Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The ICE man cometh
This essay by one of my favorite bloggers, has prompted another rant on illegal immigration. Interestingly enough, this problem isn't new with us, Gibbon described it as happening in the Roman Empire. The details were different, they admitted the conquered people into full Roman Citizenship, unearned, to buy their favor. The parallel becomes obvious below.
There is probably no better focus for the corruption of our government and its processes than immigration. At the outset, I will state that I firmly believe in legal immigration and in much greater quotas than currently allowed. This country thrives on new ideas and people. It is the mechanics of bringing them in that are the problem.
Illegal immigration has been a hot topic in politics for several years now. The Republicans make noise about doing something about it, and the Democrats spout their usual liberal ooze, making victim noises. Neither party will do anything about it, because they are trying to buy the votes of the Hispanic voters. Democrats go farther than Republicans, because they also do everything they can to make it possible for illegal voters, both immigrant and non-registered voters, to vote.
Hollywood and the press are on the side of the illegal immigrants, painting them as victims and objects of sympathy.
The first and most obvious thing to do is to increase the immigration quotas to something realistic. If we have a need for immigrants that is great enough to absorb the work output of 10 million of them, then we should have immigration laws and quotas that provide an opportunity for that many to come into the country legally. The reason we don't is a very dark, dirty secret--we are afraid of that many legal immigrants. They might actually change things or demand decent wages. As long as they are illegal, they have only the political power we give them, and they will work for far less than legal workers will, mostly out of fear.
Second, in all this mass of stimulus spending, why is there no money to fix the Immigration Service? They are hopelessly understaffed, and US Customs and Border Protection is having their budgets CUT. The Border Patrol agents are not allowed to fight back or to effectively enforce the law. The Sheriff of Mariposa County, AZ, (Phoenix), is pilloried in the press for actually enforcing the law with respect to illegal immigrants. There are two parts, one enough staffing to process immigrants wanting to be legal, and two, enough staffing with effective rules of action to enforce the law. It is this second part that is the most galling.
The United States was founded on the basis of law--law arrived at by consent of those subject to them. We now have law that is made by a process so arcane and so corrupt that nobody, including the lawmakers fully knows or consents to what is in the laws. Effectively most law is unenforceable, simply because a good lawyer can find a conflict of law, rip a case apart and get his client off the hook. Don't blame the lawyer, blame the law-makers. The lawyer is doing his job; the law-makers didn't. Thus it is no wonder that there is movement to not enforce the immigration laws on the books. There is no respect for the concept of law, much less law itself.
If the laws are not enforced, the immigrants stay, and the legal bloc votes in appreciation for the powers that be, the children of the illegals become legal, and become grateful voters for those who didn't kick them out, and the illegals provide cheap labor. At least this is the underlying vision. The truth is not quite that simple, as I have seen mention that many legal immigrants do not appreciate the illegals getting the same privileges for free.
There are fixes for all of this, but not with the current composition of government, not just the politicians, but also the bureaucracy. It is possible to change the law, but unless the bureaucracy changes the rules by which it operates there is no change, and the bureaucracy is protected by civil service employment rules. Competency in ones job is not a requirement, though in all fairness, most civil servants are very competent and dedicated (at least the ones I've met), working in a system that works against them.
OK, so here is my version of an ideal fix.
1. First get rid of the politicians. OK we can't do that, but getting rid of as many incumbents as possible and implementing term limits by Constitutional amendment would be very nice.
2. Staff the US Immigration Service adequately to process millions of immigrants a year, and track the ones that are in the US.
3. Open up the quotas, and set firm, reasonable requirements for citizenship. A $5000 fee is NOT outrageous if it can be done as a payment plan or for that matter a loan for working immigrants. If it is free, there is no respect for what is obtained.
4. Implement strict enforcement of deportation law and border protection. Use unmanned drones WITH Weapons, to stop illegal trafficking in humans and drugs.
5. The only version of amnesty allowed is for all illegals to return to their home country and apply for citizenship under the new quotas. Ignore that they were once in the country illegally. If they go home voluntarily, the slate is wiped clean. If they are deported, it's a different matter, they have to wait a while, say half of the time they were in the country illegally.
6. Get rid of the "anchor baby" rules. A child born in the US of non-citizens of this country is a non-citizen. They can become a citizen if its parents do.
7. Enforce the employment rules. It doesn't have to be a SSN as proof of citizenship. Birth certificates, passports, driver's license with statement of citizenship are all possible documents, or a naturalized citizen certificate. If we continue the green-card rules then a green card.
The biggest obstacle to any of this is the unwillingness of politicians to take any responsibility for the country. Their only concern at this point is their own careers and re-election, hence item 1.
