On Immigrants, The Poor, And The Poor Immigrants

I'm of (at least) two minds regarding the immigration compromise that is brewing in the Senate right now. It is obviously a problem that requires some sort of solution-the concept of 12 million plus people living outside of the official systems in this country is, well, absurd. At the same point in time, those 12 million people are here, and they're not going home. Any solution that requires that, even the current one that requires that they go home before getting their green card, is a red herring.

However, I am definitely a believer in preventing illegal immigration. To my mind, however, the solution isn't to close the borders. Although I think that we could do that, with appropriate investment and ongoing efforts, the easier and more humane thing to do is to remove the incentive to cross illegally. To that end, you need two efforts. One is to reduce the benefit of employing illegals here in the U.S. And that, unfortunately, means enforcement. Stiffen the penalties for employing illegal immigrants, and up the amount of checking that gets done. But there's no need to penalize the people who are here directly, by arrest, fines, or deportation. Simply make it such that nobody will want to employ them, and they won't come.

The other effort that's needed is to make it easier for people to immigrate legally, and get jobs while they are here. The guest worker program is a good move in that direction. It's the same idea as iTunes. People don't want to be lawbreakers; if you give them a legal option, even if it's a bit more expensive, most of them will take it. Likewise, if you give people a legal way to get into the country and work, even if they have to pay taxes, and even if the employers have to pay them legal wages, I think that will severely reduce the motivation to be here illegally.

The most irritating canard, which is usually the one floated by corporate shill Republicans, is this idea that immigrants are willing to do jobs that Americans just won't. This is patently absurd, and absolutely hilarious to hear coming from the mouths of those who declare their faith daily at the Church Of The Free Market. If Americans aren't willing to do the jobs, that's just because they aren't paying enough. I would happily pick strawberries if they paid $200,000 a season. That would result in some seriously expensive strawberries at Safeway, to be sure, but hey-last time I read the Declaration of Independence it didn't mention the inalienable right to 'Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness, and Cheaply Affordable Produce.'