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Congress depends on suckers born every day

By Patrick Osio, Jr./HispanicVista.com

   September 25, 2006

 

  

 

 

We are told that a number of measures proposed or on the books will go along way in stopping illegal immigration and securing our borders from terrorist penetration. But historical facts prove that measures already on the books neither stop illegal immigration nor make our borders safer. And most of the new proposals are either more of the same with new costs running into the billions, or simply anger and frustration venting, many crossing the line with predictable civil rights abuses.

Let’s take the 700 mile proposed border fence. According to proponents the fence will deter illegal immigrants from crossing the border. They point to the San Diego region fence extending from the Pacific Ocean 14 miles east. There has been a decrease of 80 percent entries along the 14 miles since its erection.

Sounds good, but has there been a decrease of illegal immigration to California or in other border states? No, there has been an annual increase since the fence went up. One can logically deduct that 20 percent who still use the fence find it more convenient than going the 14 miles around it. We can further deduct that were the fence 700 miles long there would be a dramatic increase of over-the-fence users, with an increase of entries around the 700 miles.

Amazingly hard line border enforcement only Congressional candidates in their TV campaign ads all use video footage showing illegal immigrants entering over the fence. One would think that showing voters the fence doesn’t work would be good reason for not pushing more of the same costing over $8 billion, though like good Congressmen, they claim the cost at only $2 billion.

Another is the perennial add more Border Patrol and  spend more money on border enforcement. This argument erroneously equates spending more money on achieving success. The facts are that each year for the last 10 years, more money, more Border Patrol agents have been added, but yet the flow of illegal entries continues to rise. We are now spending over $4 billion a year, but the argument persists that more should be spent. The cost is nearing $8,000 per each apprehension, at what point of cost is enough, enough?

In many states like California in 1996, we were told that denying illegal immigrants driver’s licenses would discourage them from coming. Yet, every year but one, illegal immigration to California and other states has increased. Clearly no discouragement to illegal entries.

What it has created is a large number of unlicensed and uninsured drivers using public roads. While also creating an industry that buys old clunkers at auto auctions, many unsafe, selling them cheap to unlicensed illegal immigrants who know that being stopped by authorities while driving without a license or insurance means the car is impounded to await another auction.

The most recent proposal considered by many to be absurd calls for making felons of all who are illegal immigrants. This will include tens of thousands who entered legally but overstayed even by one day their visa time and minor children transported illegally across a border by their parents or other adult. And the legislation would make it a federal crime to aid any person in any manner who is found to be an illegal immigrant even if the immigration status is not known at the time of rendering aid. This would criminalize anyone providing even water to a dying person in the desert.

But again, would this stop illegal immigration? If people with full knowledge that they are risking their lives still trample across scorching deserts, cross strong current rivers, face the danger of gang ambush; suffer the beatings and gunfire at the hands of vigilantes, will stop coming because they may face felony charges?

Now comes cities introducing and in some cases passing laws that prohibit renting any type of living quarter to illegal immigrants. This creates a new enforcement problem that first attempts to make hotel/motel front desk personnel, and apartment or residential property managers as well as property owners into immigration inspectors while unleashing massive racial profiling and civil rights violations.

But will such laws stop illegal immigration? Time and again over the years, newspapers have carried articles, many with pictures, about shanty towns lacking basic needs such as water, electricity, sanitation and sewer services nestled in deep brush in urban areas with scores of residents. Such living conditions have not deterred illegal immigration.

In fact these laws are more of a city racial cleansing nature than they are about stopping illegal immigration. The law’s intent is to simply rid the city of “low economic brown faced undesirables.”  

The reason why such laws do not stop illegal immigration is because none of them go to the root of the problem – poverty in countries south of the US, and the willingness of US businesses to hire hard working, low wage non complaining personnel.

Until such time citizens of the United States come to grips with the real problem and move to resolve those root problems our politicians will continue to push for more and more non-working laws at an always escalating cost to taxpayers – so we won’t question the $35 billion pork plus the $26 billion farm subsidies they add to each year’s budget.  __________________________________________________________

Patrick Osio, Jr is Editor of HispanicVista (www.hispanicvista.com). Contact at: Posiojr@hispanicvista.com

(The opinions expressed by Patrick Osio, Jr. are solely his and do not necessarily reflect those of HispanicVista.com, editorial board of advisors or it’s contributing writers.)

Patrick Osio, Jr. has written a short but intensive manual on the Mexican perspective on numerous issues between our two countries. The manual is an in depth primer on the culture and protocol for better understanding Mexicans that in turn allows establishing personal and business relationships, and how to avoid the most common faux pas that can ruin relationships and business deals.

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