Immigration mess
May 15, 2006
President Bush speaks on immigration tonight. I fear that we will hear mostly silly political posturing, but I’m ready to be surprised. While we wait, this article has some interesting things to say about the situation.
If the President wants us to believe he’s finally heard our demands for a secure border, he won’t waste the entire speech talking about “jobs Americans won’t do” — a crock if there ever was one. It’s “wages Americans won’t pay” that creates a market for illegal labor in the first place. He won’t waste time cadging support for amnesty by telling us how illegal immigrants are good-hearted people who just want to feed their families. By that measure, if I steal a car in order to go to work to feed my family, not only should I be forgiven, but allowed to keep the car.
This is an essential point: The reason that good people enter the country illegally is essentially economic. The American employer needing low-skill labor has two choices. He can either purchase that labor at a price that will attract American workers, or he can offer to pay wages that are too low to attract American labor but very attractive to Mexican laborers who find it difficult to support their families under the current economy at home.
Is the root cause of illegal immigration really that simple? I think it is. Does this suggest an easy solution to the problem of what to do about the myriad of illegals already in the country and being productive? Unfortunately, no. I hope that the President will offer some fresh ideas tonight.
Dave, always optimistic.
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