I don’t understand the arguments currently going on regarding immigration. Immigration has always been a part of this country and it always will be but doesn’t there need to be a distinction between legal and illegal immigration? As a mater of fact to make sure people reading this will understand I am making a distinction I will capitalize ILLEGAL for the rest of the post.
Right now there are parts of the country that are debating weather we give ILLEGAL aliens free state provided health care and even social security.
How about parking in a fire lane. Yea, it’s ILLEGAL but if you do decide to do it we’ll give you a free car wash. “J” walking…we won’t give you a ticket but instead you get a coupon for Footlocker. You break into someone’s house…they better offer you a snack.
Even if we get away from the idea that we should reward ILLEGAL immigration, if we refuse to punish it at all, we are essentially decriminalizing it. For all intents and purposes that makes all immigration legal.
I know people don’t want to make the tough decision. Keeping restrictions on immigration and not enforcing them is easier and nicer. Certainly most of the people sneaking into this country are doing it to better their situation and provide for their families, but making all immigration legal would be an economic disaster and cause societal chaos. Punishing ILLEGAL immigration seems mean. So the most open minded among us decide to do neither. They would never try to make all immigration legal but won’t enforce punishing ILLEGAL immigration…an amazing solution. But it does give them the entirely illogical moral high ground.
First of all, there is no proof one way or another that making all immigration legal would be an economic disaster and cause societal chaos. This is an assumption not everyone shares.
Second of all, people are advocating allowing basic medical services because it’s humane, and because the idea of preventative medicine is to prevent having to deal with cases later. An example of a later case is someone coming into a hospital with a severe illness which you must treat or they will die imminently. I’m sure you’re not advocating not treating them.
I agree that the current situation is silly. If it’s illegal, enforce it, at least judiciously. The question becomes, how much immigration can we absorb legally without adverse effects. The larger question is, what can we do to remove the causes of the desire to immigrate in the first place?
Comment by dolan — February 18, 2007 @ 5:55 pm |
all people’s wanting to make a life. Why shut the gate? it’s an act of pure selfishness. There’s plenty to go round.
It’s the same thing in Australia. post-war, there couldn’t be enough migrant workers to built the Snowy Hydro and interstate infrastructure; now, it’s a big snub,
Countries are the last bastion of discrimation against the ordinary person,
ggw
Comment by ggwfung — February 18, 2007 @ 9:22 pm |