Just Sick of It!

Illegal immigration has risen to become one of the top issues of this presidential election. This is evident by all the news coverage and the fact that all the candidates and president Bush have their own plans to solve the problem. The reasons illegal immigration has become a large enough problem to be apart of this presidential race are many and complex, as are the solutions. However, it is my belief that it is well worth the cost of enforcing our laws and strengthening our borders for a more efficient system and safe society. Although immigration has always been an important part of the united states’ economic growth by allowing cheap labor to come in and do the jobs that aren’t being taken by citizens, our system today is full of illegal immigrants living among the legal residents. This combination allows for confusion in population numbers and statistics that are vital for information the government uses to allocate resources and services. There is no single race of people that are responsible and no one border or technique of entry that can be fixed in order solve this problem. Illegal immigrants include anyone who has over-stayed their visas, physically crossed our borders by land sea or air, or ran away from a work place that brought them in. Although Mexicans crossing the border between the U.S. and Mexico make up the majority of the problem, the problem is broader than that. There is absolutely no excuse for the federal government to not be in control of who is here illegally. The supreme court has determined that the governments authority to regulate immigration falls under article 1 section 8 of the constitution, therefore, it is the federal governments’ responsibility. Illegal immigration does not harm only one state or another; it is felt in varying degrees throughout the whole country. Our stressed law enforcement and health care are two important examples of the effects of illegal immigration and these problems need to be fixed by sealing borders and creating an efficient guest worker program.

According to the January 2006 population estimates of unauthorized immigrants report on the Department Of Homeland Security website, “There were an estimated eleven point six million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States as of January 2006. Nearly four point two million had entered in 2000 or later”(1). This many people entering the country must increase the chances of unwanted people such as criminals and terrorists entering the country, and set immigrants up to be taken advantage of in a system they don’t understand. A guest worker program and secured borders are what’s needed to make our society safer and the system we live in more efficient.

I support comprehensive and strict enforcement of our immigration laws along with sealed borders in order to help our law enforcement agencies keep this country safe. My reasoning tells me that if innocent people can cross the border without detection then so can criminals and terrorists.

Criminals entering the country illegally increases the pressure on our police who are all ready busy with our own criminals. Guns and drugs can cross the border with these intruding criminals and with an increased number of guns on the street requesting licensing becomes pointless. Lornet Turnbull, writing for The Seattle Times, mentions in detail some other complex issues police are dealing with from illegal immigration. “Nationwide, state and local law-enforcement agencies are grappling with this very thing— how to deal with a growing population of illegal immigrants and some of the potential local problems that arise, ranging from overcrowded housing to day-labor-site complaints”(seattletimes.com, Local News ). Knowing how many people are here and making them tax paying citizens would help solve these issues. I believe that allowing the police to check for legal status is key to finding all of the people here illegally. The police, as well as employers and hospitals, should have the ability to give all the information and paper work to any illegal alien they find. Eventually most of the people here illegally will have had the ability to become citizens or would have been deported.

Without secured borders however, not only would this plan become an endless task, but we would risk the chance of a terrorist entering to cause havoc as well. So securing our borders is an essential piece to any solution to this problem. Although a terrorist can enter legally, the danger would be dramatically reduced if the person had their background checked for any possible threat. Opponents may argue that enforcing immigration is not worth the cost and effort, especially now that our economy seems to be on the decline. The most recent comprehensive immigration reform bill, that was not accepted by congress, planed on increasing the number of border patrol agents, building more wall near urban areas, installing a high tech “virtual fence” which would use cameras and sensors where a fence would be harmful to the environment, and crack down on employers who hired illegal immigrants. Such an act would not be cheap nor easy. However, I believe that the benefits would outweigh the burden in the not too far future.

Along with easing the stress on our law enforcement and health care systems, making them more efficient; cracking down on illegal immigration by forcing the good, hardworking, immigrants to become citizens would increase the amount of tax revenue the states and government receive, funds would be collected via the fees that are accompanied with the citizenship process, and fines collected for entering the country illegally to begin with. In this process as well, we would find any illegal immigrants that happen to be gang members or other criminals who would be deported immediately, benefiting our police. Without accurate population numbers law enforcement agencies can not know how many police they need to ensure a safe city. By forcing the illegal immigrants who are already here to become citizens and pay taxes, our law enforcement would be better able to cover the amount of people they know are here with an accurate amount of tax money. In the same way, our health care systems, which are obviously stressed, would benefit from such an initiative.

