A Bad Bill Rises From The DeadOur president would cement his legacy of catastrophic choices with an immigration bill. We thought the bill dead, but it thrusts a rotted hand from the grave, stinking up the landscape and frightening the innocent. In an effort to revive the corpse, a new proposal promises $4 billion for border security and workplace enforcement. The president is all for it. After six years in office, The Decider has seen the light on border security. He supports a wall to thwart the threat of terrorism from Latino lettuce pickers and drywall hangers. Never mind that two-thirds of illegal immigrants do not enter the country from the Mexican border. Most illegal aliens overstay their tourist or student visas, but the feds don't track those people. So politicians jawbone instead about a wall to keep the one-third out, while the rest take flying lessons. Also, the wall might come in handy to keep us in, in case Americans get alarmed about our growing police state. As for workplace enforcement, that means all workers, including you, must prove they are here legally. This includes background checks. You will have three days to click your heels and produce papers and proofs for authorities, such as the federal ID numbers of every employer for whom you have worked in the last five years. Under the guise of immigration reform, you must prove your status of citizenship. Then you await the turning of the bureaucratic cogs. If legitimacy cannot be established in three days, your employer may fire you. If you are on Social Security, kiss it goodbye till they get it straightened out. No doubt things will go your way after the paperwork bubbles through the bowels of a federal bureaucracy that takes weeks and months to disgorge a simple passport. The president said, "Doing nothing is not a solution." This presumes the federal government can solve something.
Politicians have an unblemished record of incompetence and demagoguery on immigration, as indicated by skyscrapers collapsing in flames and the fanning of resentment toward an underclass living beneath the law — law that politicians themselves wrote. They passed the first federal immigration act in 1921. This occurred in a time of racial tension, the heyday of the KKK and other rogues. The act favored Northern Europeans and severely restricted the undesirables: Latinos, Asians, Africans and Catholics. Immigration reform in 1965 kept the quota system. It focused on family reunification, wherein immigrants could bring in children, siblings and aging parents. Further reforms in 1980, 1986 and 1990 allowed still more migration of family members. It kept the quota system. The result? More than two-thirds of visas today go to family members. This slants legal immigration toward the older and more feeble. It restricts the young, healthy and productive, the strong and the smart. The current proposed immigration reform is more of the same. Its distinguishing features are fines, fees and federal control of Americans. The president said, "The American people expect people in Washington, D.C., to solve problems." If the president wants to solve a problem, he might take a long vacation. If he wants to solve two problems, he can take Congress with him. In this time of tension, Americans might remember some words that made us proud — a cry of hope and yearning — a shot heard round the world for liberty and freedom. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! Likewise, Mr. Bush, shred your paperwork. Withdraw your ID cards and cattle prods. Put away your politics of fear. Before you act, consider that ancient oath of honor: First, do no harm. Phil Lucas is executive editor of The News Herald in Panama City, Fla. Contact him at plucas@pcnh.com. To find out more about Lucas and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2007 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
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