Thread: Sticky wickets of immigration

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news ... 502234.htm

Posted on Mon, Aug. 29, 2005

Sticky wickets of immigration

By Mary Sanchez


The desire to rid the United States of illegal immigrants is understandably common. But while there most certainly are causes for concern, sound reasoning is too often left out of the conversation.

Take for instance, these thoughts about what to do with illegal immigrants.

"Round them up and deport them."

"If people can't come legally, then they shouldn't be here."

And my personal favorite: "What part of illegal don't you understand."

The fact that mass deportation continues to ring feasible to so many people is astounding. Do people really think that enough immigration agents exist to go door to door throughout America ferreting out the 10 million-plus illegal population?

Knock. Knock.

"Who's there?"

"Immigration."

"Oh, I'm illegally in the country."

"Then, you better come with us, sir."

In this nirvana scenario the offending immigrant will toddle off to an awaiting bus and immediately be taken back to his or her native land.

A legal immigrant would magically appear to do the job the illegal person was performing. That is necessary because in this improbable scene there is never a disruption to the economy - or any admittance that some of these people are being soaked up by the labor market for a positive impact.

The fact that leadership within the Department of Homeland Security insists mass deportation is impossible never seems to dissuade people.

So now comes a study that actually shows what such a movement would cost. Admitting its efforts were designed to give needed insight to people who are beholden to this solution, the Center for American Progress crunched some numbers and estimated deporting every illegal alien would cost $206 billion within five years. That is the lowball estimate. The report found the cost could be as high as $230 billion.

The $41 billion annual cost would eat up all of the 2006 budget of the Department of Homeland Security ($34.2 billion), and then some. The annual cost would be more than double what is spent on border and transportation security. It would be more than half of what is being spent annually on the war in Iraq.

Arguments could be made that yes, the American government could drop all efforts to, say, build highways, finish the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, educate children in public schools - and divert these funds to this new endeavor.

The assertion is often made that Congress merely lacks the guts to follow through with such a plan. Congress is lacking in its willingness to tackle true immigration reform. But legislators are unable to fulfill this wish for practical reasons as well. First of all, deciding who is illegal and who is legal is a slippery, ever changing issue. Contrary to the beliefs of many people - it is not a black/white, you either are or are not situation.

Many, many people are part way to being legal. They are in the process of adjusting their status. Some people get temporarily put into the illegal category when paperwork is misplaced or simply lost by our government. (That's way more common than what most people could imagine.)

No system exists to check minute by minute where people sit along this continuum of legal/illegal.

This is not to say the government shouldn't continue to crack down on people who are illegally in the country; especially those who commit violent crimes.

The report also pointed out this shocking statistic: "The number of undocumented entering the country annually is now so large that it exceeds the number of legal migrants."

But change will only happen when more people become informed and realistic about immigration.

Needed is support for practical reforms such as overhauling our visa system, figuring out if we really do need a good chunk of these illegal workers and then changing things so those people can legally enter the country.

Anything else is just dreaming.

What this woman reporter doesn't understand is the word ILLEGAL, obviously. And, yes, I am dreaming of the day when we start arresting and deporting illegals. It should be happening now, right this moment. Every citizen should be deputized and be part of a neighborhood watch program to spot the illegals in their neighborhood. Then, they should be allowed to call local law enforcement to show up at that location and demand to see green cards. No green card, no more freebies, no more tax payer dollars...go straight back to wherever you came from illegal!!! I am sick and tired of seeing illegals with 2 and 3 kids that my taxes have paid for, driving brand new SUVs and pickup trucks that my taxes are paying for and seeing the school bus pick up 30 illegal kids that my taxes are educating. We, the LEGAL citizens, need to be given some authority to help decrease the illegal population so that we feel like this is still our country and still worth fighting for even if our elected citizen politicians are too weak and bought out. Think about it citizens, this is our country and we need to be the enforcement if need be. Your friendly, neighborhood jarhead