Friday, April 6, 2007

Non-solutions to immigration issue


Political hotheads from city hall to Capitol Hill fill the air with incendiary claims about the perils of illegal immigrants pouring across the border. Their "solutions" in the end add up to a confetti of non-solutions.

When state legislators (including Idahoans) or some congressmen seek to declare English as the official language as a solution, does this give pause to illegal border-crossers to reconsider their risky entry into the United States?

What's accomplished when small towns in Pennsylvania and Georgia, among others, unleash local police on work places where illegal immigrants might be employed? Did anyone notice a drop off in illegal crossings?

Enough of these Band-Aid gimmicks.

Immigration laws and enforcement are federal responsibilities. Members of Congress should stop heeding radio and TV talk show blowhards who're in the business of agitating listeners with nit-wit blather, and get down to recognizing: (a) the wasted time in talking about arresting and deporting millions of illegal aliens already in the country and (b) find sensible ways of acknowledging that illegals are an enormous workforce that isn't depriving U.S. workers of jobs and should be accommodated through sensible visa and temporary worker programs.

There are no walls high enough or enough enforcement personnel or enough money in the U.S. Treasury to stop jobless foreign nationals from seeking something better on this side of the border.

Were it not for the bitter distractions of Iraq, President Bush and Congress could focus their energies on the immigration issue for a genuine national solution that would rob troublemakers of mindless talk that borders on hate.




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