Somewhat taken from the Glenn Beck show this moring.
Say you are sitting on some large boat and it is sinking. The captain, crew and other passengers are bailing out the ship while asking for more buckets or anything that could help get the water out. You on the other hand are looking at their efforts and screaming at the top of your lungs “PEOPLE…..PEOPLE!! Has anyone patched the hole?!!”
I felt this was a great example of how America is dealing with the …ahem….ILLEGAL…immigrant problem. The politicians are dealing with the people already in the country instead of those still trying to get in every day. How about you deal with the source of the problem and then the problem itself?! A DUH! A two phase solution is better than a solution that prolongs the problem to a later date.
But if they did that, what would they have to do later?
I am just saying that they need to stop the flow of illegal immigrants before they deal with the current immigrant problem. If they just focus on the internal immigrant problem then they are dealing with the 11+ million already here. It’s not like they are going to stop coming over the borders if 11+ mil get rights. I believe that, by the fact that the 11+ are getting “amnesty”, that the ones who are not already here would be encouraged to come across the borders. Basically we had laws, they broke them, we folded. If we make more laws, they just have to break them again for us to accomodate, or fold, to their demands….again. So why not fix the source of the problem, our borders, then focs on what to do with the ones that have made it across the border.
I like Lileks’ analogy:
Heh.
Truthfully, this is a bad analogy. A very bad analogy.
Removing the water from the boat = removing illegal immigrants from the country.
Water coming aboard a boat is absolutely no good: none. And it’s not as if there is good water and bad water. If the problem is not stopped the boat sinks. The end. I don’t think illegal immigrants are really hurting us. We won’t all sink and die if they stay here and work. Once some paperwork is done, they’ll still be here, but it will be ok. And we will have room for plenty more.
So what is the source of the problem and how do we deal with it? We could work to make Mexico richer. We could work to make America much poorer. A shitty America would probably keep people out. We could build a huge fence (which would probably turn into swiss cheese). Or, like I said before, we can give everyone a pretty fair shot at getting in as long as they sign some papers and agree to play by the rules.
I read somewhere that we should build a tall fence with a wide gate. Honestly, if we provide reasonabe, non-xenophobic immigration policies, people won’t cross the border illegally.
And what about terrorists? I don’t give a damn how big deep and wide a fence is, someone who wants to come in illegally will find a way. The fence ends somewhere, right? Go around.
I don’t think the point was to “get the water out” but rather to stop the water from getting into the boat, then dealing with the water in some way.
The point was very clear. It’s still a bad analogy.
Even patching the hole on a boat doesn’t fix what is the underlying problem. A drunk captain, poor maintenance, or bad construction may be the real problems.
Now I agree that a two-prong approach is more fitting. I know some people believe that everything will be solved by putting up a big fence. That’s either optimistic or ignorant — and neither is good.
That would require this thing called work…
Even though the “mexicans” are the hardest working people in America… even though it’s illegal, you gotta give it to them…
Take your average American worker… doing as little as he can to get through the day… works 8 hours in an office and comes home and says he worked his backside off. Take your average Mexican working in the US, works 12+ hours in the hot sun busting his butt, turning almost the color of a black man… he might complain, but has a reason!
THEY are taking our jobs, but hey, they work harder than any American would… you know and I know it…
thats why nothings changing.
I agree with you all. Really. If we are solely talking about Mexicans (because they are NOT the only illegals, nor are “latinos” the only illegals, but they do comprise a large portion out of proximity), then we must as a nation admit that they ARE working jobs that most americans won’t. Right, wrong, or indifferent, it is what it is. Does that mean that they should be subject to a minimum wage? Maybe. Do we need to revisit the concept of a minimum wage? Probably. But in the meantime, we must first accept that those who are here are more or less doing a hell of a job, with respect to work alone.
That said, they need to tote the line when it comes to outside of work as well. Using public infrastructure of any sort requires payment. Now, one could argue (I won’t – yet) that their substandard wages are really a “tax”, and if you were to subject them to minimum wage, then tax them accordingly, they would end up with similar take-home pay. The difference is the government right now isn’t getting any income (but they are getting bennefit) now. So, why not force employers to pay a “under-minimum-wage labor tax” of $X per acre or something like that (because you can’t do it on a per-head basis)?
Finally, we DO need to plug the hole. As I’ve mention before, maybe it is time for a “Made in Mexico” campaign – stimulate their economy by shifting our buying patterns from Asia to Mexico. There are many “if’s and but’s” with that scenario, but if the Mexican government is unable (or unwilling) to do what is necessary to enrich it’s people, why can’t our corporation’s form an even more symbiotic relationship with the mexican people?
Actually, most of them enter the country legally–through a “parole” process that lets the INS/USCIS consider them still “at the border’ and enter the US temporarily to go about their business, without the inspections, etc. that immgrants receive when entering the country. Or they just come in on a temp visa and don’t leave. Most of them just don’t leave. Eventually, they go back to Mexico or wherever else, and just do the same stuff again.
If you are in the country illegally, you can also apply with a penaly fee now (called Supplement A) in certain situations with the Adjustment of Status procees, so the fee aspect is nothing new. The whole thing is a giant waiting line now that just isn’t working–the K class family members taking up most spots, then the few educated immigrants w/specialized degrees, and THEN the ones that work the jobs that Americans don’t want to work. It takes 5-10 years most of the time for them whether they start the process at a US consulate abroad or just come in and pay up.
Immigration law is overly complicated, and unnecessarily fluid. The rapid pace at which the regulations change, re-change, and/or revert keeps people from coming in illegally no matter if they try to enter legally or not. The border patrol is lax, and the law doesn’t work–that’s the basic point.
I think we need to plug the hole and allow those who are here to go through the process of citizenship. Those in the US wishing to become legal should 1) pay a large fine because they probably haven’t paid taxes (on installments if necessary, but it should be paid when they take that oath), and 2) learn English–it’s our primary language, so get over it and learn it. Don’t like the terms? Go back to your home country, because you obviously don’t have enough dedication to live here, no matter what you say you want.
Have any of them proven they can swim? When I find that Genie in the bottle and have him build a wall around Columbia then fill it with water, my third wish may be to throw the illegals in.