Immigration or Exploitation?

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or
birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all.

We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." Theodore Roosevelt

Saturday at a local shrine, I talked to a couple of young women who were manning a booth for 'no more deaths' and informing passersby of their concern about a law declaring it criminal to give humanitarian aid to certain people caught out in the desert even if dying of thirst. It's okay to call the Border Patrol but not okay to give the dehydrated person help with water or food if it is suspected they are coming up here illegally. Not okay to leave such water out.

I agreed with the young women that humanitarian aid is not the equivalent of the coyotes, the name for those who bring people across for money. Is it equivalent to the underground railway bringing men and women from slavery to freedom before slavery was outlawed in the United States? There seems to me a big difference between being freed from a slavery you didn't choose and just going north for more money and a better quality life.

From the standpoint of a mother, friend, caring human being, I don't think we should arrest those who provide food and water to the suffering. At least not if they are not also transporting the illegal aliens. (and yes, I use that word and not undocumented worker. To me the latter is politically correct talk and I find it offensive. They are illegally up here and they are from another country.

I could easily write a book on this but trying to keep it short, I see the problems but not cost-free solutions-- not for our country or the ones who came up here illegally. There is a cost also, however, for continuing as we are. Arizona border towns have changed since I first came here over 40 years ago to more violent, unfriendly places. The country between Tucson and the border is more of a no-man's land where those who cross illegally make it hard on the ranchers by cutting fences, draining water tanks. The ranchers have struck back by patrolling their own land and holding people they suspect as being illegally here for the Border Patrol. There have been shots exchanged on both sides.

Many of the students across the United States, who are skipping classes and raising Mexican flags, apparently want no immigration laws. Where would that end if every country had no borders? Or is it just rich countries that should have none? Some would say that's utopia but human nature being what it is, laws being those that individual countries choose for themselves, property rights what most of us expect even with private property, no borders seems like no solution.

Attempted answers have failed in the past. In 1986, President Reagan signed an amnesty for illegals in the country. I have heard 4 million took advantage of it. Reagan claimed that we would then prevent more illegal employment. Now there are supposedly 11 million illegals in this country and the demand is we stop enforcing border laws. What demand follows?

Some Hispanics in California, Arizona and New Mexico are talking about taking back what they consider was taken illegally from them and calling the new country Aztlan which is supposedly a mythic land where the Aztecs emerged before going south.

I know I will sound anything but like the liberal some assume I am; but since there is no going backward in time to undo mistakes, my solution would be hard-nosed. Protect our borders in whatever way we can, penalize employers who hire illegals with serious consequences, dry up the jobs and that means for those already here. And yes, I'd send back the ones that have come illegally and let them apply like all other immigrants. This country takes in about 400,000 people a year legally. We could give those who went back down special consideration if they had jobs already up here, but to allow them to profit by breaking the law to get here, how does anyone win with that? The last amnesty only encouraged others to come up illegally assuming they would eventually get the same thing. I know what I said sounds heartless; yes, it would be very costly in emotional angst, uprisings and money; but there is such a thing as tough love where you do something that seems hard because you know the other path leads to worse consequences.

Business, however, doesn't want hard-nosed solutions. Even the stock market analysts predict we need cheap and exploited labor or the stock market will fall. I believe we could send back the 11 million illegals (some say we couldn't) but, I believe also, the will is not here in the American people. The cheap labor is too appealing to some and for others it's compassion for those who have established homes and lives here.

The serious problem I see is that when you encourage people to enter here illegally-- and by not enforcing the laws of employment nor protecting our border, we are encouraging it-- the end result is you are benefitting from the exploitation of one people for another people's gain. That's not right nor is it in the end even smart.

This nation (and many others) has followed this path for many years-- exploiting an ethnic group from blacks, to Chinese and now Latinos that we use for their cheap labor and don't grant citizenship rights to-- or do our darnedest not to. That sort of thing has to end somewhere but not sure it will... or maybe not until the consequences of such abuse have become catastrophic and it's too late.