Federal inaction on immigration lets issue fester
Georgia legislators sponsoring anti-immigrant bills say they have been forced to act by frustration with the federal government, which they believe has been unwilling to address illegal immigration issues.
Unfortunately, those legislators have a point, at least about the federal government’s failure to act. In fact, they have every right to be frustrated, even if the solutions they propose to fill the void left by federal inaction are unworkable.
Thanks to a combination of cowardice and political opportunism, Congress has indeed abdicated its duty to deal with tough immigration issues. The few steps it has taken in recent years — such as efforts to tighten border security — have been little more than useless if expensive window dressing.
Certainly, our border with Mexico needs to be tightened as much as possible. In practical terms, however, a boundary more than 2,000 miles long through mainly undeveloped areas can never be made secure against people sufficiently motivated to cross it. That’s a fact.
It’s also a fact that at least 10 million illegal immigrants already live here, and at this point, most have every intention of staying. According to the 2010 Census, roughly 850,000 Hispanics live in Georgia, and by some estimates as many as half may be here illegally.
So what do we do about them?
That’s the question that elected officials at the federal level refuse to address. That’s the vacuum that state legislators such as Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, and Sen. Jack Murphy, R-Cumming, claim to be trying to fill. And it is really the crux of the whole illegal immigration debate. With the economy in the tank and the flow of illegal immigrants greatly reduced, the real issue is how to deal with those already here.
There are two basic options: Either make those people go back where they came from, or they stay. Ramsey, Murphy and other conservative legislators prefer that they go back where they came from, and are trying to pass laws so punitive that they will leave on their own. (The option of tracking down, arresting and removing 10 million people, using law enforcement and the judicial system to sift the illegal from the legal, is understood by almost everybody to be hopeless.)
Personally, I have no faith that a policy of discouragement can work. Illegal immigrants have already proved themselves willing to endure great risk, sacrifice and hard work.
No matter how difficult we make things, no matter how inhumane or punitive we make our laws, most illegal immigrants are going to conclude that things are better for them and their children here than they would be back home. And if you think about it from their point of view, they’re right.
Changing that calculation would be very, very difficult.
The alternative, then, is to acknowledge the continuing presence of illegal immigrants while providing an avenue for them to leave the shadows and join the mainstream. That’s a step that only Congress can take — a step that it has so far refused to take, and that it shows no signs of taking in the foreseeable future.
Back in the ’80s, President Ronald Reagan supported legalization, explaining in a 1984 presidential debate that “I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally.” Thanks to his backing, Congress agreed.
A few years ago, President George W. Bush tried to convince members of his party to follow Reagan’s lead, but the effort failed. President Barack Obama has also expressed support for such a change, but with chances of passage almost non-existent, he has expended no political capital on its behalf.
As a result, we’re stuck with a choice between bad solutions and no solutions at all.
– Jay Bookman
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710 comments Add your comment
se659
March 30th, 2011
12:48 am
“I have no faith that a policy of discouragement can work.”
Translation: You don’t WANT a policy of discouragement to work. Why else would you be willing to write it off as unworkable before it’s even tried? If the country makes it increasingly difficult to live here outside the framework of the law of course it will have an impact on illegal immigration!
Attrition through enforcement isn’t perfect but it’s a far better policy than another stupid mass amnesty.
LawsThatWork
March 30th, 2011
4:52 am
Citizens are losing their desire to support a federal government that does not support or protect them. Here are simple federal laws that would protect citizens.
(1) It is illegal to take up permanant residence or work in the U.S. without applying for legal immigration. Legal immigration is limited in order to protect the economic security of U.S. citizens.
(2) Any foreign national lacking appropriate visa or work permit attempting to take up residence in the U.S.(i.e., rent an apartment) is in violation of an infraction, having a fine of $1,000, payable on arrest (violator detained until bail met).
(3) Any foreign national lacking an appropriate visa or work permit attempting to obtain employment is in violation of an infraction, having a fine of $2,000, payable on arrest (violator detained until bail met).
(4) Any foreign national found employed for cash wages is in violation of an infraction, having a fine of $5,000, payable on arrest (violator detained until bail met).
(5) Employers will pay a fine of $5,000 for knowingly hiring an illegal employee, along with immediate termination of the illegal worker. Repeated offenses will result in larger fines and possible loss of business licenses.
