I took an online quiz called the Candidate Match Game to see which presidential hopeful I align most with. One of the questions was on immigration, more specifically, illegal immigration. What would I do about it if were president? I'll answer that in just a minute. First, here are my guiding principles:
- It is a privilege to live in the USA - This is a prosperous land, with relative peace and generally decent people.
- Government is necessary - We live in a society where order and rules matter and laws are in place to help ensure that prosperity, peace and decency we enjoy is preserved.
- We (legal citizens of the USA) aren't special - We are no more deserving of freedom, prosperity and a good life than people born in other nations.
No government records means no tax liability. No health insurance means higher health care costs for the rest of us. Not being in "the system" makes it more difficult for law enforcement, education and a whole other host of government programs to be effective. I have a problem with that.
What I don't have a problem with is seasonal, or even permanent work being done by immigrants here in the U.S. We've got a lot of money here and lots of jobs. If citizens of other countries are more capable or willing to do those jobs, then let them. For example, I would bet that close to half the engineers at my company aren't U.S. citizens, but are working here under temporary work visas. That's great. They earned it by busting their butts in Computer Science and getting the appropriate approval to work here in the U.S. I believe in competition within economies and among economies. If all our jobs get outsourced to other countries because they do them better, that's perfectly legit. Cracking down on illegal immigration should not be about protecting jobs for American citizens.
What would I do?
- Create seasonal or temporary work permits for immigrants wishing to work in the U.S. There is clearly a demand for foreign workers. Let them come work. Let their wages be competitive and regulated. Let them pay taxes. And let them return home when their period of employment ends. If companies care enough about seasonal workers they will help figure out the logistics, and in some cases pay for travel too.
- Create penalties for organization that hire illegal workers. Wait, didn't I say this wasn't about jobs? If earning a living as an illegal immigrant is extremely difficult, illegal immigration will be reduced.
- Get strict on illegal immigrants that break the law. It is one thing to not have health care. It is totally worse to come into the country illegally, then be a menace to society.
- Give neighboring nations the love they deserve. We should do more as a nation to help improve developing economies. If it makes more sense to manufacture something in Mexico, then lets get on that. Sorry Detroit, but someone else can make my car cheaper and probably better. We don't deserve the jobs any more than our foreign counterparts do.
6 comments:
I like your idea of building up neighboring nations. It would be completely beneficial to the USA to help Mexico, and not just for cheap products either.
Don't forget that our great-great-grandmother was an illegal immigrant, and we have wonderful lives thanks to her. :) I also like your idea of helping build up Mexico, but it needs to be done in a different way than it is now. Instead of economic imperialism over Mexico (which is exactly what the US does by putting US businesses in Mexico, paying low wages, and making a ton of money for the US), we should help Mexico create Mexican-owned and -run businesses that entirely benefit Mexico. Then we can do business with them like we do with, say, Japan, without actually owning those companies. That way they have self-sustaining work that doesn't depend on US tourism or US-owned industries. Right?
To address your first point: Sure. Don't confuse my post with ill-will against individuals who are illegal immigrants. Many of my friends growing up came from families who arrived in the U.S. illegally. Most of them were very good people. And, as my sister points out, my great-great grandma immigrated from Mexico. I benefited from that. But it doesn't change the fact that her entry into the country was illegal.
I understand the incentives to come to the U.S. from less fortunate countries. I just don't think that because the U.S. is a land of opportunity means we should excuse illegal activities. I also don't blame the immigrants. We have created a situation where making a run for the border is probably a good idea for a lot of folks. We've got jobs and decent living arrangements here. Why wouldn't they give it a go?
so I like the person that I matched up with... but I think Jill's relationships within the education field have tainted her mind. I'm not even going to mention who she match up with.
The way I see it, most people wouldn't leave their friends, family, everything they know and love, to move to a foreign country where they had nothing if there wasn't a compelling reason. The fundamental need to provide for your family, sometimes even in life and death situations, is enough anyone make anyone do something do something "illegal." And by "illegal" we mean it breaks an arbitrary rule we created. It's not immoral to cross over an imaginary line we drew in the sand separating our country from theirs. For most immigrants, coming here legally is not an option. I have a number of friends who are illegal immigrants. They are tired and work like dogs and would like nothing me than the ability to return home to their families.
I do agree with a lot of your points though. People complain about immigrants not paying taxes or S.S. or driving w/o a license or insurance, but this is a situation we have created. If we had a system where immigrants could be in the records without the fear of deportation, many of these problems would be solved.
What would I do if me and my family were at the end of our rope and a better life meant illegally crossing someone else's border? I'd probably consider it.
You (Ashley, sister) and John Lennon make a good point. "Imagine there's no country..." The world would be much better place if we didn't have to worry about citizenship, taxes, national defense, foreign policy, welfare policy, etc. Idealogically, I share your view. Practically (and unfortunately) there are a lot of reasons why things like borders do matter.
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