I have been following Arizona’s new immigration law with interest. On the one hand, it addresses a serious problem with human and drug trafficking across the border. On the other, it is harsh and gives police powers they would not have over citizens.
I feel several realities are being ignored, not just by Arizona, but by the federal government in the debates over immigration. Political points are being made at the expense of reality and the needs of individuals and the nation (is that really a surprise?).
As I see it, these are the relevant facts:
-Mexico can not support all the people it has. There are simply not enough jobs of any kind to employ all able Mexicans of working age;
-The US has many labor intensive positions that Americans are unwilling to fill;
-Wages are higher in the US than Mexico;
-Immigration law has favored highly educated or qualified individuals from all countries;
-These individuals, immigrating legally, have had to wait years for their citizenship.
Whatever may be said about illegal immigration, these people work hard. They are most of our busboys, roofers, yard workers and brick layers. My roof was replaced by a company using workers that universally spoke Spanish, and they did a great job. My first house was bricked by a Mexican crew working by the job. It was done, and done right, in 10 days.
No matter how much we may speak of able Americans to fill these jobs, the truth is they do not. If there were a pool of US workers willing to do this work, any law would have to be different. But there is not such a pool. Until our citizens are willing to do muscle labor for the price of muscle jobs, such labor will be imported.
Many doctors, engineers and architects from Pakistan, India, Ukraine and elsewhere end up with jobs as taxi drivers or construction workers while they wait for their citizenship and their families. I have had MD taxi drivers and Palestinian concrete workers who were civil engineers (they of course did a superb job with concrete). These people, who have waited through our legal process, can not be passed over by those who have come here illegally.
Any law that is crafted must take account of these realities, or it will be unworkable, and violated. It is not reasonable to reward those who have immigrated illegally, nor is it reasonable to punish those who have entire lives and families here.
Arizona’s law does appear to grant unconstitutional search powers to the police. Exactly how do you determine who is suspected of being an illegal alien? However, the claims of racial profiling are specious. Mexican illegals are Hispanic- no alternative. To look for illegal immigrants among the Hispanic population is as appropriate a use of resources as screening only blacks for sickle cell disease, or whites for cystic fibrosis.
There is a minister who says the law sends a double message. In one harbor we have a statue welcoming immigrants, whole we attempt to build a wall at another border. Of course this claim is emotionally manipulative, conveniently forgetting that the Statue of Liberty welcomes legal immigrants, while the Arizona law seeks to deal with illegal ones.
In the end, I believe a guest worker program, some form of amnesty for families living in the US, and accelerated citizenship for those waiting here legally will best serve the needs of the US, established illegal workers, legal immigrants and the Mexicans who wish to come here. It is a shame we have reached a point where Americans do not want to perform the heavy labor immigrant workers will perform. To act as though the realities on the ground are not real is fantasy and bad policy.
Ted
I feel several realities are being ignored, not just by Arizona, but by the federal government in the debates over immigration. Political points are being made at the expense of reality and the needs of individuals and the nation (is that really a surprise?).
As I see it, these are the relevant facts:
-Mexico can not support all the people it has. There are simply not enough jobs of any kind to employ all able Mexicans of working age;
-The US has many labor intensive positions that Americans are unwilling to fill;
-Wages are higher in the US than Mexico;
-Immigration law has favored highly educated or qualified individuals from all countries;
-These individuals, immigrating legally, have had to wait years for their citizenship.
Whatever may be said about illegal immigration, these people work hard. They are most of our busboys, roofers, yard workers and brick layers. My roof was replaced by a company using workers that universally spoke Spanish, and they did a great job. My first house was bricked by a Mexican crew working by the job. It was done, and done right, in 10 days.
No matter how much we may speak of able Americans to fill these jobs, the truth is they do not. If there were a pool of US workers willing to do this work, any law would have to be different. But there is not such a pool. Until our citizens are willing to do muscle labor for the price of muscle jobs, such labor will be imported.
Many doctors, engineers and architects from Pakistan, India, Ukraine and elsewhere end up with jobs as taxi drivers or construction workers while they wait for their citizenship and their families. I have had MD taxi drivers and Palestinian concrete workers who were civil engineers (they of course did a superb job with concrete). These people, who have waited through our legal process, can not be passed over by those who have come here illegally.
Any law that is crafted must take account of these realities, or it will be unworkable, and violated. It is not reasonable to reward those who have immigrated illegally, nor is it reasonable to punish those who have entire lives and families here.
Arizona’s law does appear to grant unconstitutional search powers to the police. Exactly how do you determine who is suspected of being an illegal alien? However, the claims of racial profiling are specious. Mexican illegals are Hispanic- no alternative. To look for illegal immigrants among the Hispanic population is as appropriate a use of resources as screening only blacks for sickle cell disease, or whites for cystic fibrosis.
There is a minister who says the law sends a double message. In one harbor we have a statue welcoming immigrants, whole we attempt to build a wall at another border. Of course this claim is emotionally manipulative, conveniently forgetting that the Statue of Liberty welcomes legal immigrants, while the Arizona law seeks to deal with illegal ones.
In the end, I believe a guest worker program, some form of amnesty for families living in the US, and accelerated citizenship for those waiting here legally will best serve the needs of the US, established illegal workers, legal immigrants and the Mexicans who wish to come here. It is a shame we have reached a point where Americans do not want to perform the heavy labor immigrant workers will perform. To act as though the realities on the ground are not real is fantasy and bad policy.
Ted
Yes, those are the realities. I sense that the reason Arizona passed the legislation it did was because the debate in congress over immigration reform never got anywhere. They argued and argued and couldn't come up with a consensus to form the legislation necessary to make a difference in the immigration problem. The proposals you give all sound reasonable...but then again, I read many of the proposals made by various members of the U.S. congress that sounded reasonable as well, yet nothing ever got passed. In the end, I'm sympathetic to the Arizona government trying to do something about a situation that directly affects them (including the influx of crime), since they didn't get help from congress. As with any law, time will show where modification is needed and hopefully Arizona will move closer to a situation that is fair to immigrants yet still just to U.S. citizens (and legal non-citizen residents).
ReplyDeleteDavid