OPINION/TED RALL *Editor’s Note: This column originally ran Jan. 26, 2005.
SAFE AND COMMON
We could restore sanity to immigration if we wanted
“ IT’S A BIG OL’ MOVIE THE WAY ‘LAWRENCE
OF ARABIA’ WAS A BIG OL’ MOVIE.
It’s a triumphant return for Woo, who can still show the fantasy/action boys how it’s done.” -John Anderson, THE WASHINGTON POST
RED CLIFF
NEW YORK—The Cold War you never thought about, the one between China and the Soviet Union, had been dead for a decade when I made the trip from what is now called the Kyrgyz Republic to western China in 1999. Although troops no longer massed for possible war at this border, crossing the high-altitude Torugart Pass remained an arduous bureaucratic odyssey, which required presenting a special exit visa at a dozen checkpoints on the way up to the border outpost. On the Chinese side came another 20 kilometers of DMZ: minefields, row after row of razorwire, watchtowers, the dirt raked regularly in order to reveal the footsteps of would-be illegal immigrants. The Soviets had maintained similar fortifications along thousands of miles of their southern borders with nations like Iran, Afghanistan and China. As you’d guess, Soviet border controls were highly effective. They kept out unwanted intruders and imprisoned millions of wouldbe emigres. Why is it, then, that the wealthier and technologically sophisticated United States can’t seal its much shorter border with Mexico—the source of 70 percent of its illegal immigrants? Because it doesn’t want to. The INS estimates that there are about 9 million illegal immigrants, mostly Mexican, living and working in the United States. With about 300,000 more entering the country annually (not including migrant laborers who travel back and forth), a staggering 10 percent of the U.S. workforce is currently undocumented.
George W. Bush, master plagiarist of liberal catchphrases, says illegal immigrants “take the jobs that Americans won’t take.” A more accurate reading of the situation is that because these workers’ illegal status makes them vulnerable to exploitation, employers create jobs for them to take—while eliminating better jobs for Americans. Rapacious employers use illegals to fill two types of jobs: those that would otherwise go to Americans and those that exist only because it’s possible to pay slave wages. Labor costs account for about two-thirds of the expenses of an average business. The last “reform” corporate America wants is a genuine crackdown on illegal immigration. And Congress, reliant on business for campaign contributions, isn’t about to start one. While we encourage illegal immigration, we’ve made it virtually impossible for a foreigner who dreams of becoming an American to do so legally. Legal immigration is limited to people who already have relatives here, are sponsored by an employer or are seeking political asylum from a tiny list of approved countries. Had these rules been enforced since 1776, there would be more Native Americans than immigrants. A sane immigration policy would reverse these attitudes. Legal immigration should become safe, legal and commonplace. At the same time, no nation worthy of the name can tolerate porous borders. We can and must seal our borders to prevent economic migrants, terrorists and others with unknown motives from entering the United States. It’s time to stop sucking up to big business.
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