Blogcabin California

A while back we were invited to sign a petition against current immigration reform efforts.

The referenced site offered :

NO AMNESTY for Illegal Aliens!
Tell President Bush to Enforce our Immigration Laws!

ALERT: It’s time to “draw a line in the sand” on the issue of illegal immigration.

According to the San Antonio Express-News, the Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a second hearing on comprehensive immigration reform proposals for THIS WEEK.

A bill by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), along with a similar bill by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) in the House, would create a “temporary worker program” and give illegal immigrants in this country an opportunity to “enroll” in this “temporary” program after paying some small fines for entering the country illegally.

To top it off, these bills would also provide an avenue for citizenship for these illegal aliens! Does that seem right, especially for the many thousands of immigrants who “do it right” — and legally?

Ordinarily, these bills wouldn’t stand a chance of passing, except for the fact that they’re being pushed hard… by President George W. Bush.

This is crazy. We’re REWARDING illegal activity… which only encourages MORE illegal activity. It’s time for us to urge President Bush to ABANDON his push for a “guest-worker program” until the strict enforcement of immigration laws is achieved along the U.S.-Mexico border.

[end excerpt]

To which I replied:

THESE FOLKS HAVE THE WHOLE ISSUE BASS-AKWARDS.

We need a system to “regularize” the current crop of “in-
appropriately documented” residents before there is any hope of
stabilizing the borders. Anybody who thinks the Federal Government
has, or will be likely to have in the foreseeable future, the means
to identify, process, and ultimately deport the millions of workers
here already is inhaling an illegal substance. Should every adult
resident unable to prove his/her legal residency status appear in the
town square with dependents in tow, our authorities would be totally
overwhelmed, our economy would be in danger of collapse, and our
current social fabric in danger of rupture. Instead of lock-stepping
with spin-meisters like O’Reilly, Tancredo, Gilchrist, Malkin et al.,
we should be joining hands to support folks like John McCain who are
working toward reasonable solutions.

Bruce Albert - a reasoning, pragmatic, conservative

An LCR operative (I’d mention a name but I suspect Chris G. wouldn’t like being called an operative) replied:

Return to the Days of Manifest Destiny: Annex Mexico. Problem
solved.

To which I responded:

Well, we might have to make some provision for most of Central
America.

O course, you are dead-on with the crux of the problem - the ultimate
solution to our southern border crises is to facilitate the rapid
economic improvement in Mexico to reduce the attraction of
immigration - also a reduction in corruption would help.

My own scheme is to look at the $6 Billion/year given to Egypt and
Israel, mainly to enable them to keep military parity. If we embarked
on a ten year program to reduce that amount to $3 Billion, and
transferred that other $3 Billion to a USA Neighborhood Marshall Plan
we could make significant progress. (The reduction of the Foreign aid
by just $300 Million per country per year would give them time to re-
adjust their budgetary priorities to accommodate the plan - and a
$600 million per year input to our “neighborhood” is probably all we
could manage intelligently. The reduction in US Industrial products
procured with Foreign Aid dollars by Egypt and Israel would be
largely offset by a similar increase in US Industrial products by our
emerging neighbors. Israel’s defense would not be hurt by the
reduction because parity would be maintained. Should some uber-
conservative suggest skimming $100,000,000 per year to reduce the
National Debt, I would go along. Uncle Sam, with a bank-account
growing to $3 Billion a year could exercise one hell of a lot of
influence in our southern “neighborhoods”. (I also thought the
simplest solution to land reform in El Salvador was to buy the damn
country and set up an effective capitalist driven economic reform
from there - dare I say $40 and a mule).

Bruce Albert - uber-pragmatist

So Gentle Reader, what do you think?

A. Should we call out the troops and round up the millions of men women and children allegedly here illegally, intern them until such time as their immigration status can be finally determined, and then conduct the massive airlift necessary to transport millions to foreign airports to be unceremoniously dumped on unwelcoming homelands?

B. Shall we gather at the borders and cry out: Mr. Bush - Build Up This Wall!

C. Should we move the National Guard and other Army elements to the borders to do what they have been trained to do: protect a perimeter with force - “Halt, Halt, Halt, BANG!”

Bruce Albert

PS