Published: April 19, 2008 10:23 pm            

Time, money wasted by ICE actions

Sweeps by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents nationwide netted more than 300 arrests this week, including more than 100 in Chattanooga.

That most of the people jailed are in the country illegally is highly likely.

That the raids are indicative of ill-conceived federal policy is certain.

Make no mistake, the United States has every legal right to enforce its borders and to limit who can enter this country. That said, little or nothing has been done for most of the last three decades to enforce border security and a virtual welcome mat has been laid out for years, encouraging millions of illegal aliens to enter the United States.

Once here, many have compounded their illegality by “working the system” to get the necessary documents to work and often to qualify for social services. They have acted logically, if not legally.

Now, as the political pendulum swings back toward “getting tough,” federal and state governments are in danger of exacerbating the problem.

Arresting illegal aliens and deporting them en masse is not only morally questionable, in the wake of our de facto immigration “policy” of the last 30 years, it is highly impractical.

Simply put, the United States needs all the hard-working, taxpaying, law-abiding citizens it can get. As baby boomers leave the work force and the federal government strains to meet its financial liabilities, the country needs millions of young workers who can contribute to the system. Electrical engineers from Sweden, heart doctors from Pakistan, carpet mill workers from Guatemala — we can use them all. Their skills, ingenuity and labor should be valued.

And with the nation’s unemployment rate remaining in the 4-5 percent range for years now, despite massive illegal immigration, it’s clear our economic system has uses for the imported workers.

Ideally immigrants would come here in an orderly manner and be processed quickly and efficiently by the federal government. The reality is nothing like that at all. Millions have entered the country illegally and others have been caught in the legal, but tortuously slow, immigration system.

The federal government should not be wasting time rounding up pockets of illegal workers. Federal policy should focus on comprehensive plans to fix a badly broken system.

Damn it as “amnesty” if you like, but the rapid legalization of those residing here illegally now is a crucial step in straightening out the immigration mess.

The government should:

n Secure the border.

n Reorganize and properly fund the immigration apparatus.

n Legalize everyone residing in the country now who meets our basic standards.

n Boot out the criminal element, those illegal who have committed serious crimes since coming here. (Not including crimes designed to help the alien slide into the system).

n Assimilate illegal aliens into our legal and economic system as quickly as possible. Get them working. Get them paying all their taxes.

n Focus law enforcement efforts on rounding up the hard core criminals — the violent offenders, drug merchants, recidivists. Deport them or put them in jail.

The history of U.S. immigration policy over the last few decades is absurdly inconsistent and illogical. If our nation now chooses to adopt a “ship ’em all back” mentality, then we will only succeed in adding another sorry chapter to the story.

There is no perfect solution to this problem yet many American citizens want to see real action taken. Their frustration is understandable. But that does not mean this country should embrace policies that are simple-minded, counter-productive and brutish.

We have better options and a great opportunity to make our country stronger.



The Daily Citizen

        

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