Immigration

I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that politicians are using the immigration debate for political points instead of using a common sense approach to the problem. Both liberal and conservative politicians see the rising percentage of Hispanic voters in the United States and are trying to get those potential voters into their camp. Let’s take a look at some of the issues and see if there is a sensible way to deal with the issue.

First, you have to get your head around the fact that the only issue appears to be the Mexican-American border. There is virtually never any discussion of the Canadian-American border or immigration of Canadians into the United States. There is no public discussion about Europeans, Asians, or Africans arriving by ship or plane. There will inevitably be some left winger who says it is a racist issue. I will preface my comments by saying that everyone in the United States who isn’t a Native American is an immigrant and that immigration is one of the strengths of the nation, not a detriment. Anyone who knows anything about science knows that populations improve by melding the strengths of the various components. Populations that don’t improve become extinct. With that as a background, I will focus on Hispanic immigration through the Mexican-American border.

I am definitely in favor of legal immigration because of the additional cultural aspects, foods, labor force, ideas, and all the other things that immigrants bring to the nation. Illegal immigration is a completely different issue. There is no obligation for taxpayers in any nation to pay for the health care, education, unemployment benefits, or any other expense for anyone who sneaks into any country illegally. There is a political view in California and other states that says that the children of illegal immigrants are victims and should be legally educated in state-funded schools. If these children are victims, they are victims of their parents who are, by definition, criminals. There is no obligation to provide benefits for them. No, I am not against children. These people could have come into the country legally. They chose not to. One of their incentives to come in illegally is the very fact that they do receive those benefits. The states bring the problem onto themselves. California is virtually bankrupt because of their policies and is asking for federal money to bail them out. The education system in California has gone from the best in the nation to one of the worst. They apparently never learn. They are now asking for a federal bail out. How do taxpayers in Iowa, Virginia or Ohio have an obligation to bail out California in light of their stupid policies?

Another incentive for the immigrants to come into the United States is our law which says that if you are born while physically present in the country, you are a citizen. Perhaps we should rethink that. If you are in the country illegally (a criminal act) and drop out a baby, how does that entitle the child to become a citizen? It reminds me of the old legal concept of the “fruit of the poisoned tree”. Evidence obtained unlawfully is not permitted to be used in court. If you deliver a baby while committing an illegal act, should the baby receive benefits for it? It is another incentive to sneak in. If fact, the hospitals on the border routinely deliver babies from women who wait until they are in labor, sneak into the United States, and deliver the baby in country. I suppose the question has to be asked, does this entitle this child to all the benefits of being a United States citizen? Would it make more sense to have the requirement be that any child born in the United States would become a citizen only if the mother was in the country legally?

No one can argue that the construction, farming and service industries in the United States do not benefit from the presence of illegal immigrants. Because of the decreased costs of production in picking vegetables and fruit, building homes, cleaning hotels, washing dishes, etc. there is definitely benefit to all American citizens from decreased prices. So, if we need all those folks to do those jobs, why would we want to prevent them from entering the country? The answer is: we want them to get in. The caveat is that we want them to get in legally.

The benefits of legal immigration are unquestioned. That is why I actually prefer the suggestion made in the past few years of the Guest Worker program. If workers from other countries (primarily Mexico, Central and South America) can enter the country legally with temporary paper work, there are a number of advantages for the United States. We can keep track of who is entering the country. From both the security and financial standpoints, this is clearly what we want. This also assuages any guilt over nailing people who come in illegally. If there is an easy way to enter legally for people who just want to make some money to support their family, there is no reason to feel sorry for people who decided to come in the illegal way.

If there is an easy way to obtain legal temporary status to come and work, what is the incentive to sneak in unless you have nefarious motives? Since so many less people need to sneak in, the numbers of people that need to be apprehended is less and the Border Patrol can focus on the real criminals trying to sneak in with narcotics, etc.

The temporary workers can take their earnings and go home to their families in Mexico, Central or South America, knowing that they will be able to come back the next season without having to enter illegally. That gives them more time with their families and less anxiety over the process of entering to earn. The industries which employ the workers who are now illegal will have legal employees who don't have to hide and don't have to stay when their work is out of season.

When you can track guest workers, those people will pay payroll taxes and social security taxes and therefore will be entitled to basic services because they are paying into the system. The financial balance will be much improved for local and state governments. No one should mind the presence of anyone who wants to work and provide for their family. It is the best of human motives.

To me, a Guest Worker program makes sense on many levels. Politicians oppose it for their own reasons but it seems to be the best answer to allow fairness and to maintain viability of the industries mentioned above.