Posted on 02/23/2005 5:15:25 AM PST by Luis Gonzalez
Douglas, Arizona
LEE MORGAN'S SMALL, spare office has the somber feel of a personal shrine. A Vietnam veteran with 30 years' experience in the immigration and customs services, Morgan does undercover and investigative work on the Arizona border, now the gateway of choice for illegal immigrants entering the United States from the south. Everything in his lair in the dusty frontier town of Douglas speaks to his patriotism and dedication: his Bronze Star, his Purple Heart, the three folded American flags--comrades' commemorative flags--and proud photos of his fondest undercover busts. Like everyone who works on the border, he has had a new assignment since 9/11. The twin fights against illegal immigration and drugs, though not forgotten, have been subordinated to a new preoccupation--terrorism. But, tough and determined though he is, Morgan is far from confident that he can hold the line.
Every day last year, the immigration service apprehended some 1,400 illegal immigrants trying to cross into Arizona. Over 12 months, along the whole southern border, the total number arrested was more than a million. Morgan has seen too much in life to be anything but candid, and although it's his job to help catch these unauthorized migrants, he criticizes the apprehensions as a waste of time and resources. "They're just poor people trying to feed their families," he shrugs. But that doesn't mean he isn't concerned--very concerned. The main issue in his eyes: the distraction the immigrant influx creates. "What if another 9/11 happens and I'm responsible?" he asks. "What if the
Morgan's personal nightmare is one urgent reason why all Americans, no matter what their politics, should support President Bush's plan to retake control of our southern border. The White House proposal, introduced in early 2004 and allowed to drop from sight during the election year, is back on the table. The president laid out his ideas again in the State of the Union and is reportedly planning a major initiative to take the issue to the public later this spring.
Republicans are no less divided this year than last, and the White House has been working overtime to finesse those divisions. In early February it shrewdly avoided a confrontation in the House by backing a package of tough enforcement measures that many had expected would expose a rift between the president and less immigrant-friendly Republicans. Instead, the administration and its allies cast the "REAL ID Act"--the brainchild of powerful Judiciary Committee chairman James Sensenbrenner--as a first step toward the broader reform they seek, helping the measure pass by a healthy margin. But this will hardly end the discord in Republican ranks, and a major showdown is sure to come, both in Congress and, more broadly, among conservatives across the country.
The Bush plan has two key components: a guest worker program and a transitional measure that would allow illegal immigrants already here and working to earn their way onto the right side of the law and participate legally in the U.S. labor market. Conservative critics lambaste both elements, not just as bad policy, but as inherently un-conservative--out of keeping with core principles and detrimental to Republican interests. The impulse behind the challenge is understandable. Conservative criteria are different: not just security, but the rule of law, traditional values, and national cohesion--not to mention the interests of the GOP. It's also true that the president often touts his proposal in terms designed to appeal across the political spectrum. He talks about "compassion" and a desire to reward "goodhearted" workers, and sometimes this emphasis obscures the hardheaded, conservative case for his approach--a case that begins but does not end with America's economic interests. In reality, though, demonized as it has been on the right, the Bush plan meets every conceivable conservative criterion--with flying colors.THE PRESIDENT'S REPUBLICAN OPPONENTS often put their case as a rhetorical question--"What part of 'illegal' don't you understand?"--and the gibe hits home, not necessarily because of what it says about the Bush solution, but because it so accurately diagnoses what's wrong with the existing system. Our immigration system is indeed based on illegality--on a long-standing and all but deliberate mismatch between the size of our yearly quotas and the actual needs of our labor market, particularly at the lower reaches of the job ladder. This mismatch has often been convenient for employers--it provides a docile, disposable foreign labor force--and it has been the norm in agriculture off and on for nearly a hundred years. But in recent decades, new technologies have spurred demand for low-skilled workers in a wide range of other sectors as well, and the public, quite understandably, is beginning to find the hypocrisy intolerable.
