Illegal Immigration and Immigration Reform

For years now, I’ve been hearing people pitch a fit about immigration, illegal immigrants, etc.  Over and over and over I hear the same ignorant arguments about “taking our jobs” and “don’t pay taxes” and more similar ridiculousness.  I’m here to set the record straight, and propose a fix.

For years I’ve been telling anyone who was nutty enough to listen to me how to fix this problem.  The problem isn’t that they come here, it’s that they come here illegally.  There’s no control over the system, and the Federal Government, who is ultimately responsible for border security, does nothing.  Well, they do a lot, but none of it is useful. The majority of these illegal immigrants that people are complaining about are Mexican.  That’s simple to figure out.  They share a border with us, and have a poor standard of living.  So they want to come here to improve their lot in live.

So why do Mexicans come here illegally?  Why can’t they just do it the “right” way?  Are they all criminals who want to flout the law? 

Of course not!  It is the fault of the Federal Government, once again, that so many come here illegally.  Here’s the deal.  Immigrating to the US costs a lot of money, and takes a great deal of time.  Mexicans who want to come here typically don’t have much, if any, money.  They are hungry, poor, tired, and want to make a better life for their children.  They might starve to death, or watch family members starve to death, waiting for approval to come here legally. Add to that the relative ease of crossing the border undetected (even if caught they are dropped off back in their own country after getting a free meal or two so they can try again) and it’s no wonder they choose to do it the illegal way.  It’s quick, simple, and effective.  That’s what I’d do, too. 

Here’s a magic solution. Stop making it so damned hard to come here legally, and start making it hard to come here illegally.  If you were risking your life to cross that border illegally, and had a 2% chance of making it across alive, but could walk up to any border checkpoint, apply for residency, and be approved and into the country in less than a week, which choice do you suppose these people would make?  The hordes of Mexicans coming across that border are, by and large, a group of people looking for a better life.  Sure, there’s a few criminals, drug runners, rapists, and overall freaks.  Find me a group of people anywhere that can boast no criminal element, and I’ll show you a group that’s lying about or ignorant of their own members. 

Add to that states like Arizona, who have an extreme problem with illegal immigration, to the point that it threatens their economy, services, government, etc.  They try to take action to enforce federal laws that the Feds conveniently forget about, and suddenly the US DOJ is suing them.  The media blew their laws completely out of proportion, and made it sound as if they were out hunting every Hispanic they could find to throw them out of the country, and still nobody can come up with a plan to deal with things better. 

Meanwhile, the majority (over 2/3) of illegal residents of the United States are still paying all of the taxes that legal residents pay, as well as not getting many of the benefits that legal residents would get.  Primarily out of fear of getting caught, many won’t apply for the few benefits that they actually could qualify for still.  Not that I’m arguing for these social programs, as they should be tossed out as well, but why should we deny a group of people access to something that they are paying for? 

Here’s the fix for all of the problems caused by illegal immigration.  Make it extremely easy to come here legally. Make it a death defying, harrowing, dangerous act to even try to come here illegally. You’ll see people lined up to try to get here, all neatly documented, registered aliens with proper ID and tax numbers, ready to work their butts off and boost the economy to make it better for every current or future US resident. 

Unleash the true power of immigration.  Bring us your tired, your poor; your huddled masses yearning to breath free.  We will show them freedom, and all prosper from it.