In the 1980's, Reagan's amnesty plan for illegal aliens did not work. Throughout the 80's and 90's, the number of illegal immigrants in this nation swelled. In the 21st century, congress had the opportunity to send a message that we will not give a free pass to those whose very first action in this country is break our laws, bypassing the immigration system that many good, hard working, law abiding people go through in order to call themselves Americans. Congress is close giving in with an all new amnesty and some more empty promises (fence, anyone?).
Oh, my kingdom for a Washington politician with a spine. And my kingdom for a Republican that learned a lesson from 2006.
Jiblog is the intellectual repository of a Midwestern, gas guzzlin', beer chuggin', one woman lovin', son of a bitch conservative.
Showing posts with label illegal immigration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label illegal immigration. Show all posts
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Backwards fence logic
Slate has an article up today that lists the reasons why the border fence approved last year will not be built. I don't have too many beefs with the article as I fully anticipate Congress will find reasons not to build the fence, but there was one paragraph in that story that to me exemplifies much of the backwards logic some people employ today.
Okay, where is the negative in all that? Right now people are wandering across the border unnoticed. By forcing them through the ports of entry, we are accomplishing a few things. First, we are increasing the odds an illegal will be caught. That means smuggling will get more expensive and the likelihood of success will drop, decreasing the number of people who even try to cross illegally. Secondly, by forcing them to sneak across at the border crossings, we at least have a shot of catching them and while at the same time reducing the total amount of manpower needed to enforce the border. This is not going to lead to a vast increase in illegal documentation because that is already rampant amongst illegal immigrants. It also is not going to appreciably increase the danger to illegals in the long term. Hiding in a vehicle is very dangerous, and it isn't going to take long for most potential illegal immigrants to figure out that it isn't worth the risk to try.
Some experts worry that new barriers would only encourage would-be crossers to find other ways to get across—for instance, by using forged documents or by hiding in vehicles and crossing at legal crossing points. "Barriers make it more difficult to cross, of course," said Koslowski. "But more barriers between the ports of entry will drive people through those ports; they will figure out more clandestine ways of hiding."
Okay, where is the negative in all that? Right now people are wandering across the border unnoticed. By forcing them through the ports of entry, we are accomplishing a few things. First, we are increasing the odds an illegal will be caught. That means smuggling will get more expensive and the likelihood of success will drop, decreasing the number of people who even try to cross illegally. Secondly, by forcing them to sneak across at the border crossings, we at least have a shot of catching them and while at the same time reducing the total amount of manpower needed to enforce the border. This is not going to lead to a vast increase in illegal documentation because that is already rampant amongst illegal immigrants. It also is not going to appreciably increase the danger to illegals in the long term. Hiding in a vehicle is very dangerous, and it isn't going to take long for most potential illegal immigrants to figure out that it isn't worth the risk to try.
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