Thursday, September 28, 2006

interesting article on the boarder issue

i just read this article and was connected from rudy's blog... i thought i would share and bring up an issue that is not fixed but has taken a back seat to other things it seems.

"The first measure that the House approved was 700 miles of border fencing. It was for show. It showed America that folks in Washington don't really understand how the border works.

First, as any border patrol agent will tell you, there's no fence that can keep out someone who is desperate to feed his family and who's willing to go around, go over, or go under.

Next, every time we crack down on the border, it enhances the bottom line for these multimillion-dollar smuggling outfits. Whereas it used to cost about $500 to cross the border, now the price is closer to $3,000. If we build more walls, the smugglers will raise prices again. That's bad. It creates an incentive for smugglers to stay in business since business is so good.

Lastly, we've built fences before, and it only resulted in more illegal immigration. It used to be that one member of a family would go north -- a father, son or brother -- and he'd work and go back to Mexico for Christmas or Mother's Day.

Each time he returned home, there was the chance he'd stay. Now, it's too difficult and expensive to cross, so the workers no longer go back. Instead, they're paying smugglers to bring their families to join them in the United States.

That's why the numbers have gone up. Like I said, "Immigration Reform for Dummies."

The smart thing is to stop the magnet that draws illegal immigrants here: Jobs, jobs, jobs provided by U.S. employers.

And yet, nowhere in the GOP's 10-point enforcement plan do you find any mention of employer sanctions.

I don't suppose that has anything to do with the fact that the Republican Party is the party of business, and, more and more in America, businesses depend on illegal immigrant labor.

Say, maybe those Congressional Republicans aren't so dumb after all. They know a thing or two about survival. Now if they could only brush up on the requirements of leadership."

by Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a member of the editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune and a nationally syndicated columnist.

1 comment:

J-Lou said...

the fact that this article gets you pissed tells me something... :) no criticism is ever good when it comes toward your beloved party. this was actually posted by a republican (rudy carrasco) but could see the flaw in his parties plan and would like them to address it. hmmm.