Everyone Agrees That It’s Broken
March 28th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
The hear-all immigration and border security hearing today revealed a general consensus: the current system doesn’t work, and a better system needs to keep the bad people out and let the good people in.
Houston Republican Rep. Wayne Christian asked, “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” The question, as he presented it, was whether to start by securing the border and enforcing current immigration laws, or by creating a system of legal immigration that satisfies labor demands. Fortunately for us all that’s the job of the federal government, not Wayne Christian.
Some would respond that the border will never be secure until economic migrants can come out of the shadows, thus isolating the criminal element. “The only way we can secure our borders is to allow enough legal immigration to meet the needs of employers,” said Bill Hammond, president of the Texas Association of Business.
If there are jobs, economic immigrants will come, regardless of federal law. “Immigration patterns are driven by job opportunities,” said Dennis Nixon, CEO of IBC bank. Ray Perryman, president of the Perryman Group, an economic analysis firm, also said that market demand determines immigration rates. “If [markets] find a gap somewhere, they’re going to do the best they can to fill that gap. There’s been a gap in terms of available workforce for a number of industries,” he said.
Arlington Republican Rep. Bill Zedler expressed more concern with who is crossing the border. “The idea that everyone’s coming here for nothing but a good job is false,” he said. He spoke of drug smugglers and those who cross the border to “take advantage of the free benefits of being here.”
Craig Regelbrugge of the American Nursery & Landscape Association said both securing the border and creating legal channels for workers to migrate are fundamental elements of comprehensive immigration reform. “We’d like to think that our great nation can walk and chew gum at the same time,” he said.
March 29th, 2007 at 8:00 am
I don’t agree that our immigration system is “broken.” We have the laws on the books to enforce our laws today; we don’t need new ones. The problem is that the federal and some local governments (”sanctuary cities”) don’t enforce the laws. Passing yet more “enforcement” laws is not going to help.
Industries that face a “labor shortage” should be forced to pay for the “free” healthcare, “free” education and other “services” that the illegals are costing the US taxpayer. We would soon see then how many would suddently discover that US citizens and legal immigrants are just fine to fulfill their alleged “labor shortages.”