Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Nation of Laws/Nation of Immigrants

We are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. This simple fact makes the problem of illegal immigration into this country polarizing and daunting. The president's speech was a solid step in managing the growing problem of illegal immigration but should have gone further.

Securing the borders is the first step. This should have happened after the 9/11 attack. Actually the president did have a plan that was working through the system but it was sidetracked by 9/11. Ironic. The very act that made everyone aware of the shortcomings in our national security policy moved the tightening of our borders on the back burner.

I am in favor of the National Guard on the border but 6,000 on a temporary basis is nonsense. Triple that number and give them a real reason to be there other than chaperoning the Border Patrol and then we are on the right track.

I am happy to hear the president admit the catch and release policy is outdated and ineffective. Why wouldn't they just try again? Why wouldn't they skip out on a court date?

I think I'm ok with the temporary worker plan but I am not convinced it will work in the long term. I don't believe the worker will leave this country and return to his country when the visa expires. Isn't that how we got into this mess generations ago by a portion of the people coming in?

I am all over the part about holding employers accountable. This is a common sense approach that is easy to understand. If the low paying jobs are not available from those who would exploit the workers, then the workers will not come. I remember in the mid eighties when President Reagan gave amnesty to illegals and all the businesses really cracked down on their policies for hiring new personnel. I worked for a Fortune 500 company in Dallas and part of my job was in Human Resources. We had to check green cards and social security cards on everyone and ran copies of the documents for personnel files should a question arise. Too bad the system is no longer enforced.

I agree with the face reality aspect of the president's speech, too. There is no easy path to citizenship. Nor should there be, for heavens sake. No amnesty. That policy obviously doesn't work. No mass round up for deportation. The path to citizenship is paved by paying a penalty, learning English, paying taxes and holding a job for a certain amount of time. Then the illegal immigrant is entitled to get into line, at the back of the line, for a chance at citizenship.

A tamper resistant identity card? Sounds good. It's nonsense.

I think ending the "anchor baby" loophole would really be effective, too. If parents were not automatically allowed to remain here by the fact of birthing a baby in this country, then that incentive would go far in relieving the overload to our health care system and the education strain, too.

We are a melting pot. In earlier times immigrants to this country assimilated and became part of the life in this country. They came here for the sole reason of partaking in our freedoms and opportunities. The illegal immigrants have chosen to not assimilate for the most part. They haven't learned the language of this country and do not adhere to customs and laws here. This does not enrich our country. This is a burden.

The Border Patrol are working hard every day to do the best they can. They daily withstand personal danger on patrol. They are attacked with baseball sized rocks, crudely made bombs, and other physical attacks. They deserve better support.

Immediately following the president's speech, on local news, a member of a local Hispanic activist group was complaining that he didn't like the tightening up the border aspect of the president's plans. He doesn't like the use of technology finally being utilized on the border. Yeah, I'm sure he doesn't. Another exploiter taking advantage of human beings under the guise of human rights. Open borders keep this activist in his position of power in the community, at the expense of the legal citizens here and those who are following the rules.

Finally, the technology aspect of the president's proposal is encouraging. Unmanned drones and sensors will go a long way to assist the Border Patrol.

"Every human being has dignity and value." - President George W. Bush

2 comments:

srp said...

I get really, really angry about the illegal immigration situation. Even in the 70's when I was in Dallas, illegals taxed the public hospital system and we had to have interpreters on staff to talk to them. Hey, my brother isn't going for citizenship in Austria, but he lives there. To work in any country in Europe he has to pay fees and not just one, for each country there is a fee. He has mountains of forms to fill out, visas and work visas to get in order and taxes. He has to pay not only taxes in each country where he works, he also has to pay US taxes on that pay as well. Even though he pays taxes in Austria and Germany, he HAS NO RIGHTS TO FREE HEALTH CARE as the citizens there do. Free health care is more available to illegals than to legal citizens here. THAT IS NOT RIGHT!! The baby law HAS TO GO!!!! My solution is too radical to talk about. It only comes to my head when I get really, really angry but I think it would be effective. However it is light years away from being politically correct, so enough said.

srp said...

One thing I forgot. Though Stephen is not going to become a citizen of Austria, he still has learned the language, German, and speaks and reads (even thinks sometimes) German to the point that native Austrians sometimes can't tell he is American. This has come in handy. Once he was in a store with another American singer and they were conversing in English. The two German ladies in front of them started making derogatory statements about them in German, not knowing that he could understand. Before they left, he turned and gave it right back to them in perfect German. Red faced ladies left. The cashier gave him an ovation.