The Illegal Immigration Circus

The underground economy may indeed be growing, but tension is high on the question of immigration.

I just read this piece about the underground economy of illegal immigrants.

"The toleration of illegal immigration undermines all of our labor," said Vernon Briggs, a Cornell University labor economics professor.

"It rips at the social fabric. It's a race to the bottom. The one who plays by the rules is penalized. It becomes a system that feeds on itself. It just goes on and on and on."

The author references this article from the Detroit News.

A "Need" for Workers?

Therein lies the problem: A "need for workers" versus a need for security, immigration reform, and angry U.S. citizens who feel their jobs are being taken by illegal aliens. Of course, it goes even deeper. Banks are only too happy to lend money to illegal aliens to buy a house, given the fact that they can pass off the loan to Fannie Mae or sanitize and collateralize into a mortgage-backed security and sell it to pension plans or hedge funds willing to take the risk. In reality, there is absolutely no real need for workers. What there is a need for, if you can call it a need, is a need for the cheapest labor possible so corporations can make more profit.

Our politicians are really having to practice their juggling skills, aren't they? They've got companies that want to make money by employing illegal aliens. They got banks that want to profit from illegal aliens. They've got this organization and that organization yelling about the votes they would love to add to their political coffers. And, last and evidently least, they've got the citizens of this great country. The ones who voted them into office in the first place. The ones they swore to represent. The ones they are supposed to be looking out for.

What's a poor politician to do? Well, you could spout rhetoric that sounds pretty good on its own, like the president did earlier this month on a visit to Tucson...

"In communities near our border, illegal immigration strains the resources of schools, hospitals and law enforcement. And it involves smugglers and gangs that bring crime to our neighborhoods. Faced with this serious challenge our government's responsibility is clear. We're going to protect our borders."

Then you go on to talk about how you are against rewarding lawbreakers out one side of you mouth, while you spout about temporary worker programs from the other.

What kind of plan is it to let illegals stay for six years only to kick them out for a year, then let them back in for another six? That is one of the silliest ideas I have heard proposed about anything. If you are going to kick out illegal aliens, wouldn't it make more sense to kick them out immediately, rather than after six years when many of them will have purchased a house or had children who would then be U.S. citizens?

Silly, indeed. Ridiculous, even. It's as if the politicians have run away to join the circus.

Here Is the Crux of the Problem: Corporations benefiting from cheap illegal labor want to keep the status quo, while ordinary U.S. taxpayers losing jobs want to keep the illegal aliens out.

Yep. The question is this: what is it going to take for our politicians to take off their red noses, frizzy wigs, and clown suits? Let's hope it doesn't take someone sneaking into the country illegally to blow up The Big Top.

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