http://www.chieftain.com/editorial/1133075844/4

The new third rail
EDITORIAL
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
ANYMORE IT seems that illegal immigration is the new third rail of politics. Hardly anyone in office wants to confront the issue head-on.

Yet anyone who says there are not costs to our society for illegal immigrants is not being serious. For example, a percentage of the 600 to 1,000 students who are enrolled in District 60’s English as a Second Language program are children of parents who are here illegally.

Local physicians say efforts to encourage illegals who need medical help to use the stand-alone urgent care clinics are of little use. Those patients show up at hospital emergency rooms, where the cost of providing care is significantly higher. Since these people have no health insurance and little money, the cost of their care is shifted to those who do have insurance or the few who pay out of pocket.

Police departments, and Pueblo’s is no exception, do not actively enforce the federal immigration laws. If every agency did, it probably could stem the influx somewhat.

But what draws illegal immigrants to this country is the lure of jobs. Even low-paying domestic jobs in the hotel and resort industries are better than what can be found in Latin America for unskilled workers.

Many construction jobs are taken by illegal immigrants. Give those men credit - they work hard and often even on the weekends, and they can send money to their families back home.

While various amnesty proposals have been made, notably by President Bush, the one action that appears to have the most promise for stemming illegal immigration is to make employers accountable. That’s just what Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Virgil Good, R-Va., have in mind.

They are sponsors of the TRUE Enforcement and Border Security Act. The bill seeks to deter illegal immigrants by enforcing laws that sanction employers for hiring illegals and ends the automatic citizenship for children of illegals born in America.

We expect debate on this measure should pick up when Congress gets back to Washington. This bill may not be the only solution to stemming illegal immigration, but it would be a good first step for this country to reassert its sovereignty over who comes and goes.