(6) No employer is allowed to deduct as a business expense, wages paid to anyone other than a legal worker.
(7) The IRS will validate the legal status of workers at the time of hire and at tax filing time.
We need to file a CLASS ACTION SUIT representing ALL U.S. CITIZENS demanding the federal government protect our economic interests if they want our $2 trillion in tax revenues. We need an attorney who will freeze that $2 trillion in tax dollars, preventing the federal government from spending our money until they start responding to our needs. Businesses like GE and agriculture that cannot make it without foreign workers or federal government benefits can find another source of easy money.
Independent
March 30th, 2011
6:32 am
Illegal aliens are using real SS numbers? so show a real SS card. Also, if they are using a real SS number, the IRS should notice something fishy about a guy who has two full-time jobs, one in Seattle Washington and one in Vidalia, Georgia. Plus when the mexican-looking guy shows up with the name John Smith, there should be a clue that something ain’t right. It really is not as hard as it seems, but it starts with requiring businesses to verify their employees through e-verify. And improve e-verify so it not only tells you if it is a real SS number, but matches the name and the age. And don’t let a guy who looks 20 tell you he is a 65-year-old grandfather from Minnesota!
anonymous
March 30th, 2011
7:09 am
leticia olalia morales of 15501 pasadena ave #8 tustin ca 92780 submitted fake documents and paid 5000.00 dollars to obtain a US tourist visa. she is now applying for citizenship.
TnGelding
March 30th, 2011
7:37 am
Isn’t that the way the business community wants it?
It isn’t hopeless, but it would be a daunting task. I suspect the feds know who 75% of these folks are and could find them fairly easily since they are here on expired visas. Let those that have proven themselves to be decent, hard-working, law-abiding people stay and deport the rest under expedited procedures. But no citizenship unless they’re willing to leave and come back into the country legally.
ButtHead
March 30th, 2011
7:38 am
LOL Thulsa Doom good post
anonymous
March 30th, 2011
8:18 am
leticia olalia morales of 15501 pasadena ave #8 tustin ca 92780 submitted fake documents and paid 5000.00 dollars to obtain a US tourist visa. she is now applying for citizens
HostileLogic
March 30th, 2011
12:22 pm
This article is a hat looking for a head.
catt11daddy
March 30th, 2011
3:46 pm
“We feel we need to do something to attract attention ,” said Archie Archuleta, La Raza chairman.
“Behind the National Council of La Raza lies the
real agenda of La Raza, the agenda led to thousands
of illegal immigrants in the streets of American cities, waving Mexican
flags, defying our laws, and demanding concessions.
Among the secondary organizations is the radical racist group Movimiento
Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan
(MEChA), one of the most anti-American groups in the country, which has
permeated U.S. campuses since the 1960s, and continues its push to carve a
racist nation out of the American West.
One of America’s greatest strengths has always been taking in immigrants
from cultures around the world, and assimilating them into our country as
Americans. By being citizens of the U.S. we are Americans first, and only,
in our national loyalties.
Opposed by MEChA for the hordes of illegal immigrants
pouring across our borders, to whom they say:
“Chicano is our identity; it defines who we are as people. It rejects the
notion that we…should assimilate into the Anglo-American melting
pot…Aztlan was the legendary homeland of the Aztecas … It became
synonymous with the vast territories of the Southwest, brutally stolen from
a Mexican people marginalized and betrayed by the hostile custodians of the
Manifest Destiny.” ( University of Oregon MEChA Website, Jan. 3,
2006)
MEChA isn’t at all shy about their goals, or their views of other races.
Their founding principles are contained in “El Plan
Espiritual de Aztlan” ( Spiritual Plan for Aztlan):
“In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud
historical heritage but also of the brutal gringo invasion of our
territories, we, the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern land
of Aztlan came our forefathers, reclaiming the land of their
birth and consecrating the determination of our people of the sun, declare
that the call of our blood is our power, responsibility, and inevitable destiny
Aztlan belongs to those who plant , water
the fields, and gather the crops and not to the Europeans…. We
are a bronze people with a culture. Before the world, before all of
North America, before all our brothers in the bronze continent, we are a
nation, we are a union of free pueblos, we are Aztlan.
Closing motto : “For The Race everything. Outside The Race,
nothing.”
Jim B
March 30th, 2011
6:19 pm
We sent he Republicans to Washington to stop illegal immigration, so far they have not impressed us.