When pointing fingers about illegal immigration, know who t
www.nashuatelegraph.com/
When pointing fingers about illegal immigration, know who to point at
A Telegraph Column By John Bachman
Published: Sunday, May. 22, 2005
The illegal immigration issue abounds with frustration.
New Ipswich Police Chief Garrett Chamberlain and U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Paula Grenier are two frustrated people at the opposite ends of this mess.
Citizens and pundits who criticize the actions of Chamberlain or the inaction of ICE have frustration-induced poor aim. Your senators and congressmen should be the targets of your unhappiness on this issue, along with your president.
One might think that New Hampshire’s distance from the southern border of the U.S. would buffer us from illegal immigrant problems, but our thriving economy attracts job-seeking immigrants, legal and otherwise. Keep that in mind: Jobs create illegal immigrants.
Let us review New Hampshire’s recent role in the illegal immigration debate. Chamberlain first gained attention in July 2004 when his department arrested nine illegal immigrants from Ecuador and called ICE to have them picked up. The federal authorities directed Chamberlain to release the men because they had not committed other crimes. ICE explained that they must prioritize and concentrate on dangerous illegal immigrants. Chamberlain reluctantly released the nine men as directed. New Hampshire Sens. Judd Gregg and John Sununu pressed for answers and found that ICE does not have adequate resources to deal with the flood of illegal immigrants and therefore pays attention only to the trickle of societal threats.
Law-abiding citizens and legal immigrants chafe at these events. Campaigning politicians all promise to “do something� about securing our borders, but after the election nothing much happens and the cycle continues. More frustration builds and the federal employees are easy targets for cynical pols and frustrated citizens. But they are the wrong targets.
In April, the New Ipswich Police Department arrested Jorge Ramirez, an admitted illegal immigrant from Mexico. This time Chamberlain got creative and charged Ramirez with trespassing. His logic is that anyone who is in this country illegally and comes to his town is in violation of the New Hampshire criminal trespass law. That got national attention and others are testing the technique, including the Hudson Police Department.
On May 4, The Telegraph reported that ICE spokeswoman Grenier was not pleased with the actions of Chamberlain. “For a police chief to grandstand about illegal immigration, and (give) the perception that the federal government is doing nothing, is wrong,� she said. She did not represent herself or her department well in lashing out at Chamberlain, but it illustrates the frustration on the federal bureaucracy side of the issue. A frustrated police chief, a frustrated federal department and a frustrated citizenry often leads to more heat than light.
Meanwhile, the politicians who are responsible for this mess hunker down. There is much cynicism about here. The Democrats promise secure borders, but their hearts are not in it. They look anxiously at their low-income constituency and turn away from any real immigration reform.
The Republicans are no better. They also make lame promises, but their ties to the business community make their knees wobbly when confronted with shutting off a source of low-cost labor.
Meanwhile the hardworking, taxpaying, legal citizenry foots the bill, as usual. The illegals put demands on our social support systems; they get free health care in hospital emergency rooms, some manage to scam our welfare systems,
others turn to crime for additional income. This is all a hidden tax on consumers. Health care costs are pushed up, tax burdens increase and society is degraded. That is what happens when the pols of both parties have a common goal.
President Bush has proposed a half-measure that documents the existing illegals, at least those who submit to documentation, and lets them stay for up to three years. That is a band-aid, not a solution. Even if the documented illegals left after three years, which is doubtful, others will replace them. The faces change but the numbers do not. Besides, is it wise to reward those who beat the system while honest immigrants wait their turn? I think not.
The only real solution to this problem requires elimination of the demand. As long as there are jobs available here, the world’s poor will find a way around our controls. Even a 2,000-mile wall on the north bank of the Rio Grande will not stop desperate people from filling the jobs on this side of it. They are motivated by survival and will find ways to get here as long as they can get a job here.
Do our politicians really expect us to believe that the country with the highest technology base in the world cannot come up with a simple system that identifies honest citizens and eliminates illegals from the employment pool? Of course we can, but the cynicism of Democrats and Republicans prevent it.
Will Americans and legal immigrants step up to do the jobs now performed by illegals? Yes, but the price might be higher. We can transport poor-but-willing workers from high unemployment areas to the jobs, just like the illegals do it today. Consumers will have a net benefit when higher produce costs are balanced by reduced hidden taxes created by the illegals.
Tell your representative that you will not vote for his re-election unless he does something to really control our borders and then watch it happen.
Until then, expect more frustration.
John Bachman of Amherst can be reached at john@anatek.mv.com
