The immigration bill is currently resting in the Senate, thought Harry Reid intends to revive it next week. There are a lot of problems with the bill, however some of the aspects are good, but I take more issue with how the debate is being presented. A lot of the discussion is missing some important points, and instead of continuing to yell at my TV, I’ll list a few.

As I said, the bill has some good amendments and some bad, but most of the border security and beaurocratic measures already exist, and aren’t enforced. This bill is adding good-intentioned layers of uselessness, and doesn’t target the real problem, which is that rules aren’t being enforced. Rather than spending the money this bill intends to fill social programs for the potential recipients of Z-visas, enforcement should be beefed up.

Along the lines of enforcement, there’s another point that’s been floating around that “we can’t round up and deport 12 million people” and it’s true, it would be a huge hassle. But we can enforce companies not hiring illegals by raising (and enforcing in every case, no exceptions) the fines. Also, if companies were forced to pay at least minimum wage there would be no incentive to continue hiring those who will “work for less”. If companies actually feared the consequence of hiring illegals, they would stop doing it, and there wouldnt be any jobs for illegals. Without recourse, the hope is that they would go home and try to re-enter legally. That’s just one way a little more enforcement could save us from spending a ton in “deportation”.

Another thing that bothers me is the discussion that this bill gives a provision so that “criminals” wouldn’t be able to get Z-visas. There’s a problem here with the illegals already in this country: because they’ve crossed our border, they are already criminals. They shouldn’t be rewarded for breaking the law with a visa. Those who are in line, waiting and abiding by the laws, should.

Also, there is no reason we as a country need to feel like it’s our duty to cater to illegal immigrants because they are “only looking for a better life”. They are absolutely looking for a better life, and I support giving asylum to people threatened by despotic governments, but the problem these people are escaping is not the US’s fault. The fault lies with Mexico, which is a country that is still developing and is going to encounter problems, but still has a duty to it’s people. If people were streaming from the US to another country, that should be a good indication of SOME kind of problem, right? Mexico has some issues that it needs to deal with, and of course we can help as a neighboring nation (and I’m not going to get into that now because there are all sorts of issues just within that statement). But the US and the American people are not beholden to immigrants; we are willing to help but not to hold their hand and we shouldn’t be expected to.

I hope you like my elementary analysis. Until next post!