Oh, Those Damn Mexicans

Oh those darn Mexicans! To listen to some conservatives, you might think that the Statue of Liberty, with help from Toby Keith, has rewritten Lazarus’s “The New Colossus” to say “I shake my fist at those who enter” as opposed to “I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” To listen to some liberals, however, you might think that no immigrant has ever done anything wrong, and we should really just go ahead and make Mexico the 51st state. Immigration reform is necessary and hotly debated, and a bill needs to make its way through Congress sooner rather than later. A good immigration reform bill needs to answer three major questions.

First and foremost, the bill must address national security. Is it possible for terrorists, be they the Al-Qaeda variety or any other, to enter America undetected via the Mexican border? The answer is a resounding yes and therefore an immigration bill must address this. Another question that must be asked is if it is possible for terrorists to enter from Mexico, could they also enter from Canada? The answer, again, is ‘Yes,’ and so, this bill must address both borders, not just the Mexican one. America’s geography has long served us well, with oceans protecting us on either side. The Mexican and Canadian borders, however, create a loop hole through which terrorists can forego the difficulty of entering America at a port. If it were not for national security concerns, I would think that the need to address illegal immigration would be much less pressing.

The second problem the bill must address is how to keep illegal immigrants out. There have been many different ideas on this, and the two that seem the most common are to either build a wall or put the military on the border. Both ideas, in my opinion, are unrealistic. The Mexican border is 2,000 miles long… how do you propose to build a wall that long? Where would the labor come from? Ironically, it would probably come from illegal immigrants willing to work for cheap. Who would pay for this wall? You and I would. How long would it take to build it? Quite some time. And once the wall is built, do you not expect immigrants to learn ways around it? Are we going to have our border patrol staring at a wall all day? Are we going to have snipers on the wall to shoot people who try to climb it? How about we just go ahead and change the name of our country to West Berlin?

As for the military, where are the men going to come from? Do we really have enough troops right now to be sparing between 5 and 10 thousand to stand on the border? And look at that idea from Mexico’s perspective: you’re a third world country with very little money, even less military capability, and your neighbor to the north - who just so happens to be the most powerful nation in the world - is lining its army along your border. No, I don’t think that would make Mexico feel threatened at all. If you put the military on the border you’re simply asking for trouble.

The third problem the bill must face is what to do with the 12 million illegals that are already in America. The most far-fetched theory is one that says just round them up and kick them out. This would be an impossible, frightening task that could never fully be accomplished. Clearly a bill should establish a law that allows police to immediately deport illegal immigrants when they are caught, but sending police on a mission to round up 12 million un-accounted for immigrants is unrealistic. The other extreme, and unfortunately probably the most easily achieved, is complete amnesty. This is what happened under the Reagan administration in 1986: a date was set, and any illegal in the US by that time was granted total amnesty. To do this again would be a mistake, even though it is certainly the most attainable objective.

The closest thing to a compromise is the McCain/Kennedy bill, which says that illegals that have been in America for 5 years be given guest worker status and placed on an 11 year track to citizenship; those in the US for 2 years would have to go to a port of entry and declare themselves, and then they would be given a visa and begin the path to citizenship; and those here for less than 2 years would have to leave immediately.

None of these are particularly good options, and perhaps there is no perfect solution to this part of the equation. If I had to pick one, I would support a variation of the McCain/Kennedy plan. Allow a certain portion of those that have been here a window of opportunity to become legal. Once this window closes, however, the bill must allow for illegals to be deported right away when they are caught. The policy now is that when an illegal is caught he is given a court date and released. Shockingly, roughly 95 percent of them never show up for court. Illegals must be detained and deported as quickly as possible. While I believe in due process, there should be some way to hold them until their court date which should be expedited. If they cannot prove they are here legally, they have to be deported, no matter how long they have been here for.

Most importantly, America must make it easier for immigrants to come in legally. I strongly agree with the President’s plan for a temporary worker program which would allow immigrants to come in and work for some time, with a possible extension at the end of this time period. At the end of the second extension, I believe there should then be an opportunity for permanent residence and eventually citizenship. I also agree with the President’s policy that spouses and children be allowed to follow the worker should they choose to. America would not refuse refugees from a nation of government oppression. We would never disallow immigrants who flee to escape a dictatorship and come to America to find freedom; so why should we refuse immigrants who wish to come here to find economic prosperity they cannot achieve in their own nation? Many immigrants come here for the purpose of sending money back home. If a Mexican can come here and earn five dollars an hour, he is earning fifty an hour for his family back home. We should always open our doors to these kinds of hard working family men and women, but we must also work to control the border for our own security. If we allow immigrants to come here with ease legally, then I believe they will stop coming here illegally. “Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”