Whenever people here in Colorado get together and discuss our national problems someone always mentions that we have an immigration problem. At this point the conversation heats up as both sides get excited about our illegal alien issue, or our “Mexican problem” as some will call it. Interestingly, everyone agrees on that point. When discussing illegal aliens we are never talking about Cubans, Chechens, Brazilians, Western Europeans or South Africans who enter the country illegally and try to establish lives here. We are not even talking about Terrorists from the Middle East. Nope, it’s the Mexicans. To say that immigration is not a simple issue doesn’t even begin to describe how complicated this political hotbed of a discussion topic is.
Those who would rather have all illegal aliens deported back to Mexico think this solution will also rid us of many of our other problems associated with undocumented people from Mexico. To those who favor this argument we are spending money on undocumented Mexicans in the welfare system, at our hospital emergency rooms, in our schools and on our unemployment rolls that we shouldn’t be burdened with. They believe that all of the related problems from our over populated prisons to the annoying fact that an average citizen must now press 1 for English when calling their local bank or utility service help line will simply disappear if we just get up the gumption to deport the lot of them back to Mexico and let Mexico deal with it. After all, it is really their problem isn’t it?
To understand the reasons why our immigration problems come from Mexico we have to take a look at our immigration rules, our less than secure southern border and the inefficiently run, largely corrupt Mexican government. Imagine your name is Juan Jose and you cannot make a decent living in Mexico. Although Mexico has laws governing many aspects of life, most of these laws are either ignored or are only enforced to the point that it prompts a healthy bribe from any citizen or businessperson who wants to accomplish something or get away with something. Imagine a little further and visualize a system where the only way life can go smoothly for anyone is if the law is completely ignored until it is necessary to remember it in order to keep out of trouble with the largely corrupt, bribe seeking officials—whoever they may be.
After growing up in a system like that and constantly seeing life from this perspective and in the interest of having a better quality life than this, you will come to the quite natural conclusion that life in the U.S. would be better. After all, they accept the world’s tired, poor and hungry…right? So you find out from a friend or relative who is already in the U.S. that you can start working at the Holiday Inn in El Paso or San Diego on Monday if you can find a way to get there.
You go to the American consulate and apply for a visa to come into the U.S. to work. Fine, we say. We can get you a visa or a green card in approximately…18 weeks, give or take a month or two. This is what you will be told. After a life time of having to work around the system in your own country you will naturally come to the instant conclusion that you need to find a way to get to the El Paso Holiday Inn by Monday so you can start working and get the good life. But once you arrive and begin working (yes, they will let you start working just like your cousin said they would) the U.S. government tells you that you cannot get a green card or a visa because you entered the country illegally. So you stay anyway, which you can find a way to do. It isn’t difficult. Just stay. After a while you have a driver’s license and a social security card (somehow). There is an entire underground network of industries to help you get the proper identification. In fact, there is also an underground network of businesses on the Mexico side of the border that will help you get into the country to begin with if you can afford it.
However, Juan Jose is a productive individual and he works hard. He learns English during his first year here and he even pays taxes on his earnings at the Holiday Inn. Maybe he even gets married and has a family here. Some day he may retire here.
So, let’s get back to the reality of our immigration problem. Wouldn’t it be simpler if we just streamlined the official process so that they could come into the country legally? If Juan could have gotten a green card or a work visa in, say, one or two weeks—do you think he would come in here legally? As expensive as it is to hire a coyote to ferry him into the country just so he can work in the hotel business or pick vegetables (to begin with). My guess is he would.
To go a bit further with this let’s look at the high number of people who have been living productively in the U.S. for 20 years and cannot get official papers because they entered the country illegally. Why not let them become citizens a little easier? Will it damage our national security? I doubt it, but go ahead and let Homeland security verify that they are not some transplanted terrorist sleeper before allowing them to become a citizen. If they haven’t been in trouble with the law, and if they don’t have any citizenship preventing facts in their documentable life, why not streamline their pathway to citizenship? Isn’t that what America is all about?
On the other hand, if they have been in and out of jail for several years and they have an undesirable track record—deport them.
No comments:
Post a Comment