Immigration Addendum: Tamar Jacoby Thoughts
The paradox at the heart of the Bush plan makes it a little hard to explain to voters. The president is promising to regain control by means of a more generous and welcoming approach to immigration. But that doesn't change the underlying truth: The Bush plan is the only way to restore the rule of law, either on the border or in our communities. It's the best answer to the critics' complaints, the only answer to the illegality that plagues us. And surely--no matter what the skeptics say--it can't be political suicide to give voters a solution to one of the problems that frightens and disturbs them most.If you want to get beyond the "seal the borders and expel the illegals" nostrum, read Tamar Jacoby's piece. It'll get you thinking.
posted by Lowell Brown at 11:12 PM
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4 Comments:
Burbank Ernie missed the part about the unrealistic nature of the "quota,"
"long-standing and all but deliberate mismatch between the size of our yearly quotas and the actual needs of our labor market..."
His argument falls apart there.
Do I really want to address the naiveté of believing the border can be "closed" or "policed" by the National Guard?
Great. Let's create a situation whereby market forces entice folks to come seek employement here, and then have our Army shoot them as they try to get to their job interview.
Sounds like a very pragmatic solution Ernie. To hell with trying to determine if the existing "quota" is right, wrong, low or high, let's just skip to the part where soldiers' Armor and Night Vision bags all those illegals!
Posted by Gringo Salado
There needs to be some English only legislation added to this proposal. Encouaging assimilation into American culture and society is important for any immigration program to succeed. It benefits the immigrants as well as the existing citizens.
Ms Jacoby's article is the first I have seen that explains President Bush's plan so clearly. The White House needs to present their case more in these terms. The reason for so much opposition is that the American public doesn't really understand the proposal.
Posted by MrsPatriot
Gringo,
I do not know where I said I advocate the killing of people who are trying to gain access to our Country ILLEGALY, just to protect our Borders from Illegal entry. Is that not the Law now?
"Great. Let's create a situation whereby market forces entice folks to come seek employement here, and then have our Army shoot them as they try to get to their job interview."
How exactly are we "enticing" Illegal entry by market forces? Are we placing Help Wanted Ads in the newspapers down in Mexico? Are the "Coyotes" being hired by US Firms to go collect a work force? Passing out fliers? How does the Citizen of Mexico now what jobs are available and who creates the "job no American will do?" I view Agriculture as the job Americans won't due. It is backbreaking work picking in the fields. Guest worker program for this Industry is the only one I support. And it is Seasonal.
I do not like to be seen as some nut who wants to start shooting people for entering the USA Illegaly, but enforcing the Law which exist. We have Legal Immigration, why does it not apply to the South? What are your views? I personally do not agree with an Amnesty Program. It didn't work under Reagan.
Posted by Anonymous
"How exactly are we "enticing" Illegal entry by market forces?"
Here's what I really said:
"Great. Let's create a situation whereby market forces entice folks to come seek employment here, and then have our Army shoot them as they try to get to their job interview."
The labor market (market forces) in the US exists as a separate issue, apart from your policy idea, which is summarized by this quote: "Why not keep them all out? That would actually be doing his job, wouldn't it? If it is too much trouble for him, we have a Natioal Guard that we can put along the Border.”
The National Guard is an Army, not a police force. They are trained to kill our enemies, not arrest mojados.
My point is that these migrants are coming here to do legitimate work, that just happens to be illegal because our immigration quotas are lower, much, much lower, than actual demand for low-skilled labor. Instead of addressing, or even exploring, the disparity between the reality on the ground and the policies in place, you take the current quota regime as gospel. But what is the “best” amount of immigration? If you always think that “less is more” I have to wonder about your intentions (or assumptions).
When I see folks agitate for military guard on our borders I can’t help but wonder if it is just that they don’t get out much, not out as in out on the town, but out in the vast deserts along our southern border. I’m not schooled in military logistics, but why don’t we talk about the costs in personnel and materiel involved in truly segregating our country from Canada and Mexico via military policing of the border?
I just can’t imagine that sane folks out there think that the Natl. Guard can seal our borders. There are literally tens of thousands of poor mestizos willing to traverse 20 miles of Sonoran desert on foot to work as a dishwasher, I don’t know how the Natl. Guard is going to address this without killing a few immigrants, or perhaps citizens, just by accident.
What needs to happen is a normalization of all the legitimate traffic, then the INS, Customs, and BP can concentrate on illegitimate, and narco/terror-oriented illegal immigration. Until then you are talking about the interdiction of millions of mojados annually to find a few terrorist needles in that haystack.
Posted by Gringo Salado
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