| April 4, 2006
For all our righteous indignation concerning human
rights and the treatment of citizens in other countries, for all our
congratulatory backslaps about how far we have come in our national
conscience, we haven't really changed.
No, we haven't interred Japanese-American citizens
again, we haven't legalized slavery, and we haven't revived McCarthyism --
but we might as well have, given the current debate over immigration in
this country.
We continue to be frustrated, fearful, and angry
after 9/11 and we need somewhere to vent those emotions. It's much
easier to see an immigrant that it is to "see" immigration law,
so we focus on the symptom instead of the cause -- all in the name of
fighting terrorism and promoting homeland security.
Our immigration law is broken. It is broken so
badly that the Clinton administration tried to remedy the illegal alien
problem by declaring an amnesty. The amnesty didn't work as
intended, and the current opponents of clemency have pointed to this
failure to support their position. They also maintain that any form
of leniency rewards law breakers. To those folks I say, "Get a
life." White-collar crime has historically been treated more
leniently than other crimes even though the amount of money involved and
the number of lives devastated may qualify the offender as a
serial-criminal. Life has never been fair, nor will it be any time
soon.
As for the argument that these aliens are
law-breakers who take jobs from our legal citizens and don't pay taxes -
most of these "law-breakers" may have broken only the
immigration law. They may have braved robbery, slavery, or death to
come to this country so they can try to make a better life for their
children than the one in which they grew up. Once here, they are
vulnerable to victimization by the unscrupulous and vilification by the
fearful or those with other agendas. Our economy has survived wars,
natural disasters, and terrorist actions -- it can survive a few
immigrants who want to become productive members of our society.
Giving these aliens legal status helps unclog the system and better
ensures that these productive members of our society will pay their fair
share of taxes. Fixing the current immigration law will help ensure
that the system remains unclogged.
Walls? Walls? Since when did a
wall keep out a tunnel? -- and we've discovered quite a few tunnels under
our borders in the last few years, many built and used by
drug-traffickers. Ideas like building expensive walls are really
ways for politicians to get the voters off their backs by throwing our
money and a lot of dust into the air so everyone can feel better because
they see some action. And after all, any action -- even the wrong
kind -- is better than no action at all, right?
Bottom line: fix immigration law and quit picking on
those who can't defend themselves. Our current policy promotes
drug-trafficking, human slavery, and other crimes against humanity.
Band-aids and a little pain-killer may help us feel better for the moment,
but they won't cure a terminal disease. We have to treat the
illness, not the symptom.
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