The fundamental problem
The problem of immigration reform hasn’t really changed that much over the last decade. Its static state is summed up pretty nicely by a letter to the editor of the New York Times made by one Gary Merritt of Birmingham, Ala. (of all places):
“If someone is in this country illegally, find a fair way to correct the problem, but leave hard working people alone till it (sic) can be done.”
He was commenting on a Times article about Alabama’s recently enacted Nazi-like immigration law. Indeed, there are many attendant issues, but Mr. Merritt has gnawed the problem to the bone. While the fundamental problem hasn’t changed, the fixes implemented or those proposed remain a kaleidoscope of colorful confusion.
What is going on?
The average American can’t help but be confused by the whole issue. We have knucklehead politicians calling for electrified fences erected next to alligator-filled moats to solve the border problems. Those same charlatans are bashing the president for not doing enough on immigration, while his own liberal constituency is fulminating about the fact that his administration is responsible for more deportations than any recent administration.
We have Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) agents deporting folks with unpaid parking tickets in one city and allowing paroled felons to roam the streets in another. We have crops rotting in the fields due to lack of labor in an economy facing a nearly 10 percent unemployment rate. Once dead and dying towns in the Midwest are being repopulated or reinvigorated by an influx of Hispanics – that is, they’re being put back on the tax rolls. In some places it’s hard to be brown without being subject to demands to show your papers. What is going on in America?
The story in numbers
The numbers alone are staggering. About 12 million illegal immigrants now call this nation home. Almost 400,000 have been deported over the last three years. Over 300,000 deportation cases are on the dockets of immigration courts right now. Cost estimates to deport an illegal alien range around $20,000 a head. Harvest losses in the Deep South and the Pacific Northwest, along with other agrarian regions dependent on seasonal labor, are beyond estimation.
An interesting number—one dollar—is the eventual cost of a single apple, plucked without “imported” labor. While the numbers are still ominously large, it may be some comfort to note that only about 300,000 immigrants have crossed the southern border this last year, as opposed to an all time high of 1.6 million in 2000. And there are plenty of other numbers available to show the inefficiency and the harm being caused by our inadequate measures to deal with the problem.
What not to do
In spite of American befuddlement, there’s certainly one thing Americans don’t want. Hearken back to the letter of Mr. Merritt of Alabama. He only mentioned “hard working people.” He didn’t mention homicidal maniacs, rapists, thieves, other felons and gangsters. They don’t need to be left alone. We want those people off the street, alien or not. We need the enforcement agencies across the land to concentrate on those undesirables, not parking ticket scofflaws. And as we try to make sense of the problem and find solutions, it might be prudent to think about what we don’t want to happen before we think about solutions. We don’t need:
To turn our nation into a police state. Fair is fair. Should we advocate that every citizen carry papers of citizenship at all times. Should nursing home residents, college students, restaurant chefs, local Wal-Mart employees, along with everybody else, be warned that frequent, unannounced raids will occur to ensure that all citizens are legal and carrying their papers. That could easily be the next step. White and Asian illegal immigrants are out there, too, after all.
To pin our unemployment and economic problems on an immigrant community.
In a nation of nearly 360 million people, can we really blame our unemployment and economic problems on a community that is less than 5 percent of that total? And most of those are working at jobs that naturals clearly don’t want.
To reinforce the resurgence of bigotry. The old laws that crippled the Old South – actually the whole country – are getting put back on the books. They have a different focus, but many of them are clearly just reactions by xenophobic communities (whole states!) against anybody different than themselves.
To be just plain old nasty. Do we really need to be so nasty as to tear children away from parents? Do we need to kick out kids who have never spoken a language other than English and know the words to The Star Spangled Banner? Kids getting ready to go to college or join the services? And what about those we deport? Would you feel good about deporting an ailing individual, dependent on medications, to the hell of a Haitian jail? Just plain nastiness.
To build great walls on the borders. The Great Wall of China didn’t work. Hadrian’s Wall in Roman Britain didn’t work. The Berlin Wall didn’t work. Walls never stopped us, creatures so well known for craftiness. Not even a wall with billions of dollars worth of alligators and electric razor wire will work to stop illegal immigration.
What to do
We need to open a legal and fair route to citizenship for those who are already here and have invested their lives in being American. We also need to address labor laws to make tedious but essential jobs in our economy a bit more meaningful in terms of recompense. Until we have leaders bold and brave enough to do those things, we (especially we attorneys and judges) need local and national legislators and law enforcement agencies at least working from the same damn guidebook.
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Lazaro Law Group, Professional Corporation represents immigrants all over the United States and the US Embassy in Manila. The firm’s offices are located in San Francisco, Fremont/Newark/Union City, and Sacramento, California. Attorney Johnson Lazaro can be reached at (415) 800-5775 or toll free at (855) 4-LAZARO. His email is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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This article should not be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. The information is intended to be general and should not be relied upon for any specific situation. This is not meant to create a lawyer-client relationship.
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