Address the root cause of illegal immigration

There are those who say we need to we need to beef up border security. I can see where they are coming from. But let me ask you this: When has a fence or a wall ever worked? Great Wall? Berlin Wall? What about 90 miles of shark-infested water? When there is enough incentive for people to cross a line, they will. Regardless of the difficulty. We need to address the root causes on this issue, not talk about band-aids.

Here is a summary of the immigration issue, a quick overview that I happen to agree with:
http://www.cato.org/immigration

"The overriding impact of immigrants is to strengthen and enrich American culture, increase the total output of the economy, and raise the standard of living of American citizens. Immigrants are advantageous to the United States for several reasons: (1) Since they are willing to take a chance in a new land, they are self-selected on the basis on motivation, risk taking, work ethic, and other attributes beneficial to a nation. (2) They tend to come to the United States during their prime working years (the average age is 28), and they contribute to the workforce and make huge net contributions to old-age entitlement programs, primarily Social Security. (3) Immigrants tend to fill niches in the labor market where demand is highest relative to supply, complementing rather than directly competing with American workers. (4) Many immigrants arrive with extremely high skill levels, and virtually all, regardless of skill level, bring a strong desire to work. (5) Their children tend to reach high levels of achievement in American schools and in society at large."

I very much agree with item #1 in the above list. I cringe when people say we need to keep all immigrants out, or that anyone who comes illegally is by default bad. I don't agree with that. I am honest enough to admit that if I were in their shoes, I would likely do the same thing--come to the U.S. any way I could. Granted, I would try to get an education and do things the "right" way. But if that didn't work out...

I did some work at Walter Reed Army Medical Center a few years back. Actually, it was in late 2001, I think. I remember that because while we were there (in the basement, with all the electrical switchgear and generators) we were told that they found anthrax in the mail room. Yikes! It turned out that the anthrax was actually found in the mail room of the nearby Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, but it was somewhat scary nonetheless.

Anyway, back to the story. The gentleman who we were working for in the Facilities department at WRAMC was a Vietnamese immigrant. He had lived through some horrific things in his home country. But he made it to the U.S. and built a better life for himself and for his family. He told us that his next job, to which he was going to transition soon, was to work on the new White House visitor's center. I don't remember the details but I do strongly remember his pride when he told us about this, and that someday he would take his grandchildren to visit the White House and tell them that their grandfather had a small part in building part of it.

Which made me feel proud. I felt proud of my country, that it inspired this in an immigrant to our nation. These are people we should WANT to come to our country, for all the right reasons. People who appreciate what America is all about, more than many native born Americans, I am sad to say.


With all that in mind, I turn to the feature article of this post.

The Realities Behind the Immigration Debate, by Jeffrey A. Miron
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11820

Mr. Miron agrees with me that band-aids involving stricter border controls will not solve the issue: "Arizona's new immigration policy, which requires aliens to carry immigration papers and directs the police to detain 'suspected aliens,' has re-ignited debates over how to reduce illegal immigration. Most of this debate involves wishful thinking: the claim that stricter border controls or Arizona-like measures can make a real difference. The reality is that only four policies can significantly reduce illegal immigration."

What are those policies?
1. Increase legal immigration.
2. Expand free trade.
3. De-escalate the war on drugs.
4. Scale back the U.S. welfare state.

If I were to try to quote key elements of the article I would end up quoting almost the whole thing. I happen to agree most strongly with items #1 and #4 in the above list. We want energetic, motivated people to come here. And we don't want people to come for the wrong reasons.

Remember, stricter enforcement is bound to fail. According to Miron: "These measures [increased border enforcement, stiffer punishments for employers who hire illegals, or aggressive arrest policies] are ineffective because they do not change the fact that wages in the U.S. are attractive compared to wages in poor countries. And, for centuries, immigrants have endured amazing hardships to seek higher income or a better life in America. Longer or higher fences will not change that."

"Ramped up enforcement is a feel-good gimmick that allows politicians to claim they have done something about illegal immigration, even though they know the reality is different."


P.S. This is a post I felt I needed to write. Unlike slimy, spineless politicians I don't believe I can just knock other people and other ideas down without having something I am FOR. Witness the "Bush is bad" crowd with no other message, even now. Another example: What happened to closing Guantanamo? Pretty easy to say that from the sideline but they see the reality now, I think--it's not closed! They criticized but don't have any solutions of their own.

Anyway, I comment on immigration on my blog from time to time and I always feel as though I have to give a disclaimer, that I'm not blindly anti-immigration even though I come across that way sometimes. So this is what I believe, what I'm for.