DREAM Act, the Truth behind the Nightmare

There is no doubt that some type of immigration reform, in concert with strong measures to protect our borders, is necessary and prudent in these challenging times. The questions at hand are how this should be accomplished, and if it is necessary to ram legislation through a “lame duck” session of Congress to achieve this goal? A closer look reveals that current attempts are for selfish political or business purposes instead of for the good of the American people and the Illegals it will impact!

We as a nation are culpable for the current circumstance. As citizens we have allowed our government over the past couple of decades to ignore enforcement of our laws and to abuse our social programs for political purposes. (See Illegal Aliens: Economic Consequences  ). As a result, we have encouraged the influx of illegal immigrants. It is a simple example of supply and demand. Mexico and other countries have the supply and, up until the current recession, the United States had the demand, which was not sustainable!

Lured by the prospect of jobs, security and social entitlements such as free public education, Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, aid to dependent children and other programs, immigrants did what any one of us would do under the circumstances. How can we possibly blame them for wanting to escape the misery of their homeland, especially when we, as a country, made it so appealing?

The truth is we can’t, but we can begin to correct the situation by eliminating the demand through strict enforcement of immigration and business laws, by providing social services to legal Americans only, and by allowing the federal military, in cooperation with the states, to police the borders (See Supreme Court Considers 2007 Arizona Immigration Law  and Supreme Court Weighs Arizona Employer Sanctions) !  These actions alone will result in an immediate reduction to the flow of illegal immigrants into the country and most likely will result in a significant number of current Illegals migrating back to their homeland (See 100,000 Hispanics left Arizona after SB1070 and Illegal Immigration to US Slows Sharply).

Enforcement of our current laws will have a more positive effect on this pressing problem and the financial drain it imposes upon our economy than any new law that could possibly be passed. It will directly benefit the American worker as wages and benefits that have been artificially depressed due to the presence of illegal workers, who are taken advantage of by unscrupulous businesses, will begin to rise!

 

In my company’s industry, we have consistently seen competitors take advantage of illegal immigrants and pay them minimum wage (or less) or misclassify them as independent contractors (as discussed in Misclassification of Workers, Common Ground or Hot Bed of Greed)! Both of these practices need to be stopped and our laws enforced. Maybe, just maybe, our government will not be compelled to create another entitlement program to encourage the flow of illegal immigrants (See Labor Department Offers Assistance to Illegal Immigrants Facing Wage Disparities)! Again, supply and demand, the basis of capitalism, which provides more for workers at all levels, will work its magic (See Wise Words from a Mexican Immigrant)!

Only after these processes are in motion can we begin meaningful discussion as to how to humanely address those who remain illegally in the United States. It is obvious that we cannot afford to deport all of them; nor do we want to since a large majority of them can make a significantly positive impact on the future of this country! A potential solution is to provide those who wish to stay a six-month period in which they can sign up for citizenship, and then provide some type of expedited citizenship process as long as they have clean backgrounds! It is imperative that they are upright and lawful citizens who are legally employed and, as responsible taxpayers, are contributing their share to the future of the country and its financial well being (See The Falcon Lake Murder and Mexico’s Drug Wars and Illegal Alien Caught Trying to Kidnap Two School Children). This scenario provides a win/win proposition for all Americans in the form of better wages and benefits and for the fiscal health of the country through increased tax revenues and a significantly reduced burden on social services.

Certain politicians, unions and bleeding hearts will stomp their feet in indignation that this is cruel and unusual punishment, as they trumpet their social justice card. However, this is no more than an attempt to maintain their hold on money and power at the expense of the very people they claim to represent. When are conservatives/republicans going to wake up and realize that they must approach minorities and ethnic groups on a personal level of inclusion that will open their eyes to how they are truly being manipulated and repressed? When they do, meaningful progress can be achieved for all (See Spanish lessons for the GOP and What an Immigrant Would Say to Boehner)!

Unfortunately, now that Congress has passed the Tax Bill it is a sure bet Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will set their sights on immigration reform and passage of the DREAM Act, one of President Obama’s campaign objectives (See Congress Passes Tax Deal and Obama May Bypass Congress to Give Amnesty to Illegals). They would like you to believe that their motives are altruistic, but there is much more to their reasons than meets the eye!

The DREAM Act, which was blocked from further discussion in the Senate this weekend, is nothing more than payback to union supporters who view illegal immigrants as a vast new and easily recruited (intimidated) membership base. They believe illegal immigrants can be captured through forced unionization of employers as described in The Devil at My Doorstep, continue as a large voting block for the Democratic Party, and provide a political life raft for Pelosi, Reid, Obama and other democrats (See Immigration Crisis Survey; Dems Playing Politics with Immigration — and it’s Good Policy; and DREAM Act Fails in Senate). The DREAM Act is not about the people, it is about what is important to these organizations. Senator Reid still has two weeks before the end of the year so don’t be surprised to see this resurface one more time before the end of the “lame duck” session! It is apparent the Obama administration is intent on protecting this potential voting block and not enforcing immigration laws even at the expense of state rights (See Justices, Minus One, Hear Challenge to Arizona Law on Hiring Immigrants)!Despite the disingenuousness of the Pelosi-Reid crowd, the fact remains that immigration reform is necessary and needed for a host of legitimate reasons (See The Titanic and the United States , U.S. Border Easy Entry for Terrorists and Bean Bags vs. AK-47s).

New legislation is not necessary if we demand that our legislators and government officials do their true job and enforce current laws! We cannot continue this attempt to legislate and regulate ourselves to prosperity. What we must do is reduce the role of government and demand they govern according to the Constitution. Unfortunately, it is much easier to pass new laws than to implement and enforce them. It is high time we held our government officials accountable to enforce current laws! It is time to save states like Arizona and our country from the mess we created (See Ray Stevens – God Save Arizona and Surviving the Obama Assault on the Rule of Law)!