As the president's critics understand, this is a large part of what is driving voters' concerns about immigration. People don't like the idea of 10 to 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States but outside the law. They're appalled that entire American industries--not just agriculture, but hospitality, food processing, construction--operate on the wrong side of the rules, relying on the black market to find the labor they need just to keep their businesses open. The very idea of this second, illegal America is an affront, its practical consequences even more troubling: not just criminal syndicates that thrive on lawlessness, but also the haven it
So the critics' diagnosis is not far from the mark. But the question is what to do about this other, illegal America--and the fact is that the president has the best idea, arguably the only idea that can possibly work. Many of his critics believe that the answer is to turn off the immigrant influx. We should, they say, make the necessary economic adjustments and do without the imported labor. It's an option; with enough resources, we probably could stop the flow. But are the American people prepared for the changes that would come with that decision? The likely economic sacrifice is incalculable: not just a few extra pennies on the cost of lettuce, but forfeited growth all across the economy, on a vast scale. In many industries today, growth depends on foreign laborers, who filled one in every two new jobs created in recent years. Then there would be the cost of enforcement--a cost in dollars but also in the way we live. Just ask experienced agents like Lee Morgan: Cutting off illegal immigration would require thousands more men on the border, routine sweeps in every city, roadblocks, roundups, massive deportations, a national ID card, and more.
The president has a better solution. He proposes that we face up to the reality of our growing demand for labor, skilled and unskilled. His outline is still just that--an outline--and he is likely to leave it to Congress to fill in the details: to devise a way to match foreign workers with American employers, to make sure American laborers aren't undercut in the process, to design a method for monitoring employers and punishing those who don't comply, and so on. But the White House has nailed down the all-important central principle: If we raise our quotas to make them more commensurate with the existing flow of foreign workers, we can reap the benefits of immigration without the illegality that currently comes with it.
A new, more realistic policy would be much easier to enforce. The best analogy is Prohibition: Unrealistic law is extremely difficult to make stick. Realistic limits are another thing entirely. We can have robust immigration and the rule of law too--if, instead of wishing away the influx, we acknowledge reality, then find a smarter, more practical way to manage it. And that is exactly what the president proposes we do through his guest worker program. The idea is not to expand the total number of immigrants who enter the country each year, merely to provide those who are coming anyway--and would otherwise come illegally--with a safe, orderly, legal route. Assuming it works--assuming, as the White House does, that once most jobs are filled by authorized immigrants, there will be little incentive for others to come illegally--it's a simple, pragmatic solution, and that in itself should recommend it to conservatives.
EVEN MORE IMPORTANT would be the dividends for national security. Hundreds of thousands of foreigners enter the country each year without benefit of background checks or security controls of any kind. Then, once in the United States, they cluster in transient, underground communities, as often as not beyond the reach of the law. The president understands that we must come to grips with these potential terrorist havens, eliminating not just the illegal arrivals but also the illicit population that has accumulated here in recent decades. That's why he has included a provision that would allow unauthorized migrants to come in out of the shadows and get visas. Though mocked as a spineless, soft-hearted giveaway, this part of the plan too is driven by our needs--our security needs.
Under the Bush plan, foreigners seeking to disguise their identities would no longer find fake ID cards readily available on street corners in every American city. The Department of Homeland Security would have a much better grasp of who is here and what their names are and where to look for them if they turn up on an international watch list. Agents like Lee Morgan would be able to get back to their real jobs: tracking criminals and terrorists, not farmhands and busboys. And all this could be achieved without a draconian crackdown of the kind we would need were we to enforce the quotas we have, let alone close the border. Far simpler to bring the law back into line with market reality, then implement the new rules with modest, commonsense enforcement measures of the sort we rely on in every other realm of American life.
But isn't what the critics say true--isn't the president's plan in fact an amnesty? Not necessarily. It depends how it's done. Illegal immigrants should not be forgiven for breaking the rules; they should be offered an opportunity to earn their way back onto the right side of the law. Think of it as probation--that all-American idea, a second chance. The president is unequivocal: Unauthorized workers will not be permitted to jump the queue ahead of legal applicants waiting patiently for visas back in their home countries. And Congress should add other conditions. Those already in the country illegally should be required to pay a penalty; they should have to wait just as long as other applicants for full legal status. While they're waiting, they should be required to fulfill a variety of additional obligations: hold a job, pay taxes, abide by the law, take English classes, and demonstrate their commitment to American values. Once they've met these terms, it might even make sense to require them to go home to pick up their visas.
