June 08, 2007

McCaskill: Immigration bill was not the answer

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, sent out this lengthy column after the defeat of a comprehensive immigration bill. Here it is in its entirety:

When the U.S. Senate recently took up the immigration bill, there were hours and hours of complicated discussions about what to do about the problem. I believe it could be addressed in a very simple way. As a former prosecutor, I believe it is about following the law. As an auditor, I believe it is about following the money.
We have crimes we can deter in this country, and we have crimes we cannot deter. A crime we can deter is the hiring of illegal immigrants, if we prosecute the people who are hiring them. Other business owners will stop hiring illegal immigrants if they see businesses being held accountable. However, what is hard to deter is families who are trying to feed their children.

As to putting up a wall, yes, border enforcement is a critical part of the answer. As a former law enforcement official, I support enforcing the law against anyone who breaks the law. But let's be realistic about this; as an auditor, I want to be both efficient and effective.

Is it going to be efficient and effective to think we are going to solve this problem at the border? It is not the border that is going to stop the people coming into our country illegally. It is what is on the other side of the border. It is the promise of that job and the hungry mouths they are trying to feed.

So when I looked at the raid that occurred in Butterfield, Missouri a few weeks ago when over 100 illegal immigrants were arrested, I kept watching the news for some word about that employer, but there was nothing.

I know what they’ll say. The employer’s defenders will say, “but that employer down near Springfield at the chicken processing plant didn’t know – the workers had fake IDs. They had fake Social Security numbers.â€