Thread: An (Illegal) Immigrant's Death Trap

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opin ... nfront-hed

An immigrant's death trap

By Bill Ong Hing, a professor of law and Asian-American studies at the University of California at Davis and the author of "Defining America Through Immigration Policy"
Published January 2, 2006

If anti-immigrant forces in Congress had their way, illegal immigration would be a crime punishable by death. As the Senate prepares to return from its holiday break, one of the first items on the agenda is dealing with immigration enforcement legislation that was passed by the House just before Christmas. Sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the law would increase enforcement against employers who hire undocumented workers and promote enforcement cooperation between federal and local officials. A central part of the legislation calls for the building a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. The problem is that the fence idea has been tried; it won't work, and countless more unnecessary deaths will result.

Beginning in 1994, the Clinton administration implemented Operation Gatekeeper, a strategy of "control through deterrence" that involved constructing fences and militarizing the parts of the southern border that were the most easily traversed. Instead of deterring migrants, their entry choices were shifted to treacherous terrain--the deserts and mountains. The number of entries and apprehensions were not at all decreased, and the number of deaths due to dehydration and sunstroke in the summer or freezing in the winter dramatically surged. In 1994, fewer than 30 migrants died along the border; by 1998, the number was 147; in 2001, 387 deaths were counted; and in the last fiscal year, 451 died.

Given the risks, why do migrants continue the harrowing trek? The attraction of the United States is obvious. The strong economy pays Mexican workers, for example, eight to nine times more than what they can earn in Mexico. For many, it's a matter of economic desperation, and some observers think that migrants would continue to come even if we mined the border. In a sense, they do not have a choice. Besides, jobs are plentiful here because a variety of industries rely on low-wage migrant workers. They may know the risks but figure the benefits of crossing outweigh the risks.

Motivations for continued migration call into question the likely effectiveness of the expansion of Operation Gatekeeper if the goal is to discourage border-crossers. Beyond the economic situation in Mexico, a socio-economic phenomenon is at play. The phenomenon is the long, historical travel patterns between Mexico and the U.S., coupled with the interdependency of the two regions. Migration from Mexico is the manifestation of these economic problems and social phenomena. The militarization of the border does nothing to address these phenomena.

Instead, it is killing individuals who are caught up in the phenomena.

Understanding the economic and social situations in Mexico and the United States and the nature of their relationship enables us to formulate better approaches to border crossings and migrations. A real solution would address push-pull factors and the economic needs of both countries. For almost two years, President Bush has proposed a temporary worker plan that, with modifications, makes more sense than Sensenbrenner's enforcement-only legislation. As a nation, the United States ought to do the right thing, especially when it comes to Mexican migrants given our historical ties with Mexico. We have demonized the undocumented, rather than see them for what they are: human beings seeking a better life who have been manipulated by globalization, regional economies and social structures that have operated for decades. The right thing to do is to develop a system to facilitate the flow to the U.S. of Mexican migrants who are seeking employment opportunities. Given the economic imbalance between the two nations, we know that the flow will continue--legally or otherwise.

By regularizing the flow through a large guest-worker program, we ease pressures at the border (thus freeing up personnel to concentrate on the serious challenge of looking for terrorists and drug smugglers), address the labor needs of employers, bring the undocumented out of the shadows, and end unnecessary, immoral border deaths that have resulted from current enforcement strategies. But we have to do this in a manner that provides the workers with respect from other Americans and hope for inclusion in society.

Thus, a path toward earning permanent residency after a period of time and paying a financial penalty for entering illegally, as proposed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), becomes a critical ingredient of any guest-worker program.

Our nation has a choice between the Sensenbrenner death trap or a path to enfranchisement for people we have depended on for generations. Our economic, social and security interests demand that we pursue the moral choice.

Lordy lordy. Now the deaths of those who choose to break into our nation are laid at our door...gracious me.

RR

This is total open borders BS.

The "liberty fence" will be built in conjuction with workplace enforcement, this will greatly reduce the incentive to jump the border in the first place. If the anchor baby scam were stopped, that would reduce another big incentive. Of course our OBL guy doesn't mention this. I suppose because then he would have nothing to bitch about.

As for the McCain "earned legalization" plan, the "fine" he talks about is only about 1% of what illegal aliens actually cost us. He also doesn't mention that the McCain bill would give us 10 million legal immigrants a year. That's six times more than the 1.6 million legal AND illegal immigrant who currently enter every year.

I would love to see a phrase or two deleted from the mouths of our politicans, media, and the OBL.

Workers which are 'needed' here. What BS!! We got along without them for 200 years..so howcome they're so necessary NOW?



RR

Why do people say we "need" the illegal workers? So employers like my husbands won't have to pay an American what they are actually worth and what they need to survive, thats why!!
I could site situations with employers like the one my husband works for, or the one my mother works for, they pay little offer overtly expensive (and unnaffordable to the underpaid employees) medical package deals, it would seem unfair though as far as I know these two are careful about hiring legal only, but it is a sympton of employers such as themselves that want to put out as little as possible for their employees (who are the backbone of why they are where they are) and make huge profits that they garner at the expense of their hungry employees.
Business owners like this realize that if they pay as little as possible they can reap in huge profits. Then if greed gets the better of them, those illegal employees start looking really desirable.
Then even when these particular employers may not hire illegals, they realize how desperate the citizens they are hiring are for jobs because the market is flooded with citizens out of work because illegals are filling those jobs for cheaper, then they start offering the positions for little to nothing.
This is our position here.
If say by some miracle all the illegals went back to their own countries (wish, wish) then there would suddenly be this huge gap in the labor market that would force employers to have to offer better pay and benefits in order to attract desirable employees to their business, they'd essentially be fighting for the attention of the job seekers.
If liberal, whiney media people would only get their head out of their (well you know what!) then they could possibly see it. Better yet, those that make stupid excuses why we should pity an outsider coming here taking American jobs, they should live like we do for a month, and have to make all the concessions we do daily to survive. I guarantee that their tunes would change. Don't you all?