Finally, a fresh look at immigration reforms

By Dick Tunison

There is so much hot blood swirling around the idea of amnesty that it’s easy to overlook the meaning of the word. Actually, what the president is recommending for aliens is a far cry from typical presidential forays into end-of-the term pardons that we’ve recently observed. The matter of violations of the law is present in both circumstances. Illegal aliens are, by their very status, violators of the law just like tax evaders, commodity scammers and others who have crossed legal boundaries. The difference here is how the violators are finally dealt with. The president has proposed a redemption program for illegal aliens, not wholesale pardons. There is a clear distinction. His requirements demand corrective action. There is no provision for “olly, olly, oxen free.”

This past week congress has seemed to put its best foot forward in a new effort to create a bill that will address the manifold difficulties presented by an influx of up to twelve million illegals that have made their way over our southern borders. George Bush threw down the gauntlet Tuesday evening when he spoke to the nation about immigration problems and potential solutions.

Of course some politicians on both sides of the aisle have made their feelings clear as to where they think the president missed the boat, but the general public seemed to think otherwise. This is not to say the president’s proposals were perfect, but they certainly provided a thoughtful basis for lawmakers to begin to do their business.

I think we would all agree that if we had a broken water main flooding our home, the first order of business would be to shut off the flow. To my way of thinking, the first order of attention needs to be making our borders less permeable. An absolute seal is probably impossible and perhaps a misplacement of our efforts. A two thousand mile leak would require a lot of plumbing cement. But at the same time sending six thousand national guardsmen will not, by itself, do the job either. There needs to be some melding of the two that will create manageable check-points capable of being monitored.

Although the National Guard is well trained in many of the tasks required to help seal the border, using them for this purpose is only stop-gap and they will need to be replaced quickly with newly trained border patrol agents. The question is where we will find proper candidates for such jobs. Among other qualifications, a proper candidate should be conversant in Spanish. This will probably require a super recruiting effort among America’s Spanish speakers. But finding ten thousand candidates from among them seems doable.

So, if we can accomplish the first task we can then address the second aspect of the problem which is the magnet for illegals – open employment. Employers should be expected to hold up their end of the line by refusing to employ illegal workers. But with bogus papers, it’s hard for employers to verify legitimacy of a worker’s right to a job, and they are often allowed to slip into the workforce undetected or, or worse, knowingly. The truth is that it’s easier to hire an illegal worker with a wink and a hope than it is for the employer to follow the law. This needs to be rectified soon.

The other side of this issue is that various levels of law enforcement have not interfered while these things have happened. In fact some cities have passed ordinances prohibiting local law enforcement officers from engaging anyone who even appears to be here illegally. Additionally, Catholic Churches, particularly in Southern California, have become open refuges in defiance of the law. The argument used is that doing so is an act of Christian charity, but that can surely be debated.

All this needs to be remedied first by developing a foolproof identity card and second by creating a rapid response system of verification. Any law concerning the employment of non-citizens must possess an incentive to abide by it rather than simply contain threats of punitive actions against violators. Those who are sympathetic to the plight of the illegal immigrant must, in good conscience, revisit there own logic to determine if there are other means available for resolving the problem besides acting as scofflaws.

Next, we need to find a way to bring illegal immigrants to the surface so that they can properly enter the mainstream of America. Among other things, entering the mainstream means taking certain steps toward achieving legalization, such as completing registration papers, paying appropriate fines and back taxes, learning to read and write English and refraining from any further violations of the laws of the land. This is essentialy what the president is proposing that some critics want to call amnesty.

An underlying goal of such a program would be to facilitate assimilation as well as achieving citizenship. I suggest that one of the strong attractions for the illegal aliens to participate in this process is that they would no longer need to remain part of a sub-rosa element of our society, always on the lookout for the men in green. They would become legitimate, taxpaying contenders for citizenship. But they need to follow the rules to do so.

I don’t feel enacting such steps is tantamount to amnesty. This would not be at all similar to the president pardoning a lawbreaker before he leaves office in some final gesture of grace with no recompense required, but rather the demonstration of fulfilling an obligation to America. There is, after all, a feeling of pride that can come from knowing, “I am here honestly and openly, and not by subterfuge and cunning.”

There are some isolationists who have their reasons for wanting to eject all foreigners. As we know, those reasons range from those held by the super alien haters like the Neo-Nazi skinheads, to just plane old xenophobes. But I don’t believe most Americans view the influx of illegal aliens from such perspectives.

Where objections to immigration exist, we tend to hear the complaints directed toward the costs born by John Q. Taxpayer who feels the illegal is treated more generously in our social systems than the disadvantaged native-born American who struggles just as hard to get ahead and pays taxes along the way. Where there is a perspective of injustice we must remediate. There is probably no question that the sub-rosa society is causing an undue drain on social services and our school systems. A visit to many Emergency Hospitals reveals their inappropriate use as primary providers. When extended families of ten of twelve, living in low cost rental units send their children to public schools, who pays their way? These are serious matters that must be addressed as part of a new immigration program.

Yes, there are many aspects of the illegal immigration problem that vex us and are not easily resolved. It’s much more than building a fence or a concrete wall. It’s much more than who protects our borders. It’s much more than who stays and who goes. It’s much more than paying fines and learning the English language. That’s all part of it, but taking thoughtful first steps will help us see over the top of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles. We only need to be less political and a little more creative in our problem solving efforts.