I realize that sometime in the future, caucasians will be a true minority in this country. That is not a problem. The problem is whether when it happens it will be the United States of America as envisioned--a country of laws and freedom, or simply a failed nation such as the Roman Empire became, and the countries of Europe are becoming.
There is probably no better focus for the corruption of our government and its processes than immigration. At the outset, I will state that I firmly believe in legal immigration and in much greater quotas than currently allowed. This country thrives on new ideas and people. It is the mechanics of bringing them in that are the problem.
Illegal immigration has been a hot topic in politics for several years now. The Republicans make noise about doing something about it, and the Democrats spout their usual liberal ooze, making victim noises. Neither party will do anything about it, because they are trying to buy the votes of the Hispanic voters. Democrats go farther than Republicans, because they also do everything they can to make it possible for illegal voters, both immigrant and non-registered voters, to vote.
Hollywood and the press are on the side of the illegal immigrants, painting them as victims and objects of sympathy.
The first and most obvious thing to do is to increase the immigration quotas to something realistic. If we have a need for immigrants that is great enough to absorb the work output of 10 million of them, then we should have immigration laws and quotas that provide an opportunity for that many to come into the country legally. The reason we don't is a very dark, dirty secret--we are afraid of that many legal immigrants. They might actually change things or demand decent wages. As long as they are illegal, they have only the political power we give them, and they will work for far less than legal workers will, mostly out of fear.
Second, in all this mass of stimulus spending, why is there no money to fix the Immigration Service? They are hopelessly understaffed, and US Customs and Border Protection is having their budgets CUT. The Border Patrol agents are not allowed to fight back or to effectively enforce the law. The Sheriff of Mariposa County, AZ, (Phoenix), is pilloried in the press for actually enforcing the law with respect to illegal immigrants. There are two parts, one enough staffing to process immigrants wanting to be legal, and two, enough staffing with effective rules of action to enforce the law. It is this second part that is the most galling.
The United States was founded on the basis of law--law arrived at by consent of those subject to them. We now have law that is made by a process so arcane and so corrupt that nobody, including the lawmakers fully knows or consents to what is in the laws. Effectively most law is unenforceable, simply because a good lawyer can find a conflict of law, rip a case apart and get his client off the hook. Don't blame the lawyer, blame the law-makers. The lawyer is doing his job; the law-makers didn't. Thus it is no wonder that there is movement to not enforce the immigration laws on the books. There is no respect for the concept of law, much less law itself.
If the laws are not enforced, the immigrants stay, and the legal bloc votes in appreciation for the powers that be, the children of the illegals become legal, and become grateful voters for those who didn't kick them out, and the illegals provide cheap labor. At least this is the underlying vision. The truth is not quite that simple, as I have seen mention that many legal immigrants do not appreciate the illegals getting the same privileges for free.
There are fixes for all of this, but not with the current composition of government, not just the politicians, but also the bureaucracy. It is possible to change the law, but unless the bureaucracy changes the rules by which it operates there is no change, and the bureaucracy is protected by civil service employment rules. Competency in ones job is not a requirement, though in all fairness, most civil servants are very competent and dedicated (at least the ones I've met), working in a system that works against them.
OK, so here is my version of an ideal fix.
1. First get rid of the politicians. OK we can't do that, but getting rid of as many incumbents as possible and implementing term limits by Constitutional amendment would be very nice.
2. Staff the US Immigration Service adequately to process millions of immigrants a year, and track the ones that are in the US.
3. Open up the quotas, and set firm, reasonable requirements for citizenship. A $5000 fee is NOT outrageous if it can be done as a payment plan or for that matter a loan for working immigrants. If it is free, there is no respect for what is obtained.
4. Implement strict enforcement of deportation law and border protection. Use unmanned drones WITH Weapons, to stop illegal trafficking in humans and drugs.
5. The only version of amnesty allowed is for all illegals to return to their home country and apply for citizenship under the new quotas. Ignore that they were once in the country illegally. If they go home voluntarily, the slate is wiped clean. If they are deported, it's a different matter, they have to wait a while, say half of the time they were in the country illegally.
6. Get rid of the "anchor baby" rules. A child born in the US of non-citizens of this country is a non-citizen. They can become a citizen if its parents do.
7. Enforce the employment rules. It doesn't have to be a SSN as proof of citizenship. Birth certificates, passports, driver's license with statement of citizenship are all possible documents, or a naturalized citizen certificate. If we continue the green-card rules then a green card.
The biggest obstacle to any of this is the unwillingness of politicians to take any responsibility for the country. Their only concern at this point is their own careers and re-election, hence item 1.
I realize that sometime in the future, caucasians will be a true minority in this country. That is not a problem. The problem is whether when it happens it will be the United States of America as envisioned--a country of laws and freedom, or simply a failed nation such as the Roman Empire became, and the countries of Europe are becoming.
// posted by Bill @ 8:43 AM 
