It's All About Fairness

It's really too bad that the State of Arizona had to pass such a stringent law as the one that was recently enacted in dealing with illegal immigrants. Whether this legislation passes judicial muster remains to be seen.    However, the Federal government has abdicated its responsibility  in this matter, and just by the sheer number, the situation at the border and beyond has obviously gotten out of hand.

One aspect of the illegals problem that is not often discussed is that their very presence in the U.S. and their insistence on recognition is a slap in the face of foreigners  who have gone to the trouble of properly legalizing their status as aliens in a rather straightforward manner: by complying with immigration and naturalization requirements.  For example, when my wife and some of her family members immigrated to America, they, like other law-abiding foreigners, neither expected nor received special treatment or shortcuts.  They are now either now American citizens or permanent residents, even thought it took years to complete the process. Yet, there are millions of undocumented aliens in America, especially from Mexico, who when faced with deportation, whine that their "rights" are being violated. What is so hard to understand that if you did not enter the U.S. legitimately, the only right that you have is a one-way ticket back to your country of origin.

For those who sympathize with the illegals, imagine that you are in a long line at the supermarket,  maybe at or near the back of the queue which is just inching along.  All of a sudden you notice that some people have cut to the front of the line. When challenged,  they say it's their right to do so, because they don't give a damn about rules or discipline. And not only that, they want free groceries as well. This is exactly what illegal immigrants are doing to aliens who are in America legally and to those would-be immigrants who are waiting in their respective homelands for their visas to be approved before leaving for the U.S.  By entering the country illegally, undocumented aliens are refusing to wait their turn in line, which their counterparts who are playing by the rules are doing   And as if that were not enough, the illegals  want to be rewarded for their narcissism with amnesty (again as in 1986) What chutzpah.

And by the way, I know what it's like to be an alien. As my blog site profile indicates, I'm a natural born American citizen living in the Philippines as a permanent resident. Yes it's true that my wife's status as a former Filipino citizen enabled both of us to relocate and reside here. But the point is we  did it legally.  We would never think to do otherwise.  Yet, this country also has a problem with illegal aliens, mainly people who overstay their visas, rather than sneak into the country taking jobs from the natives.  These people are not likely looking for work anyway as foreigners are effectively barred from employment, as they well should be. There is an insufficient number of job for the people here as it is.
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Such is not the case in the U.S. Part of the problem there of course  is that the government has never properly dealt with employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens. If there had been a consistently enforced program all along of meaningful sanctions against companies that fall into this category, the problem might have been solved long ago. But instead, certain businesses such as the meat-packing industry for example not only hire illegals, they recruit them.  As a result wages in  that occupation have dropped and working conditions have deteriorated to near those depicted in Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle".  Employers know that their illegal and therefore docile workers don't dare complain. In turn, this has had a ripple effect that negatively affects the wages and working conditions of all (non-union) workers including those of American citizens.  

What's particularly galling is that not only do illegals refuse to play by the rules to enter America, many of them refuse to acculturate and /or obeys the laws of the land once they get here.  This is especially the case with  undocumented aliens from south of the border. I know this from  personal experience of seeing the neighborhood where I once lived decline to almost unlivability as these people took over the area bringing peace disturbances, vandalism and gang activity with them..   Yet, a recent article, "Arizona May Prods Feds to Finally Act", described illegals in America as "mostly good people supporting their families." This begs the question as to why do they have families in the first place--often large ones at that-- knowing that they can't support them. Moreover, it's not America's job to do what the Mexican government refuses to do: address its own economic and demographic problems by means other than dumping their surplus population on the U.S. And as for "good people", it can't be overemphasized. that those aliens who follow the rules before and while they're in America are a lot better people.

In that same article, another writer implies that we should bring the illegals "above ground" (read amnesty) because there are 11 million of them and thus too many to deport. So what happens if America does that?. Doesn't that send an invitation for another 11 million or however many more to sneak into the country?  Where and when does it end?

The step that the State of Arizona took to stem the tide was a drastic one, but the present situation there vis-à-vis the overwhelming multitude of undocumented aliens is untenable.  And unless the federal government acts resolutely to solve this problem in a manner that is equitable for American citizens and legal immigrants, isn't it just a matter of time before the entire country is  likewise overwhelmed by illegals whose selfishness and disregard for the law of the land gives them the mindset that what they want for themselves is the only thing that matters?