Resuscitating the Immigration Debate

When the U.S. Congress doesn't know how to solve a problem, it resorts to what it does best - nothing. Everyone can agree on one thing - illegal immigration is a problem. But the agreement ends there and rather than compromise on a solution, many agree the best solution is no solution at all.

I don't have much of an opinion on the immigration debate. Well, at least not an informed one. I feel uneasy that I want to see immigration reform and so does President Bush. Maybe that's the extent to what we have in common. I don't understand all the issues. (Maybe Bush and I have that in common too.) When the bill died in the Senate, I read the Washington Post to learn more about what happened. The Post had a great summary on the debate, but it may be a little too simplistic. I also heard an opinion from a conservative group on NPR.

What I (think I) understand is that the U.S. has approximately 12 million illegal immigrants living in the country today. Rather than putting a whole bunch of money into extracting these illegal immigrants, the bill would provide them with a legal status to live in the U.S. The compromise in the bill is that Congress and the President would also fund additional immigration measures that prevent this situation from arising again. Also, some folks in the Senate want to help the families of immigrants by providing access to the U.S. as well. Apparently, that would add up to an additional 850,000 (not an exact figure) immigrants into the country.

It seemed like there was a coalition of Republicans and Democrats working to get this bill passed, but at the last minute, Republican holdouts stalled the bill indefinitely. "We can't give a free pass to those illegals who have been living in our great country and sucking up our great services," I'm guessing was the bottom line.

I think there are good arguments to be made on both sides. The myth that illegal immigrants don't pay taxes has already been disproved. But do immigrants use more services and remain persistently poverty-stricken? The conservative think tank (Grassfire.org? Search All Things Considered) said so. They said that immigrants that have come to the country after 1978 have remained poor while those who immigrated prior to 1978 lifted themselves out of poverty.

But those who are immigrating to the U.S. are doing it to make a better life for themselves. It's not malicious. They aren't intentionally stealing our goods and services. They are seeking opportunity. And that's the spirit our country was built on.

My bottom line is that a problem still exists and those we pay to solve national problems with policy refuse to do their jobs. Maybe they should be deported.


Coffee tip #2
How often does coffee drip from your coffee cup even though it has a lid? When you buy coffee, make sure the hole you drink from on the lid is not directly over the seam in the cup. It will drip all over you.