By Brendan O’Reilly
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
This inscription, an excerpt from the Emma Lazarus’ poem “New Colossus,” is the reason the Statue of Liberty has been a beacon of hope to emigrants fleeing oppression, poverty and famine. However, the United States cannot take on all the world’s impoverished. If America opens its borders to all economic refugees with no restrictions, it will not be able to accept those fleeing more than poverty (like genocide).
If America needs the cheap labor Mexican nationals provide than Congress can adjust the immigration quotas. The policy of the last decade or so to turn the other way while millions enter the country illegally, is not the answer
Immigration will be a big issue in the coming midterm elections and an even bigger one in the next presidential election. Even if the Senate and the House can agree on an immigration reform bill before 2008, it will not contain the sweeping reform that is necessary.
Mexican President Vicente Fox should consider his country’s own immigration laws before criticizing every piece of potential immigration legislation in the United States that is short of complete amnesty and open borders. The Senate proposals may have their flaws, but a man whose poverty policy is to export the poor should have no bearing on U.S. legislation. The irony is that Mexico has harsher laws towards immigrants, legal and illegal, than America. It is written in the Mexican Constitution, “Foreigners may not, in any manner, involve themselves in the political affairs of the country.” If Guatemalans tried to demonstrate in Mexico the way Mexican nationals protested in America, they would be deported.
There are an estimated 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. It is logistically impossible to locate and remove them all. Deporting even a small percentage would cost American tax payers more than it does to let them reside in the country.
Declaring entering the United States illegally a felony will not be enough of a deterrent. As a punishment, it is impractical. The government would need to build many new detention facilities to incarcerate illegal immigrants. Many illegal immigrants have children after entering and those children are born American citizens. Who is going to care for them while their parents sit in jail awaiting deportation?
The answer is not amnesty either. That awards illegal behavior and is unfair to those who wait patiently to enter lawfully.
Congress should instate a fine that once paid will grant illegal immigrants “non-citizen resident” status. They should be given a reasonable window of time after turning themselves into authorities to pay the fine. While it would be great to collect back taxes from those who have been working off the books, it is reaching too far. Of course a criminal background check would be necessary and proof that the immigrant has been working or parenting. They would have to inform authorities of their places of residence and employment, so it will be easier to track down other illegal immigrants and their employers.
Second, Congress should impose heavy fines on businesses and individuals who knowingly hire undocumented workers and pay off the books. Employers who regularly hire illegal immigrants will become inclined to only hire legal residents. Illegal immigrants would have to apply for non-citizen resident status if they want to find work and not face future deportation.
Any immigration reform must include securing American borders and ports. While most illegal immigration comes from the south, human trafficking over the Canadian border is not unheard of. On April 12 it was reported that a criminal operation to sneak Indians and Pakistanis into the United States over the Canadian border was thwarted.
The idea of a wall along the southern border is preposterous. The usefulness of such an expensive project could be undone with a ladder. Manpower is what’s needed. Whether it is more border security agents or military personnel. Increased security will not only thwart and deter human smuggling, but drug smuggling as well.
CNN’s Lou Dobbs frequently reports on border security and illegal immigration on Lou Dobbs Tonight in a series titled “Broken Borders.” A year ago Dobbs read on his program an e-mail I sent. It read, “Lou, I’ve been wondering about something for a while and I was hoping you could help me out. I believe that the federal government should be securing our borders. Now does this make me a Republican or a Democrat? I can’t tell, because neither party is doing anything about it.”
I do not understand why it has taken this long for immigration and border security to reach the forefront of national debate. While Bush and Kerry were debating same sex marriage and getting nowhere, they could have been discussing these more pressing issues.