Take a look today at the Opinion page of any paper in this state, or in any state for that matter, and I bet you’ll see a handful of letters to the editor bemoaning the “danger, tragedy and injustice” of the latest “great” problem facing our country.
This “problem” has people up in arms, literally, as local militias and volunteer groups are springing up to “defend and protect” American citizens from this enormous threat.
Is this problem terrorism or Iraq? The economy or skyrocketing gas prices?
No, it is illegal immigration, and it hits a little bit closer to home and our own history.
Politicians have lobbied long and hard for legislative and executive solutions to this problem, seemingly to no avail.
Practically without our realizing it, this quasi-crisis saps billions of dollars from our economy yearly, and will continue to do so until something is done about it.
It has torn foreign families apart and separated countless grieving mothers from their optimistic sons who claim to be leaving for a good cause, fighting for a better life.
The reason so little gets done in regard to illegal immigration is that it’s such a difficult issue to tackle in the first place. It’s a complicated problem with no easy solutions.
Any of the myriad of arguments brought up in favor of or against illegal immigration have their strengths and weaknesses.
On one hand, “illegals” take job opportunities away from legal citizens, annually pumping over a billion dollars out of the U.S. economy.
On the other hand, our farming system and national economy could not function without the cheap, necessary labor provided by these men and women.
What about those who jump the border? Ask any of these immigrants of questionable legal status what they think about this issue, and most will acknowledge that what they’ve done isn’t quite right.
So why do they do it? At the root of it all, they’ll all tell you they want the same things.
They want a better economic situation for themselves and their families. They want freedom. And they want the chance to pursue “life, liberty and happiness.”
Try telling a Guatemalan man trying to raise four children on $30 a month that he’s wrong-or even “illegal”-for wanting those things.
Go ahead, tell him, and see how you feel about yourself afterward.
This issue is at a near boiling point. The paltry living conditions and meager salaries of “illegals” are often life-threatening. Their status as non-citizens prevents them from enjoying many of the benefits we see as rights-insurance, medical care, legal representation, etc.-and disallows their governmental protection.
Simultaneously, they’ve chosen to come here illegally, and therefore must face the consequences of their actions. Each political side continuously blames the other for allowing this issue to reach its present apex- “Republicans aren’t diplomatic enough,” and “Democrats aren’t pragmatic enough.”
Both point out the faults in the other, while neither seems able to solve the problem.
Instead of bickering amongst ourselves about who is to blame for this problem, we need to focus and find the solution-quickly.