Apr 11 2006
Why Bother? Here’s the Whole Thing!
I’ve been trying to formulate a post on this whole illegal immigration issue. As many smarter bloggers (smarter than the mainstream media, of course, not smarter than me chuckle chuckle) have noted, there has been an utter destruction of the core belief that illegal immigrants are, in fact, different than legal immigrants.
Here’s Jay Tea from Wizbang, who I pretty much always agree with, summing up my exact point on the issue and doing so in a profoundly accurate way:
And finally, to those who are here illegally, through either false pretenses, refusing to leave as originally promised, or simply sneaking across the border: I say leave. I don’t care in the least about what benefits I might allegedly enjoy from your presence. Nor do I recognize any innate “right” to come to the United States by any means you choose. As I said above, no nation in the world has as open policies as we do to come here, both temporarily and permanently. If those rules are not lax enough to suit you, feel free to work towards changing them. But do not flout them and then demand forgiveness. Do not insult my nation by ignoring our laws, and then seek the benefit of the law.
The recent waves of protests have done yeoman’s work at muddling the issue. To them, all who have come to the United States are equal, regardless of the means they arrived. That is a gross insult to those who respected the system, followed the rules, did the paperwork, waited in line, and showed respect for our nation and our laws from the very first. To lump those exceptionally worthy people in with those who lied on their “tourist” or “student” visas, those who refused to leave when they agreed to, or simply broke into this nation is one of the crassest political acts I have ever witnessed (and as someone who lives next door to Massachusetts, the state that gave the country Ted Kennedy, Michael Dukakis, and John Kerry, that’s saying a LOT). It must not be allowed to stand unchallenged. Those people being lumped in with the illegal aliens are far better than that. They are some of the finest people our nation can claim, and should not be so insulted.
If I could give a standing ovation on a blog, I would. Well said, Jay.
Technorati Tags: immigration, illegal immigration, illegal immigrants, illegal
April 11th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
Bullshit bullshit bullshit.
While I agree with the criticism of the sense of entitlement many of these illegal immigrants seem to have, as evidenced in some of the protests in recent weeks, Jay is very wrong on two points:
1. He supposedly doesn’t care about the benefits he receives as a result of illegal immigrants. I think he’d start to care when food prices skyrocketed. The agriculture industry in this country is completely dependent on low-salaried migrant labor. I can really only think of three ways to cut these people out of the equation: Raise prices (think produce is expensive now? Just wait!); increase gov’t farm subsidies on the backs of taxpayers, which is an indirect price hike anyway; or make it easier for immigrants to get legal work status, which brings me to my second allegation of bullshit…
2. It is not easy to come to the US to work legally. Work visas are subject to many restrictions and requirements, and are not handed out in abundance. A person can only work here on a temporary work visa for a short period of time before they must be sponsored by an employer, which costs big money. If anyone thinks a company like Dole is going to sponsor their lettuce pickers, they’re living in a dream world. People in this country are always crying “become a citizen!” But the citizenship system is based on quotas that make it very difficult for people from latin-American nations to get US citizenship, but Swedes, on the other hand, are almost rubber-stamped.
I totally agree something needs to be done — and I think the President is on to something with his guest-worker proposal (wonder of wonders!). I don’t know that his proposal is the right way, but it is a step toward recognizing the necessity of low-cost labor in our modern economy.
April 11th, 2006 at 11:41 pm
1. How about some of the huge costs America incurrs from illegal immigrants? The amount of health care that illegal immigrants receive and then never pay for numbers in the billions of dollars per year just in California.
2. No one ever said it was easy. Should I sneak some Filippino members of my family into the US just because the legalization system is difficult? Hell no. My Mother-in-law got her green card legally and then received full citizenship after years of hard work. My wife and I have been trying to legally get our neice into the US so she can find a good job to go with her university degree in computers. Unemployment is so bad in the Philippines that she could only find employment as a nanny in the UAE.
A few years ago, while eating at a tourist trap restaurant, our waitress told us that she was in the US for the summer from the Czech Republic. Legally. She got paid the same as American college students that were working there for the summer.
To all legal immigrants: Welcome!
To all illegal immigrants: You are entitled to nothing! You are breaking the law.