Jay Tea thinks I am on a mission to get him fired from Wizbang, but I cant help agreeing when he writes pieces like this one.

One of the standard defenses for illegal immigration is that the aliens are performing the work Americans don't want to do, that our economy needs the cheap, unskilled labor they provide to keep going. They warn that if every single illegal alien were to disappear tomorrow, our entire way of life would be severely affected -- especially in areas like agriculture, construction, and cleaning services.

That argument always bothered me, and for the longest time I didn't understand why. But the instant my friend asked me about it, it became crystal clear:

The economic argument is nothing new. In fact, it's very, very old. So old, that we've alreadye debated and settled it almost 150 years ago -- and the pro-cheap-labor side lost.

You might recall reading about it, It was called the Civil War.

Yeah, it's a bit of a stretch. For one, there were other issues besides slavery involved in the war. For another, indentured servitude might be a better comparison to illegal alien labor than actual slavery. But the essence remains the same -- the notion is that a cheap source of labor is being exploited and used through fear of the power of law. It was wrong then, and it's wrong today.

In my dream world, I'd like to see the restrictions and red tape on immigration reduced to a more manageable system. But that would have to be coupled with an assault on illegal immigration. Streamlined deportation processes. Severe penalties for those who exploit illegal aliens. And, perhaps, even a change to the rules of citizenship, so children born here of illegal aliens have the citizenship of their parent's homeland, not the United States, ending the exploitation of children as "anchor babies."

The Lefty in me tends to agree most with the sentiments about exploitation. I once had a Salvadoran girlfriend who worked in the house of some rich Angelenos. She lived as a practical slave, working 24 hours a day, and having only Saturday night through Sunday Night off. She was a legal resident, I can't even imagine how illegals are treated. Nevertheless, I also agree with the other sentiments in Jay's post. The law is the law, and unless it changes, those who violate our immigration laws should be treated just like anyone who violates other laws of the land. I realize that many come to our country out of desperation. They come seeking a better life than they had in their own country. Many of them find it (marginally), but others find themselves virtual slaves and victims of a variety of types of exploitation. The only way this will ever change is to, as Jay suggested, punish both the illegal and those who employ them, and work to streamline the process of immigration, making it more attractive for people to obey the law, than to violate it.

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.grupo-utopia.com/blog/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1121

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Illegal Immigration:

» House Passes Immigration Enforcement Bill H.R. 4437 What Does It Mean? What Does It Include? from Diggers Realm
Is the passing of H.R. 4437, The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, a victory or a defeat for immigration reform proponents? It really depends on who you ask. While it is a victory in the... [Read More]

Tracked on December 19, 2005 08:47 AM

Posted by: Jay Tea at December 18, 2005 02:35 PM