2008 Woodie Awards
Parties Bordering on Botching the Border Deal
With an immigration deal in the future, policy makers are missing the true meaning of this issue.
Jami Furo
Issue date: 4/28/06 Section: Opinions
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The issue of immigration pervades newspapers, television, and radio. The government has realized that this country has a problem with illegal immigration, but they are not quite sure what to do about it.
Obviously, there is no easy solution. It will take a complex and well thought out system, and it will take fortitude to implement it. The question is, which system should be used?
There are two main ideas on the table. The first suggests that all illegal immigrants should be taken back to the countries from which they came. It suggests that they should be exported, and yes, I mean exported like objects, rather than deported like people, back to their nations.
There are several fundamental flaws with this problem. One is that it is cruel. Many of these people have lived in this country illegally for so long that they have raised families here, and it is not the fault of the children born in this country that their parents are criminals. While criminals are not guaranteed the many of the rights of law-abiding citizens, their children broke no laws and should not have to suffer that fate.
Also, it is completely impractical. They will hide even more than they do now to avoid being caught, so the search will be extremely difficult. Also, once they are found, they must be taken back to their home countries. If this applied to a mere several dozen or even several hundred people, this process would be possible, though still difficult. However, with the thousands upon thousands of illegal immigrants in this country, it would be an impossible process to find all of them and take them back to their places of origin.
The other concept that is being passed around more closely resembles a good idea. This is a system in which the government offers amnesty to those illegal immigrants who turn themselves in, offering them limited rights until they have gained their status as a legal citizen. This amnesty draws illegal immigrants out of hiding and gives them an incentive to turn themselves in. Furthermore, it creates citizens out of criminals.
Obviously, there is no easy solution. It will take a complex and well thought out system, and it will take fortitude to implement it. The question is, which system should be used?
There are two main ideas on the table. The first suggests that all illegal immigrants should be taken back to the countries from which they came. It suggests that they should be exported, and yes, I mean exported like objects, rather than deported like people, back to their nations.
There are several fundamental flaws with this problem. One is that it is cruel. Many of these people have lived in this country illegally for so long that they have raised families here, and it is not the fault of the children born in this country that their parents are criminals. While criminals are not guaranteed the many of the rights of law-abiding citizens, their children broke no laws and should not have to suffer that fate.
Also, it is completely impractical. They will hide even more than they do now to avoid being caught, so the search will be extremely difficult. Also, once they are found, they must be taken back to their home countries. If this applied to a mere several dozen or even several hundred people, this process would be possible, though still difficult. However, with the thousands upon thousands of illegal immigrants in this country, it would be an impossible process to find all of them and take them back to their places of origin.
The other concept that is being passed around more closely resembles a good idea. This is a system in which the government offers amnesty to those illegal immigrants who turn themselves in, offering them limited rights until they have gained their status as a legal citizen. This amnesty draws illegal immigrants out of hiding and gives them an incentive to turn themselves in. Furthermore, it creates citizens out of criminals.