Tweet
It's the front page story in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. With Bush's poll numbers at an all time low and even conservative Republicans disserting him over Bush's support for a guest working program and the former nomination of his lackey Harriot Myers to the Supreme Court. Congressional Republicans are frantic with fears that Bush's unpopularity will cause them to lose next November's midterm elections and are practically begging the President to do something dramatic to regain the support of the party's right wing base.
Bush now plans to offer to use a limited number of National Guard soldiers to guard the border with Mexico in order to curb illegal immigration but he is demanding that Congress pass some sort of guest worker program first so that businesses will not be left with a shortage of cheap labor. I actually think this basic concept is good since it balances enforcement with a legal way for employers to get the cheap janitors, cooks, bus boys, and agricultural workers they need. The problem is sending out a few odd National Guardsmen isn't going to secure the nearly 2000 mile long border with Mexico. That would require a lot more troops (likely several hundred thousand), perminent bases along the border, and even a border fence covering the entire way.
Bush's measure wouldn't do that so it is doomed to be nothing more then a failure which he will offer as a fig leaf to the right wing extremists. Does that mean there is no hope in stopping illegal immigration? The anwser is to really go ater the employers since these people are coming looking for jobs. Congress has deliberately made the fines to employers nothing more then peanuts and there are hardly any officers to enforce the labor laws so it isn't like many employers are getting fined. Making companies who hire illegals pay crushing fines, we're talking bankrupting the company sized fines, is the only way to get employers to stop hiring illegal workers under the table and not paying taxes. This must be accompanied with a new national ID card which must be very hard to forge or tamper with so that employers can't claim they thought fake documents were real or that they were confused by what constituted legal employment documents.
Bush now plans to offer to use a limited number of National Guard soldiers to guard the border with Mexico in order to curb illegal immigration but he is demanding that Congress pass some sort of guest worker program first so that businesses will not be left with a shortage of cheap labor. I actually think this basic concept is good since it balances enforcement with a legal way for employers to get the cheap janitors, cooks, bus boys, and agricultural workers they need. The problem is sending out a few odd National Guardsmen isn't going to secure the nearly 2000 mile long border with Mexico. That would require a lot more troops (likely several hundred thousand), perminent bases along the border, and even a border fence covering the entire way.
Bush's measure wouldn't do that so it is doomed to be nothing more then a failure which he will offer as a fig leaf to the right wing extremists. Does that mean there is no hope in stopping illegal immigration? The anwser is to really go ater the employers since these people are coming looking for jobs. Congress has deliberately made the fines to employers nothing more then peanuts and there are hardly any officers to enforce the labor laws so it isn't like many employers are getting fined. Making companies who hire illegals pay crushing fines, we're talking bankrupting the company sized fines, is the only way to get employers to stop hiring illegal workers under the table and not paying taxes. This must be accompanied with a new national ID card which must be very hard to forge or tamper with so that employers can't claim they thought fake documents were real or that they were confused by what constituted legal employment documents.
BAM! No more illegal immigration.
Comment