March 16, 2002
We Simply Cannot Have It Both Ways
This past week, and without much fanfare, congress passed a resolution giving blanket amnesty to some several million illegal immigrants that are currently residing inside our borders.
As a hard working American, that pays taxes and funds some of these folks I am OUTRAGED! It seems that our lawmakers have already forgotten the lessons of September 11, 2001. They have once again proven that politics are to be placed above the safety of even their own constituents. It is the role of these people to uphold the constitution of the United States, in so far as protecting the very electors that put them in office. It is my opinion that they have obviously failed miserably on this once more and have dropped the ball on homeland security. Was it not true that most of the highjackers on that fateful day were in this country illegally?
Oh yes I hear the arguments on how these illegal are doing the jobs nobody else would do for such meager pay. Well heres my answer, get these people out of here and those employers that hire these people will simply be forced to pay more for services that they have been providing for, for a long, long time. Someone that by law requires union wages will replace that day laborer that digs ditches for less than minimum wage. (And I certainly am no fan of big organized labor; in my book they are as bad as big business). Someone that mows your lawn for a couple of measly dollars an hour will be replaced by an American worker for at least minimum wage, or youll do it yourself. The point here is that illegal workers have taken jobs away from Americans,,,period. Combine this with the effects of that wonderfully crafted NAFTA treaty and we see more and more Americans simply have a very difficult time finding work.
OK, point number two. Ilegals do not pay taxes, yet receive many services that are paid for by the American worker, thru income taxes. It boggles my mind that someone without an even a simple working knowledge of English, (and no I am not targeting Hispanics here so dont your shorts up to tight), can literally sneak into this country, go to any welfare building the country, and apply of government assistance. No one questions them and no one is even allowed to report them either. In fact, if I am not mistaken, health care officials, social workers and others have been basically told that they CANNOT report them to the INS or any other government agency. Not only should working Americans be outraged, but those of us who are in this country legally should find this even more galling, because most times WE are the ones that are made to jump through hoops just to get these same services. Talk about coming the land that was once called the land of opportunity or the land of milk and honey, and getting a damned free ride. It is no wonder America holds such appeal for some of these people
You know, I do hold a soft spot in my heart for anyone that wishes to come here and work hard and become as successful as they possibly can. I know many come here to escape extremely horrid social, economic and political conditions in their mother countries. I just ask that they do it legally. And those that don't should be prosecuted as lawbreakers and returned quickly. Which brings me to this point; there is a tremendous backlog on these cases because these people have more legal rights than I do, even though they arent American citizens. Apparently, they can appeal endlessly through immigration lawyers. OK, so some of these people may honestly deserve to stay, but you know what most don't. And instead of spending millions of dollars on housing them in detention centers, let us take that money, increase the number of legal officials and put these folks on the first plane out of here. It would certainly be cheaper.
Ok, now, in a related story it seems that that most efficient of government agencies, the INS, recently approved visas for two of the now infamous and very dead highjackers of the planes that slammed into the WTC. President Bush was rightly disgusted with this little, shall we say agency snafu? Yet the President has backed the passage of the blanket amnesty for these very same types of people that have entered this country illegally. All of course to give President Fox, the President of Mexico a little incentive to work closely with America on many other issues; like the continuation of policies provided for in that NAFTA treaty. Additionally this is seen as an opportunity to court the Hispanic vote, which is increasingly showing itself to be more and more conservative. Witness the show of votes for President Bush in Florida, by the Hispanic community there, that came on the heels of the ill famed Elian Gonzalez case. As a side note, that was probably the one time that the INS, ever acted as efficiently as it could, funny no?
Mr. President, sir, I am a very huge supporter of yours, but you simply cannot have it both ways. Either you condemn all illegal entry, and government agencies that do little do prevent this from happening or you openly embrace an open boarder policy, which from where I am sitting will get you nowhere in 2004. Most Americans I have spoken with, and I speak with many from the areas between the east and the left coast, are pretty much fed up with our so-called immigration policies. And here we find ourselves being betrayed by the very lawmakers, including the CEO of our nation, in order to buy a few lousy votes and to kiss some butts.
Ok so once again I am going out on a limb here. I am going to call for a moratorium on immigration into this country for the next five years until this current batch Ilegals and legals are assimilated into the American society and culture. I will leave the PC argument alone on this for now. Also during this time I am calling for a complete review of all current immigration laws and policies, and where found to be lacking, tightened up or rewritten. I certainly don't mind my taxes being used for paying for THESE services. Finally, I am asking for tighter restrictions and requirements for entering this country legally. Hey heres a suggestion, maybe the IRS, which has an extremely hostile workforce towards the American worker, can work closely with the INS and track down all of those employers that hire Ilegals and the Ilegals themselves and get them the hell out of here on the first and fastest boat, plane, train or taxi out of town.
Rich
Editor
The BCC
