Illegal Immigration

Hot topic of the week. There has always been an "illegal immigration" problem in this country since it was founded. Ever since the pilgrims landed on plymouth rock. This is such a mindless controversy and an obvious ploy to divert attention from much more serious issues at hand: namely political corruption and bad decision making at the top levels of government. Instead of that, we have a much more "important" topic to talk about. A topic that is intended to stir up controversy and media attention. America Is A Nation Of Immigrants! The house majority leader Bill Frist says we should simply deport all 11 million immigrants currently living within the U.S.... Remember a kid named Elian Gonzalez? Yea he was real easy to deport.... Now take that and multiply it by 11 million. No problem at all! Illegal immigrants are one of the main reasons our economy has survived and remained competitive in the past decade. How else would we have below-minimum wage labor? It's yet another issue of supply and demand. Sure these people are here illegally and that's the key word. But why? Because there's a demand for them here. They aren't criminals by any means; at least by how I define a criminal. They came here to work as hard if not harder than any of us and at the same time get paid crums and leftovers from exploding corporate profits. They know how easy it is to get here, and they know that the immigration laws here are a joke. So they see the opportunity and they take it. This is no fault but our own.

This is a problem that can't be solved idealogically. It's not black and white issue. There has to be a more realistic approach. Policing the border, enforcing the ban on hiring illegal aliens, denying temporary visas to those likely to remain permanently, and all the other things necessary to reduce illegal immigration will take time and cost money. However, since the cost of illegal immigration to the federal government alone is estimated at over $10 billion a year, significant resources could be devoted to enforcement efforts and still leave taxpayers with significant net savings.

Immigration laws againt employers are going completely unregulated under this presidency. If you want to fix the problem, you have to start at the top. Employers who hire and pay illegal immigrants less than minimum wage aren't benefiting society by avoiding income tax laws. Regulation wouldn't cost anymore money than it would take to round up 11 million people and kick them across the border. But since George Dubya Bush, his administration and the majority of the people in power have proven over and over again that they cater specifically to big business interests, business regulation seems to be out of the question.

As much as I disagree with the direction this country is heading in, there's no way I can deny that this is one, if not the greatest nation on earth. Every patriot would agree. Now take that same logic and put yourself in the shoes of someone born somewhere else into poverty stricken conditions. You would want to get here too. So why is it that the american dream was good enough for my great-grandparents who came here from sweden and norway, and not good enough for immigrants trying to get here today? Thats the big question.

Jay Leno: "The Good News Is That Congress Is Cracking Down On Illegal Immigration. The Bad News: A Head Of Lettuce Will Now Cost $300" ...