Today it seems everywhere you go and every time you turn on the T.V. you hear something that comes from our troubled health care systems. Advertisements to encourage people to be more healthy and laws such as the helmet law requiring all children to where helmets when on their bike, and lights if they ride at night, all come from the fact that health care is struggling. States across the union are banning smoking at what seems like one area at a time and the seatbelt law is an example as well. All these laws must seem extreme to the eyes and ears of anybody who is educated in American politics and law. The reason theses laws come off as extreme is because of how close the government is getting into the lives of it’s citizens and there is only one reason (too many people without health insurance).

According to the journal of American Physicians and Surgeons “…Any patient coming to a hospital Emergency Department (ED) requesting .emergency. care must be screened and treated until ready for discharge, or stabilized for transfer. whether or not insured, .documented,. or able to pay”. (Ilegal) this is from the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1985 (EMTALA), and I have no problem with it. Where the problem lies is in the fact that there are so many illegal immigrants here that this act becomes counter productive.

Even though illegal immigrants are not the only people without health insurance, the number of uninsured including the illegal immigrants is far too high for our health care system to maintain. If someone is living in this country they must understand the system they live in and know how they can use such things as health care and insurance. Becoming a citizen comes with courses in American history and political science as well as law to enable the immigrants to live a successful life in America. Young legal citizens that just don’t think they need health insurance or want the extra 30 or 40 dollars taken out of their checks add to this problem also and should be looked at, but bringing the illegal immigrants out of the shadows is an essential part if we are to thoroughly fix the problem of illegal immigration.

Through a guest worker program companies would have a legal source of immigrants that have already been checked for gang relations or illnesses. These companies would have procedures for treating any injuries on the job without harming the nations health care system. A guest worker program would help stop people from illegally crossing the border and adding to the problem. In order to clean up the mess we’re in now with law enforcement and health care, a pathway to citizenship is what we need for the ones already living in the country. The federal government will need to find all of these illegals whether at work, in jail, or in the hospital and make sure those three organizations have the ability to start them on the path to citizenship. If an employer, or one of our jails or hospitals discovers an illegal immigrant, the staff will be able to give them the paper work and information they need to become a citizen or the immigrant risks being deported. If we legalized all these aliens by making the process of becoming a citizen easily accessible, we would be better able to allocate tax dollars and resources.

In conclusion, It has been normal policy almost completely throughout American history to bring in cheap labor from other countries as mentioned in vol. 2 of the Encyclopedia Of The American Constitution by Gerald P. Lopez and Kenneth L. Karst on immigration. “… the cheapest labor in the united states has become almost exclusively the province of undocumented workers. An entrenched migratory culture now supplies workers from Mexico and other countries to fill low paying and socially undesired jobs”(951). Although the reasoning behind the necessity of cheap foreign labor makes sense economically, nowhere did the referenced encyclopedia mention the permanent residence of undocumented aliens. Here is were the economic benefits fade away and the only thing left growing is poverty without representation. Not only can these families not be be legally insured they have no representation in the government and can’t vote. This is not the American way and should not be tolerated.

Bringing in people via a guest worker program is fine as long as they are kept within a designated area and recognized. But if they live here like normal citizens then they must be made citizens or deported. Otherwise, all we have done is brought in poor people without the capability or the understanding of how to progress out of poverty according to the American norm. I believe, for the well being of Americans, our economy, and the immigrants, that it is our moral and ethical obligation to make sure everyone is on file and no one comes into this country illegally.

If illegal immigrants live here they need to be able to communicate, debate, and argue their cases at work, in court, and to their government. The American dream is for anyone who will work and want to live a good life. I welcome any number of legal immigrants who want to participate. I condemn any employer or policy maker who does not try to teach and help these illegal immigrants to live the American dream to the fullest. This is why I insist that our laws are enforced and the confusing mess we’re in now, eliminated by enforcing our borders, creating a pathway to citizenship that includes a fine for breaking the law, and creating a viable guest worker program that enables companies to bring in safe immigrants to where they are needed and when they are needed.