What part of illegal don’t you understand?

[Fast_Eddie]

I was asked this question in a discussion about illegal immigration. I responded by explaining what I see as a mixed message being sent by the United States. Yes, it’s illegal to enter the United States the way many people do. But when they arrive we give them jobs, accept their money for goods, allow them to access education and health care, and in some cases allow them to get a driver’s license and sell or rent them houses. I once heard it described as if we have two signs on the boarder, one saying “keep out” and the other saying “help wanted”.

I was sure this wasn’t a complete answer to the question, but thought it covered things pretty well. But I was curious and did a little more investigation. I was surprised at what I found. For instance, I didn’t realize the Federal Government provides Tax ID numbers to illegal workers. It even goes so far as to guarantee them that any information collected in an effort to allow them to pay taxes will not be used to deport them. That seems remarkable to me. I can only interpret that behavior one way – a wink and a nod. Sure, it’s illegal, but you know, not that big a deal.

As it turns out, there’s a significant school of thought that say illegal labor is keeping Social Security and Medicare afloat. Turns out most illegal workers (I found an estimate of 75% in a credible news article) pay taxes. And many of them, not anxious to interact with the government any more than need be for fear of being deported, do not file for refunds even if they have paid more than they’re assessed. In other words, not only do they pay their share, they pay more than they would if they were U.S. Citizens.

But the image we have of illegal labor may be more fundamentally flawed than even that suggests. Many people who are detained at the boarder report that they are not coming to the United States to look for a job. They’re coming to take a job they have already been offered. That’s right. Turns out U.S. employers are actively recruiting illegal labor. Not only that, but in some cases, they’re paying to have them shepherded across the boarder.

I have a family- a wife and two fantastic kids. I’ve been really lucky to have gotten a lot of support from my parents, a great education and some lucky brakes along the way. And I think it’s fair to say I’ve put in some hard work too. It’s all worked out to a pretty comfortable life for me and my family. We’re truly living the American Dream.

But I put myself in the place of a poor father who can’t feed his kids. There are certainly a lot of people in this situation in Mexico. No one argues that it is an impoverished nation. People who through no fault of their own are in untenable situations with no opportunity for them to work their way out. What would I do if I hadn’t been as lucky as I have been?

No money, kids who are hungry, a U.S. employer recruiting me to work and a U.S. Government that will provide me with a Tax ID number. I wouldn’t have to think about it very long. I’d take the job and provide as best I could for my family. I suspect most people would. I’d go so far as to say any decent person would. I would question the character of anyone who would make any other decision under those circumstances. In that position, not only would I make the choice to enter the U.S. illegally, if called to defend my actions I would feel confidant that I had made the only decent and logical decision.

Now, to be fair, this certainly does not paint a complete picture of the issue of illegal immigration. In fact I’m intentionally painting a one sided picture because I feel the other side gets a lot more voice. I am absolutely sure there are people coming across the boarder for deplorable reasons. I’m not an expert, but it seems there is little question that the drug trade fuels much of the traffic and I would never defend anyone actively involved in the drug trade. We hear reports on the news about the violence surrounding the drug trade at the boarder. Certainly a legitimate issue to be concerned about! But even at that, we have to ask ourselves why it is so robust. I have to believe that the extraordinary effort to get drugs into this country corresponds to an extraordinary demand for drugs by Americans.

So what’s the point? Well, to be clear, I’m not suggesting we open the boarder and allow a flood of immigrants to enter the country. I’m not suggesting the status-quo is acceptable. I’m not equating measures like the controversial Arizona law to Nazi tactics. I hope to make only two very simple points which I will try to annunciate very clearly.

Point 1- This is a complicated issue and there are a lot of elements that need to be balanced in the search for a solution. We have built an economy and government systems that rely on illegal labor. As we make changes in our immigration policy we need to take into account the forces that have created the flawed system we have now. Whatever your opinion on these issue, we all have to understand that a sudden elimination of all illegal labor would create some level of havoc in the economy. I have heard it argued that in the long run it would force employers to pay Americans decent wages.* I’m all for decent wages. But our economy isn’t in the best shape ever. If we’re going to deal with this issue we need to do it intelligently. It would be a bad idea to just throw a giant monkey wrench into things and hope for the best.

Point 2- The vast majority of the people who are here illegally have made the best decisions they could make. Not only that, they have been enticed by American employers and the Federal Government. They are not to blame for the situation- we are. Even if you feel the solution is to put a brick wall a mile high along the boarder, you have to recognize that the illegal immigrants are not evil, should not be persecuted and did not create the situation. It is not their fault that Mexico has a terrible economy. You can say that Mexico should get its act together and create more jobs. That may be. But an individual with a family to feed can not wait for the wheels of bureaucracy to solve their problem. They do what any of us would do – they find a way to get from one day to the next and provide as best they can for their family.

*I have to point out an irony I see in this argument. The immigration issue has been embraced by the most conservative Americans and the most radical solutions have been proposed by the far right wing. However these are the very same people who constantly tell us that Government should stay out of business. I would ask them why they propose a protectionist policy on immigration reform that curtails the free market solution we currently have in place. Not only that, but my personal belief is that a successful American company should share its prosperity with its workers. This is the foundation of my statement “I’m all for decent wages”. Some might call my opinions on this issue somewhat Socialist in nature. But the very same arguments I would make are at the core of the “decent wages for Americans” argument for hard line immigration policy. In other words, the most conservative Americans and those who most vocally oppose Democratic policies like Health Care reform by labeling them “Socialist” seem to support the more “Socialist” policy with regard to illegal immigration.

Just some thinking I've been doing. Thought I would share my thoughts and invite your opinions.

Thanks for listening to my rant! I hope all of us can work together as Americans to find a solution to the immigration issue, and I hope we can all respect the opinions of those we disagree with.


Ed