Ed Cone: "But it is also possible to focus too much on the immigrants themselves, as if they were the only players in this vast game. To do so is like cursing at an overflowing basin while ignoring the hand on the tap. You can't consider the enormous population of illegal immigrants in the United States without asking how they got here and what they do here.
"The short answer is that we let them come, and we pay them to stay. Our government has not been serious about controlling this country's southern border. Yes, there are lots of hard-working people laboring in good faith on that job, but the scale and persistence of the inflow suggests it is not a real priority in Washington. And there are obvious reasons why U.S. policy has been neutral at best toward secure borders.
"One reason is that business interests want the ready supply of cheap labor, and those businesses wield a lot of influence with our government (customers love lower prices on goods and services, too). That's why it's funny to hear the pro-immigration stance sometimes cast only as a 'liberal' issue. Another reason we let it happen is that migration is a social safety valve for Mexico and other Latin American countries, and we value the relative stability it helps preserve in the region. And of course the increasingly powerful Hispanic voting population wields influence, too...
"So what do we do now? Clearly, we are not about (and should not be about) to embark on mass deportations, and criminalizing the people who are already here -- the specific measure addressed by Monday's protests -- seems like a bad idea. Nor does it seem wise to move toward a guest worker plan, which would create a two-tiered society that is distinctly un-American.
We need to move our current population of immigrants toward citizenship while making a serious effort to secure our border. The last part especially won't be easy, given the political and economic considerations here and in neighboring countries, but if immigration is really such a problem, then we'd better figure out a way to get it done.
"In the meantime, it doesn't hurt to recall those families in the courthouse square and to recognize them as people who want something better in their lives and for their families, much the same as anyone else."
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
9:24:20 AM 
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