HispanicVista Columnists
Do We Really Want To Enforce Our Immigration Laws?
By Sal Osio
CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, Congressman Tom Tancredo and dozens of wannabe experts, dance around the rhythm of illegal immigration, but they are all out of step. Almost everyone has a hidden agenda. For instance, Tom Tancredo, the Republican Congressman from Colorado panders to his white racist red neck constituency whose common denominator is ownership of a pickup truck and a daily dosage of six pack beer – not a substitute for American core values based on education, social justice and respect for human rights. And, regrettably, CNN’s Lou Dobbs marches to the same cadence, albeit under the flag of national sovereignty and homeland security. In the last few months Lou Dobbs Tonight devoted over abundant broadcast time to what anchor Dobbs described as an influx of "illegal aliens who not only threaten our economy … Millions of aliens crossing our borders." Congressman Tom Tancredo was on Lou Dobbs Tonight to comment on immigration reforms and called for the securing of our borders with our military.
For a thorough discussion of immigration, Hispanic Vista has possibly the most authoritative and in-depth commentary on the issue of illegal immigration. The reader is directed to the search button on the toolbar and inscribe “immigration.”
The overwhelming motivation for illegal immigration is the quest of the poor and unemployed in an underdeveloped country, such as Mexico, for a better life by finding employment in the land of plenty, America. At a tremendous cost (an average of $5,000 payment to smugglers) and at risk of life (dozens die each year trying to cross the Arizona desert) and detention (over one million each year are detained) these miserable souls reach America and accept below living wage employment, often in deplorable conditions, that no American would accept. The subsidy to the wage intensive agricultural and service sectors of our economy, estimated at over $50 billion per year, is the beneficial consequence of low cost immigrant labor. The downside is the collateral damage, primarily to Hispanic Americans and other minorities who must compete at an uneven playing field with the sub wage laborer. The additional economic detriment is the burden on our schools, medical care providers and public welfare institutions and programs. And, to the purist WASP, the principal detriment is the ‘browning’ of America - the perceived pollution of the white race and the destruction of the American fabric, its culture, values and institutions. See the work of Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington on this subject wherein he manifests that Hispanics are a menace to America. (For a reply see my rebuttal “WASP America: A White Supremacy?”).
Some lawmakers are particularly concerned with the attitudes of Hispanics on the immigration issue. Polls show that Hispanic Americans, like all Americans, support cutbacks in immigration.
• 89% of Hispanic
Americans strongly support an immediate moratorium on immigration. 74% feel
fewer immigrants should be allowed and stronger restrictions should be
enforced. (Hispanic USA Research Group, June 1993)
• Hispanics favor reducing immigration by a margin of 53% to 35% in Texas,
48% to 40% in New York, and 47% to 39% in Florida. Rudolfo de la Garza, a
University of Texas
at Austin professor and one of the directors of the study, said: “U.S born
Mexican-Americans believe that they suffer a lower quality of services
because of the excess demand on them generated by the immigrants.” (Tomas
Rivera Center, March 1996)
• 43% of Hispanics nationwide think the government is not doing enough to
stop illegal immigration. The more established Hispanics are in the United
States, the more likely they are to think the government is not doing enough
to curb illegal immigration. 37% of foreign-born Hispanics believe not
enough is being done; that belief increases to 45% of first-generation
Hispanics and half of second-generation Hispanics. (San Jose Mercury News,
October 2000)
Interestingly, most Americans support a control of illegal immigration. And yet our government is lax in enforcing our existing sanctions against the hiring of undocumented workers. Clearly, the military along our borders, a prohibitive cost at least and ineffective at best, would only disrupt trade and commerce. Control of illegal immigration is not a military solution as certain ill informed and hidden agenda pundits like Congressman Tancredo and CNN anchor Dobbs would have us believe. Our 2,000 mile border with Mexico is porous and penetrable for those who seek to cross it. Not even 100,000 troops stationed along the border could secure it. Never mind the cost. Only the lack of employment opportunity for those seeking a job and a better standard of living will curb illegal immigration.
The solution is so obvious. Enforce sanctions against employers hiring undocumented workers. Why doesn’t our government do it? Is it because the economic benefit to our labor intensive industries is vital to our economy and global competitiveness? Is it because indirectly we are assisting Mexico in providing a safety valve against their unemployment and indirectly affording them financial aid through the remittances, over $14 billion per year, that immigrants send to their kinfolk in Mexico? Were it not for the illegal immigration by Mexico’s unemployed would Mexico face civil disorder and pose a threat to the national security of the U.S.? Or is the lack of enforcement simply due to the fact that employer sanctions are unenforceable?
If we really want to enforce our existing law prohibiting employers from hiring undocumented aliens we must have a fool proof system wherein employers can check the ID of prospective employees against a forgery proof data bank. For this purpose we need a national ID card with fingerprint or other form of identification integrated in the ID card which can readily be checked against a national data bank. Is the technology available? Yes. Is the cost of a national ID and data bank system affordable? Yes. It is particularly affordable when compared to the insane proposals to seal our borders with military personnel.
The question is: Are we ready for a national ID card and check proof data bank system? The rest of the world already has a similar ID program. We already have a social security card, drivers license and passport national identification system. So, why not the national ID card and computer data base? Without it, can we win the battle against the infiltration of terrorists? Against illegal immigration? Without it can we effectively enforce the law against the hiring of undocumented workers? The answer is a resounding ‘NO.’
My fellow Americans, we must fez up to a little loss of our privacy and embrace the national identification card and data base program. If we don't, we can continue a meaningless rhetoric, based on racial overtones, such as Tancredo’s, and demagoguery to increase ratings, such as CNN’s, without solutions. The question is quite simple: Do we or do we not want to enforce our immigration laws?
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Sal Osio is the Publisher of HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com). Contact at SPosio@aol.com