Immigration Reform Is Wrong Debate at Wrong Time
Dear Editor,
For those of us who like bumper sticker slogans to solve complex social issues, immigration reform is the wrong debate at the wrong time. Not long after our House of Representatives, Congressman Richard Pombo included, passed bill HR4437 criminalizing illegal immigrants and all those who assist them, Congress raised the ceiling of our national debt to $9 trillion. Our debt now stands at more than $8.2 trillion that comes out to roughly $28,000 for each man, woman, and child in this country and that only includes all of us that are here legally.
By bringing immigration to the forefront, our national leaders are only fattening the cows (us) before the slaughter (bankruptcy) because we refuse to look at the root cause of illegal immigration that we created with our thirst for cheap labor that parallels our thirst for oil. That is why the Senate hasn’t come to a consensus on reform because when they look at the details they realize one important thing – no money.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that it is becoming increasingly difficult for ordinary citizens to obtain the American Dream much less for immigrants, legal or not. Look at the national minimum wage that hasn’t been increased since 1997 when a gallon of gas was about $1.47. At its current minimum wage of $5.75 an hour, a worker can buy less than two gallons of gas.
Pretty soon it won’t be feasible for anybody to drive to work at those wages. What are financial analysts saying? This generation of Americans might be the first not to achieve the same standard of living as their parents.
The argument that immigrants are taking jobs ordinary Americans won’t do is a bunch of hogwash. Pay an American a livable wage, add heath benefits, and we’ll see how many jobs are left for the undocumented. Unfortunately, that won’t happen because we now live in a “global economy” that gives mega corporations, without any national allegiance, free reign to chisel away at workers rights, wages across all social economic classes and outsource the future of our children.
It is these realities that our National leaders refuse to address because it is easier to point the finger at voiceless individuals in the shadows (illegal immigrants) than to point it in the mirror. A study just out this week by the Commonwealth Fund, a health care policy foundation, found that the percentage of working Americans that lack health insurance rose from 28 percent in 2001 to 41 percent in 2005 – let’s blame that drain of our resources on illegal immigration, even though it’s completely unrelated.
As the costs of housing, energy, education, health and the open-ended war on terror soar, the demand for cheap labor will only become greater. And, as long as our National Leaders refuse to properly address those issues, immigration reform is the wrong debate at the wrong time. In the meantime, I’ll place a bumper sticker that reads, “Build a wall and kick them out” but neither my sticker nor a wall, no matter how wide or high, will solve the complex issues of immigration and our outrageous national debt.
Mike Harlow, Morgan Hill
Remember What Illegal Means
Dear Editor,
To those who continue to defend illegal immigration, what is it about “illegal” that you do not understand? Simply put, it means breaking a law.
An example is entering the United States in an illegal manner, by not following immigration regulations. This appplies to any person from any foreign country. They are called illegal immigrants. The “White racists,” as you call us, do not object to legal immigrants, only illegals. I might add, there is nothing racist or prejudicial about espousing the truth.
It would be so refreshing and should be so simple for the ninnies who back illegal immigrants and scram for amnesty, to understand this: remember what illegal means.
Lisabeth A. Gifford, Morgan Hill
