Immigration "Reform"?

By Captain Capitalist

The Senate and the White House are desparately trying to revive an immigration reform bill that can be passed this year. On one side of the debate are people who believe the other side is anti-immigrant or anti-hispanic, while the other side sees their opponents as being anti-border control and pro-amnesty. The public at large, meanwhile, sees a total lack of credibility on the part of our elected representatives. I believe the public has it right on this one.

Immigration reform is not new. We've passed reform bills before that granted a form of amnesty for those already here while promising tougher border enforcement. Enforcement never happened and we have no reason to believe that Washington is serious about making it happen this time. While proponents of the bill debate this amendment and that, most put dealing with illegals already here as priority number one, and treat border enforcement as kind of a side issue that they'll get to later. The illegals already here aren't going anywhere. We have plenty of time to figure out how to deal with them. If we don't get control of the border, whatever else we do is absolutely meaningless.

If we need more immigration, let's make legal immigration easier and allow more people in. Allowing throngs to sneak across the border, then granting them amnesty is not an immigration policy, it's just negligence. The suggestion that our economy will fall apart if we get control of the border is fiction. Life as we know it will not come to an end if we have to pay 95 cents/lb for tomatoes rather than 90 cents. If our economy is dependent on employers being able to hire help at below market rates, the economy needs to adjust. There is no shortage of workers, just a shortage of workers willing to accept the wages employers would like to pay. If higher wages push the price of your product up to the point that demand drops off, then your product obviously wasn't as critical to our existance as advertised. No the answer is NOT to subsidize the tomato industry. Let supply and demand do it's thing. We'll deal with it.

If we are able to secure the border in a a meaningful way, I'll get 100% behind some kind of amnesty program. I don't believe a $5,000 fine, as has been proposed by some, is unreasonable. There are low income people who pay more than that for wide screen TV's and game systems. We could even work out an installment payment plan. But borders security needs to come first. I would like to see two separate bills. Border enforcement first, then, after the promises have been kept and measureable results demonstrated, a means of accomodating those who are currently here illegally.

The American people are not anti-immigration or anti-hispanic. They are anti-BS and are becoming increasingly aware that BS is the number one export of Washington DC.