Not So Liberal Solution to Illegal Immigration

By: Joshua Morgan

Posted: 1/24/10

Many of us see them at least once a day or week. They do the menial labor that many American's have decided they are above and deserve better, although in the recent economic downturn some of us have reconsidered said jobs. Not all of them, but most of them don't even speak more than a thousand words of English. My biggest problem is that they don't pay taxes. No, I'm not talking about Obama cabinet officials. I'm talking illegal immigrants. Illegals have flooded the U.S. by the amount of 12 million or more. That's close to the world population of Jews. Over 10 million immigrants have arrived since 2000 and more than half of those are guessed to be illegal.

How could such a vast amount of immigrants breached our borders? In 1924 the U.S. Border Patrol was created by Congress. Legal immigration at the time was based on a quota assigned to each nationality. In 1965, this system was replaced by one built to unite families and attract skilled labor. With this change came a shift from European immigrants to ones from Asia and Latin America. A major change to legislation came in 1986 with the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

Two principles were built into this law: amnesty and enforcement. Three million immigrants were granted legal status because they had lived in the U.S. since January of 1982 or they had done ninety days of agricultural work between 1985 and 1986. A large part of the applications are said to have been fraudulent! The enforcement side of this law prohibited the hiring and harboring of illegal immigrants but the lack of proper funding hurt the ability of law enforcement as it still does today.

In 1990 the IRCA was further expanded and the amount of available visas increased by forty percent. 1996 saw another bill that sought to expand the amount of border patrol and INS agents and began construction of the border fence for San Diego. It also gave the power to local law officials to enforce immigration laws. Several smaller amnesties were passed during this time allowing the legalization of over one and half million illegal immigrants.

Half a decade later, America witnessed the destruction of two towers and the lives of three thousand citizens were claimed in the name of radical Islam. The hijackers were on expired student visas. Remember a couple statistics back where the amount of visas were increased by forty percent? And did I mention that lack of funding has pervaded the enforcement system since the very beginning? I have a feeling both of those factors played a major role in the terrorists' successful attacks. This only grabbed the attention of the Congress in 2006 and 2007 though when several different bills were drafted by both chambers but were ultimately pushed aside. It's very disturbing that Congress could so easily pass the Patriot Act which infringed upon the rights of American citizens before they would address the bigger problem of how these terrorists came to be in the United States in the first place.

In 2007 Congress proposed a bill that would have granted amnesty to a majority of illegal aliens in the country but also increased enforcement, again. Have you noticed a trend concerning the enforcement of immigration? The very people we elected to represent us were all for this bill and yet the majority of Americans were against this legislation and it was killed. In 2007 immigration approved a little over one million applicants for permanent residence.

What is the Obama administration prepared to do? White House aides haven't said much but what they did reveal was rather disturbing. President Obama plans to back a "solution" that would allow for 12 million illegal immigrants to receive citizenship or legal-worker status. Essentially this is a "road plan" which would operate over several years with the inclusion of expanded border enforcement! Is it Obama's big heart that would lead him to such a conclusion or is it something else?

According to a UCLA study done on the amnesty granted to three million back in 1986, Obama's plan would create a positive impact on the U.S. economy and its GDP. The study projects an increase of $1.5 trillion to the U.S. GDP if the 12 million were granted amnesty over a period of time. In 1986 the regions in which a number of illegals became legal witnessed an increase in tax revenues and economic boosts. The UCLA claims the immigrants will seek higher education and pay taxes due to the fact that they no longer have to watch out for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents.

Whether this claim rings true or not, our principles as a nation must determine our actions. More than a dozen million people are here illegally; making it even more difficult for those in line to obtain their own residency. Did I mention illegal? Our stance on the issue should be the same as not negotiating with terrorists. Its a simple of matter of opening the floodgates. This is exactly what has been affecting our immigration problems in the first place. We have granted too many aliens amnesty, and more want the same. They don't want to wait in line. America isn't free, ladies and gentlemen. This is the land of self-made men and women! Or so I thought until a recent increase of large government hand outs.

Our government needs to develop a road plan that increases legal documentation enforcement for employers, and deports illegal immigrants by the truck load. We need to redirect funds and man power from this useless drug war and put them into border patrol and local law enforcement. What is the status of this border fence? I'm sure many liberals disagree with the structure but the need to protect our leaky border is paramount in the fight against global terrorism. The Transcontinental Railroad was built in less time than it is taking for the US-Mexican border fence.

The terms may be harsh but the lack of vision by Congress over the better half of the past century has allowed for a vast influx of illegal aliens that consume our tax dollars and jobs that true, legal Americans deserve. Write your congressman and stress to them the damage these illegals are doing to our great nation that is the United States of America.