Controlling Illegal Immigration, Whose Job Is It?

Today’s (May 31, 2010) Wenatchee World has an article detailing some of the issues that have developed from the Federal audit by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of Gebbers Farms.  The impact to the town of Brewster as well as Gebbers Farms has proven to not be as bad as initially feared.  But this situation highlights the serious issues confronting our society just at time that the issue has gained national prominence through the actions that have been taken in Arizona in an attempt to deal with the issue of illegal immigration.  The local story highlights how interconnected we all are to these issues and hopefully that we should all be willing to work together in a non-partisan way to find a permanent solution. 

It is clear that when it comes to running an orchard that is dependent on seasonal labor the matter of finding willing workers at the wages that that type of work supports is a critical issue.  But the matter does not only affect the orchardist.  It affects the town’s businesses that meet the needs of these workers.  It affects the town’s schools that are dependent on a predictable student enrollment. 

This local incident highlights the dual nature of the problem and the complexity that we face in finding a solution to it.  The complexity of the problem is highlighted by the reality that “residents who held jobs here for 10 and 20 years were suddenly let go following the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting in December.”  The issue is not only that we must stop illegal immigration across our southern border, but we must find a solution that works for all of us legal Americans and solves the problems that arise as we try to integrate the millions of illegals that have become an integral part of our communities often for decades. 

The issue of gaining control of our southern border is not a partisan one.  There is not a Democrat way to protect the border and there is not a Republican way to protect the border.  There is a way to close the border that will work and there are ways that won’t work.  We must identify what works and then work it.  Very simply the reality is that we have not really put in a serious effort to control our border with Mexico.  This must be done.  The first issue is very clearly to control the flow across the border.  Those who cross it should be doing so legally, whether that is to immigrate to the U.S. permanently or whether they are coming as temporary laborers / guest workers. 

The second problem that must be dealt with is determining how best to deal with the millions of illegals who now reside – some for decades as the article notes – among us and have become an integral part of our society.  One thing is clear, we do not have the capability to round up all of these people and deport them to their country of origin.  But neither must we look the other way and ignore the reality of their illegal status.  Allowing millions of people to exist as a separate and illegal sub-group is not healthy for our society nor for them.  I do not support simply granting amnesty as was done during the Reagan presidency.  We, as legal American citizens, face consequences when we break our own laws.  The same should apply to those whose very presence here began by the breaking of the law that requires that entry into the United States be done in a legal manner. 

As we face the resolution of these two components of the “illegal immigration” problem we should face up to another issue that is highlighted by this story in the Wenatchee World.  As I have already posted on my web site more than a month ago, I believe that we must repeal the laws that were put in place that attempt to get the American employer to do the job that till now the Federal Government has been unable to do and that is to identify and control illegal immigrants that are looking for work.  While this may have seemed like a reasonable approach to some and obviously it did as it is the law of the land, it simply makes no sense that we are penalizing good solid American businesses, very often small businesses, for being willing to put willing people to work. 

While we struggle to overcome the “welfare state” mentality where people look to government for a handout, we are penalizing both the employers and those willing to work by this muddle headed approach as an attempt to control illegal immigration.  Does it make any sense to create a law that, in effect acknowledges the government’s own inability to control the border by saying, we know that illegal immigrants come for work so the best way to stop them from coming is to penalize the American employer for offering a job to someone that has apparently legal papers and wants to work? 

As the accompanying article in the Wenatchee World notes, a reliance on the guest worker program, as it currently exists, for the seasonal labor that our agriculture depends on is actually more expensive than hiring those who are already here and are willing to take these jobs.  A rational approach to this issue would suggest that there is a more reasonable way to resolve these problems.  We as Americans need to de-politicize these issues.  We need to look at them closely and recognize that reasonable solutions can be found.  Solutions that actually respect our laws and our Constitution, particularly our Bill of Rights and especially the 4^th amendment that protects all of us who are citizens of this great land.  As one who wishes to represent you and this district, I can assure you that there is nothing more important than preserving the democratic principles that this great nation was founded upon.