The Immigration Issue Moves to the Front Burner

Posted on March 27, 2006

After James Sensenbrenner got his bill through the House of Representatives, the Latino community (with some "unofficial" help from the Mexican government) organized a series of protests across the nation this past weekend. In Los Angeles, 500,000 protestors hit the streets waving Mexican flags and signs which read "If you think I'm illegal because I'm a Mexican, learn the true history because I'm in my homeland" and "This is stolen land." These people are marching in our country, waving the flag of a foreign government and demanding rights. News flash: rights are for citizens and those who are in the country legally. Woe betide any large group of Americans who tried to pull the same stunt in a foreign country. They'd be arrested and deported on the spot.

So what are they talking about, anyway? Well, you certainly won't find out by reading The Los Angeles Times, which has now removed the reference to the demonstrators' Mexican flags from its story. What these signs are talking about is "Reconquista" or the Aztlan movement. The theory is this: the Chicanos were here before us, they own Texas, California and most of the Southwest and it's time that they reconquered this land for Mexico. Perhaps the Native Americans might have something to say about this.

Polls consistently show that Americans do not object to legal immigration, but are extremely concerned about illegal immigration. People who follow the rules and who are willing to integrate into American society are welcome. But to reward those who commit a crime by coming here illegally is repugnant to most Americans. We play by the rules and if you want to be a citizen you have to play by the rules too. Sensenbrenner's proposal was doomed from the beginning because it would send an ER doctor to jail for treating an illegal alien and a priest to jail for feeding an illegal single mother and her child. It's an absurd proposal, and unconstitutional at that. But that doesn't mean that he's wrong about tightening up immigration laws.

The borders must be strengthened. And it's time to get tough with Mexico. Mexico actually hands out maps and helpful guides to illegals wanting to cross into the U.S. Instead of cleaning up its own corrupt, bloated government and reforming its policies, it has decided to move its poverty to the U.S. This is unacceptable. It's time for Mexico to pay its workers a living wage: they now only earn $1.87 an hour. Guest worker programs create a permanent underclass of people who then are forced to leave here after 6 years or so. And in the meantime, they have bought homes, gotten married and had children. The children are citizens and now the parents must go back to Mexico. It's unworkable, it's not fair to the immigrants and most of all it's unfair to the Americans living in poverty who would be happy to take those unskilled jobs rather than be unemployed.

President Bush says that illegal immigrants do the jobs that Americans won't do. That's nonsense. They do the jobs that poorer and more unskilled Americans would be happy to do if only they could get hired.