODERN)
    WORLD-WIDE CALENDAR


    Search the Site


    E-mail




    Classics To Go

    Classical Values PDA Link



    Archives




    Recent Entries



    Links



    Site Credits