The vetting alone is sure to be a huge job, and it will have to be done with the utmost care on the part of law enforcement. But the truth is there's no other realistic way to eliminate the vast illegal world these immigrants inhabit: no other way to clear the ground in order to build for the future with a realistic, legal system of the kind the president envisions. After all, we as a nation aren't going to deport 10 to 12 million foreigners. However much they dislike the idea of illegal immigration, the American people aren't likely to have the stomach for that. Nor would it ultimately be in our interest. Surely it makes more sense to retain these trained, already assimilating workers than it does to send them home and start over with people who know nothing of the United States or its ways.
DOES THIS MEAN it may be possible to bridge the gap between the president and his conservative critics? Well, yes and no. The critics are right about many things. Our current "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" policy is unacceptable. The erosion of the rule of law cannot continue. We must secure our borders against terrorists. The critics are also right to be worried about the costs that even legal immigrants impose on social services--primarily schools and hospitals--in the communities where they settle. Any overhaul of the immigration system must deal with those costs, and it ought to include a set of provisions, both carrots and sticks, to encourage assimilation. About all of that, there can be no doubt. The only catch: Just think a minute about this list of concerns. In fact, what the critics find intolerable is not the president's plan; it's the status quo.
The Bush package acknowledges the critics' concerns and attempts to address them with realistic solutions. It's designed to serve America's economic interest. It's our only hope of ending the hypocrisy that undermines our law enforcement. It's the best way to restore the rule of law in our workplaces and enhance security on the border. Issues of assimilation and local service costs are among the practical matters still to be thought through--on the table for Congress to tackle as it writes the legislation to implement the president's plan. But surely eliminating the barriers that now prevent 10 to 12 million U.S. residents from participating in the body politic and requiring them to pay their full freight in taxes would be a good start on both problems. And this can be accompanied by other, more proactive strategies like mandatory health savings accounts for guest workers and incentives for employers to offer them English classes.
Where the critics are most wrong--where they seem most shrewd but are ultimately the most misguided--is in their view of the politics of immigration. Here, too, they see the symptoms accurately enough. Americans are frustrated and angry. They know the system is broken; they want change. Uncertainty about just how to effect that change is driving a wedge into the Republican party, dividing the president from his conservative base in Congress and at the grassroots. And if the system isn't fixed, it could create a dangerous opening for Democrats: an opportunity for Democratic immigration hawks to outflank Republicans, not just on law and order, but even more devastatingly on security. All of this is true--and scary. But the answer isn't to block reform. The antidote is to deliver a remedy, as the White House proposes.
The president isn't misreading public opinion. If anything, he reads it better than his critics do. Most Americans aren't anti-immigrant. As poll after poll shows, what they want is to regain control--of both the border and the underground economy. The paradox at the heart of the Bush plan makes it a little hard to explain to voters. The president is promising to regain control by means of a more generous and welcoming approach to immigration. But that doesn't change the underlying truth: The Bush plan is the only way to restore the rule of law, either on the border or in our communities. It's the best answer to the critics' complaints, the only answer to the illegality that plagues us. And surely--no matter what the skeptics say--it can't be political suicide to give voters a solution to one of the problems that frightens and disturbs them most.
None of us have expected a real response from you, and so far none of us have been let down.
Yes, but I think that's a lot less government than offering bribes for illegals to regularize. As I pointed out, they have little incentive to do so now so it would take a large increase in free services to get them to legalize. Otherwise they use the free clinic which I support and the emergency room which we all pay for through health insurance premiums. They also have the support of their own community.
If you really are a conservative wouldn't you support defense of the country before proposing large increases in federally sponsored human services?
You're not a big fan of The Holy Bible either, are you?
If your proclaimed mission is to stop terrorists carrying WMD from getting into this country, then (a) a border patrol is required on ALL frontiers, including the coastline, and (b) anyone getting in illegally is a mission failure.
[[This could be the issue that catapults the Democrats back in office in 2008.]]
[When you make a statement like this you call into question your intelligence. This statement is unsupportable by reality.]
