The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 3 of 6)

We have cities building places for illegals to go and wait for someone to come hire them. Cops are not allowed to question to see if someone is legal. So what if prices go up a little, just maybe our taxes will go down a little when we don't have to pay for schooling, health care, and welfare for illegals. The magic word here is ILLEGAL.

p>And as for planting sod, that is a job I did for three years. Had a crew of teenagers that worked with me after school and weekends and I would not mind doing it again. We planted 60 pallets in 12 hours and the pay my workers got was more than their parents made in the same time. br> -- Elaine Kyle /p> p> I do not understand what part of the English word ILLEGAL is not understood by politicians and MSM. ILLEGAL is not having valid IDs. ILLEGAL is not paying TAX'S or SS. ILLEGAL is taking day jobs for pay under the table there bye depriving the honest taxpayer of a living. ILLEGALS use the social programs and health system off the backs of hard working TAXPAYING'S Americans. Twelve million ILLEGALS would not be here if ALL law enforcement would enforce the laws against ILLEGALS and their aiders and abettors. br> -- Bob & Sam /p>

I find Mr. Crocker's arguments utterly unpersuasive. I seriously doubt that he believes them, but just in case, lets address a few of them, then discuss real reforms.

To begin with, his hair-splitting sophistry about the word "amnesty" is unworthy of a serious article. The $2,000 fine, in the extremely unlikely case that it is ever actually enforced, is negligible compared to the benefits the border jumper has gained. Technically, it may not be amnesty, but then neither is sentencing a murderer to ten weekends of community service. To most of the illegals, citizenship is a meaningless abstraction compared to legal status and the right to stay for a decade or more. Any children they have in the interim will be granted citizenship automatically anyway, and that is a major part of the problem.

Next, let's address the issue of jobs Americans won't take. Sod laying and strawberry picking are both hard, unpleasant work, but they share a more important characteristic: if they stopped being done, it wouldn't make any real difference to America. In the rare case where sod laying is essential, the employer should be willing to pay a hefty premium. As for strawberries, I like them as much as anyone, but when I was growing up, we picked most of our own. Commercial strawberries could probably be supplied by Chile, along with their excellent grapes. I bet even Mexico could do it if their government got out of the way.

A lot of the jobs that exist only do so because of an unlimited supply of cheap labor. We sustain them by importing third world poverty to the United States. A major flaw in the arguments of the pro immigrationists is that the problem will somehow go away if all the illegals are made legal. This ignores the reality that we don't need millions of unskilled laborers anymore. Given our tax structure and the realities of our welfare state, they will ultimately consume more resources than they add. This winds up being a huge taxpayer subsidy to the employer of the unskilled worker.

Finally we really need to look at the problem I alluded to above. The average illegal immigrant at least has a clear idea of what he is escaping from when he comes here, and that knowledge along with a marginal status helps keep resentment in check. Second and third generations grow up surrounded not by poverty, but by (relatively) wealthy middle class natives, and a sense of entitlement. They have vastly higher expectations, but only modestly better skills, and no shortage of demagogues willing to tell them it's somebody else's fault. All this might be possible to overcome in a world where the native country was a three-month sea voyage away, and no international phone service existed. In a world where the homeland is a few hours drive, broadcasts daily into their homes, preaches an irredentist, frankly anti-American line, and actively encourages massive flouting of our laws, it is unsustainable.

Here is what I want, but don't really expect: First, seal the border by any means necessary. Don't tell me a fence won't work, or can't be built. We all know that is crap. Second, start enforcing the laws against hiring illegals. Enact a practical method for verifying status and insist it be used. Third, allow Illegals who self-report and are currently employed six to twelve months to leave, without prejudice to their future status as legal immigrants, while instantly deporting those who have to be caught, and denying them any chance to apply for legal immigration in the future. With these provisions in place "rounding up twelve million people" will not be necessary.

topics:
Taxes, Education, Trade, Health Care, Business, Law, Immigration, Oil