Million Hombre March
March 26,2006

Hola muchachos! On Saturday, an estimated 600,000 – 700,000 people marched in cities across the country to voice their disapproval of planned legislation to crack-down on illegal immigration. The Senate is due to begin debating House sponsored legislation that would make illegal immigration a felony among other new measures.

Ay Caramba! The truly inspirational thing about this demonstration is that it was entirely peaceful. An estimated 500,000 people in L.A. alone took to the streets in a celebratory mood. This was a show of Americanism at its finest. Critics hate that Mexican, Guatemalan and other flags were waving throughout the crowd, but this is simple nationality-baiting; you can't blame people for wanting a better life while still valuing their native culture.

Tengo el salchichon! From an individualist perspective, you can only hold illegals partially responsible for the lax border enforcement. Decades of failing to enforce our own laws caused this problem, not the people. Certainly you cannot mistake the strong opinion held by many that undocumented immigrants need some measure of security, validation and respect. By almost any measure, the American economy runs on immigrant power – legal and illegal. Many economists predict that if the U.S. is to retain economic supremacy in the world, we must continue to grow our immigrant population. To deport, incarcerate, or otherwise extricate illegal workers from our society would have devastating effects on our way of life. We understand that illegal immigration is just that - illegal. But it isn't that simple.

Beso tu mamas! Advocates of harsher penalties for illegals cite security concerns. These are legitimate as well. If Mexicans can easily cross the border, so can anyone, form anywhere, arriving first along Mexico’s porous borders and then into the U.S. There are few things the federal government is constitutionally required to do, but securing the homeland is one of them. Too bad they aren’t very good at it. In fact, a strong majority of Americans in poll after poll do not believe full amnesty for those who have blatantly broken the law is right. When pressed, poll respondents do not cite any problems with the immigrants themselves, and in fact most recognize the need for the labor. The concern is for the message it sends regarding our laws, our security and the availability of our tax-payer funded services. All are valid concerns.

Peligroso! El chupacabra! So, what to do? The two major parties are clamouring to be perceived as the party on top of the issue by speaking in sound bites and highly politicized legislation. We PurpleThinkers don’t feel tighter security and friendly immigrant laws are mutually exclusive. As with anything, it’s all in the presentation. And, as usual, our politicians are missing the boat. Let’s do it right.

1) Separate immigration law from security law. The proposed legislation is a mish-mash of penalties for illegals and funding for tighter security. Step one is to recognize these are two separate issues. If the goal is to keep the bad guys out, then propose legislation to enforce the border more vigorously – period. This is in fact a pre-requisite for any immigration debate. There was a degree of amnesty in the 1980's, and this just invited more to cross a still open border. Do it! Build a wall, deploy troops -- just keep it separate from the issue of current illegal residents.

2) Deal with the illegal issue head-on. Social services are severely over-taxed by illegals that don’t pay into the system, but do collect welfare, use our hospitals, and learn in our schools. Instead of proposing legislation that smacks of racism and promotes bigotry, make the tough decisions. Propose legislation that balances the need for existing illegal residents to legitimately support services used without rewarding their law-breaking. Despite the rhetoric, let's face facts -- you cannot simply make felons out of 11 million people overnight and expect no ill-effects on our society. You think we have problems now? It's nothing compared to the black markets and underground societies that would break-apart our communities in such a scenario. Guest worker programs? A "road to legalization?" There are man options out there -- buckle down and get it done.

Aquafina - El agua mas fina! Easier said than done. Nobody wants this political hot potato. Give credit to Bush for at least making an attempt to open debate. Bush’s guest worker proposal is not a permanent solution because it could create a pseudo-caste system in the U.S. where we recognize a second class of citizen – not cool. But, it’s a good start, and it does recognize the need for immigrants to feel part of the society they love. Let’s use this as our starting point and create some genuine dialogue around these two separate issues.

 

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