The Immigration Issue

Now like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breath free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, temptest-tost to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

--The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Immigration, for me, is a sticky subject. I’m probably a fence sitter on the subject as I can see the issues raised by both sides. So let me say this: I am a big supporter of immigration and I would advocate making it easier for people to get here legally. However, I detest illegal immigrants.

The issue was raised in one of my political science classes. I spoke up and said that I think the enforcement of our immigration laws was too lax and they need to find a way to deport illegals. I was blatantly called a racist by some white girl in the back. Whatever. But I get really emotional about it. I am the son of immigrant. I had my citizenship before my mother did solely because I was born here. My step-mother had to wait one year before she was even granted a visa to temporarily “visit” my father and then it took her seven years before she was earned citizenship. So I get highly agitated by illegals who jump the fence and then expect that the country allow them to stay. Amnesty? Guest worker programs? What makes these people so special that they can break the law and get a pass. My mother didn’t. My grandparents didn’t. My aunt didn’t. My cousin didn’t (In fact, she joined the military.) It frustrates me when I think about all the immigrants who got here legally and what they had to go through. It’s like it doesn’t really mean anything. Instead of the paper-work and the waiting (oh, the waiting!), they could have snuck in and waited for some government forgiveness program.

When I take the emotion out of it, I do have to acknowledge the reality of this issue. Illegal immigrants, right or wrong, do provide cheap labor and is arguably, a part of what drives this economy. As crappy as it sounds, they do fill gaps in jobs that won’t be taken by citizens who feel they are higher on the economic ladder. It sounds like we are exploiting their cheap labor (okay, let’s be real—we are), and to a certain extent, we are glad that they are available.

But let’s take a step back and think about the consequences of this new bill winding though Congress. Let’s say we can start deporting illegals, how are we going to deal with the thousands of messy cases that will be caused. What do we do about the businesses that have to close because they no longer have cheap workers? What about the citizen spouses who married illegals? What about their children? What about those people who aided an illegal? What about the masses of legal loopholes? I can hear it now: “Increase spending on border control, build more prisons, more courts.” Do this. Do that. Okay, this coming from people who won’t vote to increase their own taxes. *cough* NILES *cough*.

As I think to that poem above, I can see the ugly truth and the beautiful lie. America is quite a place. Our immigration policies have been restrictive and even overtly exclusionary (Chinese Exclusion Act). We’ve also seen the need to bring in unskilled workers while officially preferring skilled workers. The United States is a country of immigrants but let’s make sure that the new ones arriving are starting off on the right foot. Can’t we afford to bow to our sense of justice and fair play instead of saving a buck?

Oh, and on a really personal note, I honestly believe that naturalized citizens have more claim to their status than those who were born with it. Most of us take it for granted but I haven't met one of them who did also.