Enforceable, Sustainable, Compassionate

Opinion Journal (WSJ) ^ | 5/24/06 | Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

[jebeier]

THE GOLDEN DOOR

Enforceable, Sustainable, Compassionate

On immigration, it's time to get real.

In every decade there is a critical domestic issue that shapes our political life for decades to come. In the 1960s, it was civil rights; in the 1970s, the Watergate crisis; in the 1980s, crime and drugs; and in the 1990s, welfare dependency. Today, it is immigration.

In New York City, 500,000 of our more than three million immigrants are here illegally. Although they broke the law by illegally crossing our borders or overstaying their visas, our economy would be a shell of itself had they not, and it would collapse if they were deported. The same holds true for the nation. Yet in a post-9/11 world, the federal government can no longer wink at illegal immigration. To ensure our national security and keep our economy growing, it is essential that immigration reform embody four key principles:

1. Reduce Incentives. As a business owner, I know the absurdity of our existing immigration regulations all too well....

2. Increase Lawful Opportunity. Baby boomers are starting to retire, America's birthrate continues to slow, and our visa quotas remain too low...

3. Reduce Access. Controlling our borders is a matter of urgent national security....

4. Get Real. The idea of deporting 11 million people, nearly as many as live in the entire state of Illinois, is pure fantasy....

Mr. Bloomberg is mayor of New York.

[jebeier]

Mayor Mike weighs in on the immigration debate

[ClaireSolt]

Build a fence around NYC and every other sanctuary city. It is shocking that this continues after 9/11.

And change the nationwide seatbelt enforcement effort to rounding up illegals instead.

[GarySpFc]

We have somewhere between 4 and 5 million individuals waiting in line overseas to immigrate here LAWFULLY. It would go against everything American to put illegals ahead of these people. We simply cannot stick our thumbs in the eye of those who have been waiting from 8 to 25 years overseas to appease those who have broken our laws.

[Lurker]

Every time this guy opens his mouth he sounds more and more like a complete jibbering idiot.

L

[jebeier]

Not enough emphasis on physical security, IMHO. But other than that, I think Mayor Mike is on the right track.

The "Virtual Wall" is pure fantasy. It is not possible to stop people from crossing unless we physically stop them from crossing. The only way to do that is with a physical barrier.

Well, minefields would probably work as well, but I don't think that is going to happen.

[dalereed]

He should be investigated for hiring illegals and is he is or has give him the maximum penalty in the law.

[Past Your Eyes]

"in the 1980s, crime and drugs; and in the 1990s, welfare dependency."

I wonder how many others would have come up with those domestic "crises" as defining those decades. Sounds to me like a real stretch to arrive there, Mr. Mayor.

[BufordP]

Snake Plissken for Mayor!

[R.W.Ratikal]

To say that "our economy would be a shell of itself" if illegal aliens were not here is absurd.

It's true that Americans will not take low-paying jobs that illegal aliens accept but it is because Americans are used to a higher standard of living and can do better in an economy that has virtually no unemployment.

If illegal aliens were not around to take the low-paying jobs, employers would be forced to get competitive in the labor market and offer wages that would attract workers like every other business must do.

Illegal aliens perform mostly unskilled manual labor that requires only a strong back. Our economy was built on entrepreneurial innovation, private intuitive and enterprise, not strong backs.

[jebeier]

It would take 60 jumbo jets ferrying passengers from the US to Mexico, every day, for ten years to get 11 Million people out of the country. I would love to wave a magic wand and make everybody go home, but magic wands are in short supply.

Deporting the illegals already here is a fantasy. There is no way Congress or the courts will ever let that happen. We are going to have to make the best of the situation, which will require regularization and an eventual path to citizenship.

We have had no effective law for the past twenty years. Our policy has been to wink and nod at illegal immigration. The immigrants did not take our laws any less seriously than our government did.

[Dr. Thorne]

Translation: "Keep the cheap illegals coming. My lawn needs work."

[robertpaulsen]

A) Illegals are doing the jobs citizens won't.
B) Your solution is to make those illegals citizens.
C) Then, Mayor Mike, who will do the jobs?

You did this in 1986 and we were PROMISED it would be a one-shot deal. Abide by your promise. Enforce the existing laws.

[BufordP]

They didn't use 60 jumbo every day for ten years to get in. They can leave the same way they got here.

[Buffettfan]

Bloomberg has already said that he will NOT enforce immigration laws. This is simply inconceivable after his own city was attacked on 911. It is exactly what the terrorist want to hear. C'mon in, we will NOT stop you.

[raybbr]

Although they broke the law by illegally crossing our borders or overstaying their visas, our economy would be a shell of itself had they not, and it would collapse if they were deported.

Didn't they make the same claims about slavery?

[jebeier]

I love Ann, but she is not my first choice when it comes to formulating implementable policy.

[R.W.Ratikal]

Wrong! Saying we can't deport illegal aliens is like saying we can't do anything about crime because we can't round up all of the criminals at once and put them in jail.

We should first plug up the border and then deport all illegal aliens when, where and as we can apprehend them. It might take a long time, no one is suggesting that we can deport over 12 million people over a weekend. Deporting illegal aliens will cost a lot but it would be cheaper than seeing our nation overwhelmed by the Third World.

The French method, surrender, is not an option.

[jebeier]

Didn't they make the same claims about slavery?

The Reconstruction was not what you would call "Economic Good Times".

[BufordP]

... Ann ... is not my first choice when it comes to formulating implementable policy.

But Bloomberg is? BTW, it is not Ann who proposes a solution. Her article regards Brimelow's proposals which incidentally coinincide with a host of other immigration policy wonks. The majority of immigration hawks tout "attrition" - not deportation.

Secure the border, enforce the laws. "60 jumbo jet mass deportation" is a red herring.

[GarySpFc]

Deporting the illegals already here is a fantasy. There is no way Congress or the courts will ever let that happen. We are going to have to make the best of the situation, which will require regularization and an eventual path to citizenship.

Nonsense, nonsense, and more nonsense. We simply need to make it tougher for illegal aliens to get work, and most will return home.