Once-Ler,
Please do not insult my intelligence and I will not insult yours. Deal? I have heard many people in Washington say that Hillary has seized upon this very issue (illegal immigration) since the Republicans refuse to. She is running to the right with this issue and is starting to get noticed (again since the Republicans refuse to). Hillary will in all likelyhood be the Democratic nominee in 2008. I will say it again, illegal immigration is the issue that could put Hillary in the whitehouse in 2008.
I find it fascinating that the only people vocally praying for another 9/11 scale terrorist attack on the United States are (a) Islamsists of the bin Laden stripe, and (b) those who make an issue of illegal immigration. Funny thing is, sometimes the latter group is far louder than the former.
Followed by:
I will say it again, illegal immigration is the issue that could put Hillary in the whitehouse in 2008.
If you're one of the FReepers who's said that he would vote for Hillary in 2008 because of this issue, you have no intelligence to insult.
I respectfully answered your last question ... twice. And further if you re-read my posts you'll find an implicit answer to this question. I am still awaiting a response to my question.
The answer is no. I would expect you to pay whatever the market demanded for a legal laborer. If you found this to be too expensive I would suggest to you that you consider investing in some high-end dish-washing equipment that would reduce the labor cost of this task to where it was insignificant. I don't think there is anything in the constitution that guarantees you an unlimited supply of labor at the price you think is fair or appropriate. Lets close the border and let the market decide the fair price.
Now that I have answered three of your questions, please answer mine.
No I am a taxpayer. I am all for deconstructing the welfare state but I don't seriously expect it to happen anytime soon. It will be much harder to get accomplished if we keep importing poor people who, at best, vote 6 out of 10 for Democrats. We will have a much better chance at deconstructing welfare if we can improve the lives of the poorest Americans and convince them to vote Republican. The way to accomplish that is to drive up their wages and opportunities by cutting off the unlimited supply of cheap labor illegals.
The quickest path to socialism is to destroy the livelihoods of the poor at the bottom end of the middle class. That is the path that mass immigration is leading us down. Say good bye to the NASCAR voters and the gun-rights blue collar labor Republicans. They will vote their economic values in front of their social values.
[If you're one of the FReepers who's said that he would vote for Hillary in 2008 because of this issue, you have no intelligence to insult.]
Poobah,
I would NOT vote for Hitlery Clinton under any circumstances and I never said that I would. Please refrain from personal attacks on fellow Freepers. You were not sure if I would vote for Hillary or not, you just automatically assumed it and insulted my intelligence. I am on your side, so please dont't do that.
"Freedom" as defined by the Once-lers of the world means the "freedom" and "liberty" of illegals to storm into our country, fly planes into buildings, overrun our town, invade our home, and co-opt home bedroom. Why??
Because "God gives man the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness." (see post #375)
OK, tell me where I'm so ignorant since you seem to be the expert. Just because I bring up scenarios like what's occurring in Dallas on almost a daily basis does not mean I'm painting anyone with a broad brush....it's called the truth and I doubt someone like you is prepared to deal with it. Of course we have a larger share of crimes are committed by native born but why should countless innocent people and families have to suffer rape, robbery and even murder at the hands of people who would not be here if the fedgov had stricter enforcement policies? We have enough homegrown cretins so why import more?
Your opinion is metrosexual.
If you lie down with dogs - don't be surprised if people question whether or not you have fleas.
People who resort to name calling (as usual) are not worth responding to.
You all have a nice day now. ;)
"Do multisyllabic words bother you as well?"
Not at all! Those that encourage illegal activity by trying to imply that it is inevitable and unstopable and that there is a demand for it, just have to make some very convoluted distortions of the facts. That is exactly what most liberals do to make their ridiculous opinions acceptable to the gullible.
"Not as simple as "Juden raus," or "White Pride," or "There is no god but Allah." You don't need 6 pages to explain Dubya's illegal immigrant policy, but for some people 6 pages of truth will never counter the lies of their mind. 6 pages was not enough for you."
You're right I don't need 6 pages to explain Dubya's illegal immigrant policy. 6 pages that only an idiot would accept as truth. 6 pages of unsupported assertions was not enough for me, it was too much. As for your "white pride"
remark, you can take that up with La Raza.
"You're not a big fan of The Holy Bible either, are you?"
I believe the Holy Bible, why do you ask? I suppose you give this author the same status as the good book?
Impressive...
Try the next fortune cookie, pal.
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