COLUMN: Blame government, not individuals for immigration, problems
Last week, we ran an editorial about the current effort in Georgia to remove illegal aliens from state colleges. The question was asked if that should be done.
The online response to that issue on our website was overwhelming. A vast majority of the comments we got were vehemently opposed to illegal immigrants; some were virulent in their denunciation.
This issue is long and complex, far too much so for this column. But I’m troubled by two things that often come up in this discussion.
First, the sense that many in the public are misplacing their anger at the illegal immigrants as people rather than the real problem, which is our own federal government.
A vast majority of illegals come to this country to better their own lives. While some are involved in the drug trade or other illegal pursuits, most just want to work.
There’s nothing morally or ethically wrong with that. Indeed, many illegals have taken on jobs that few people born in this nation choose to do, especially in the service, construction and agriculture industries.
No one can blame these people for wanting a better life for themselves. Given the same circumstances, many of us would do the same thing.
The real blame for the flood of illegals is our own federal government, which has for years not only turned a blind eye to the matter, but also subtly encouraged it. The U.S. government has failed to close the border and it has encouraged illegal immigration by making the process of legal immigration and obtaining work visas slow, cumbersome and unworkable.
This problem will never be fixed until our own government finds a way to control the border and to make the work visa process quicker and easier. (A lot of bloggers have called for “rounding up” illegals and deporting them. But what’s the point of doing that if the border continues to be an open sieve?)
The second comment that often comes up in this debate is the idea that “illegal means illegal.” One blogger even suggested that the 18-year-old student in Georgia who came here as a 10-year-old with her family should have uprooted herself and moved back to Mexico when she turned 18 because she should know the law by that age.
But just because something’s “illegal” doesn’t make it morally wrong. For decades, states had Jim Crow laws that made the mixing of blacks and whites illegal. That was the law, but it wasn’t morally or ethically right. In Georgia at one time, it was illegal for blacks and whites to eat in the same restaurant. It was a common refrain that it was “the law,” and had to be enforced.
So while that 18-year-old student who came here as a child may technically be “illegal,” is it morally right to boot her out of the country for just being here? It is not her fault that she’s an illegal alien; that was not of her choosing.
So why are we taking out our anger over illegal immigration by ruining her life when in reality, it’s our own government’s fault that she’s here?
A lot of people see this issue in black-and-white terms. Boot’em all out. Get rid of the wetbacks. Kick’em out of school. Don’t allow them health care. They’re all criminals.
But rather than taking out this frustration on those who are seeking a better life, why don’t we instead take our anger out on the politicians who have created this system?
Both political parties are to blame. Republicans and Democrats have both encouraged illegal immigration and both have failed to deal with the resulting consequences.
Americans are very angry over illegal immigration. But let’s not let that anger warp our sense of decency and create xenophobic diatribes against those who have come here legal or not. Just because they didn’t, or couldn’t, get the paperwork doesn’t make them any less human.
But for the grace of God....
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
This issue is long and complex, far too much so for this column. But I’m troubled by two things that often come up in this discussion.
First, the sense that many in the public are misplacing their anger at the illegal immigrants as people rather than the real problem, which is our own federal government.
A vast majority of illegals come to this country to better their own lives. While some are involved in the drug trade or other illegal pursuits, most just want to work.
There’s nothing morally or ethically wrong with that. Indeed, many illegals have taken on jobs that few people born in this nation choose to do, especially in the service, construction and agriculture industries.
No one can blame these people for wanting a better life for themselves. Given the same circumstances, many of us would do the same thing.
The real blame for the flood of illegals is our own federal government, which has for years not only turned a blind eye to the matter, but also subtly encouraged it. The U.S. government has failed to close the border and it has encouraged illegal immigration by making the process of legal immigration and obtaining work visas slow, cumbersome and unworkable.
This problem will never be fixed until our own government finds a way to control the border and to make the work visa process quicker and easier. (A lot of bloggers have called for “rounding up” illegals and deporting them. But what’s the point of doing that if the border continues to be an open sieve?)
The second comment that often comes up in this debate is the idea that “illegal means illegal.” One blogger even suggested that the 18-year-old student in Georgia who came here as a 10-year-old with her family should have uprooted herself and moved back to Mexico when she turned 18 because she should know the law by that age.
But just because something’s “illegal” doesn’t make it morally wrong. For decades, states had Jim Crow laws that made the mixing of blacks and whites illegal. That was the law, but it wasn’t morally or ethically right. In Georgia at one time, it was illegal for blacks and whites to eat in the same restaurant. It was a common refrain that it was “the law,” and had to be enforced.
So while that 18-year-old student who came here as a child may technically be “illegal,” is it morally right to boot her out of the country for just being here? It is not her fault that she’s an illegal alien; that was not of her choosing.
So why are we taking out our anger over illegal immigration by ruining her life when in reality, it’s our own government’s fault that she’s here?
A lot of people see this issue in black-and-white terms. Boot’em all out. Get rid of the wetbacks. Kick’em out of school. Don’t allow them health care. They’re all criminals.
But rather than taking out this frustration on those who are seeking a better life, why don’t we instead take our anger out on the politicians who have created this system?
Both political parties are to blame. Republicans and Democrats have both encouraged illegal immigration and both have failed to deal with the resulting consequences.
Americans are very angry over illegal immigration. But let’s not let that anger warp our sense of decency and create xenophobic diatribes against those who have come here legal or not. Just because they didn’t, or couldn’t, get the paperwork doesn’t make them any less human.
But for the grace of God....
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
Sir, you are, in my humble opinion, a pin-headed idiot.
Obviously the illegal immigration must have started during the Bush years. How silly was I to believe that it may have possibly started in earlier times such as the early to mid part of the 1900's during a time when California crops needed workers to harvest them. Heaven forbid that I would have ever thought all these people just massed at the border waiting for either Bush 1 or Bush 2 (W) to take office.
Oh! Wait, following your sense of logic, the Bush family being in Texas might make them responsible for the JFK assanation too. It must have been George HW Bush on the grassy knoll (obviously using his superior Navy training) firing off the extra shots.
Then again, Texas is close to New Mexico, so perhaps good old George actually is an "illegala alien" himself-he came from that space ship out in Roswell!
Wow, I am truly honored to live in the same part of our great nation with such a scholar as you. That truly makes me proud.
AGAINST the law!! NO, not to the media. Illegal means those poor souls we are supposed to support and pay more taxes. Look at California--bankrupt! Georgia is not so bad off but it pays BILLIONS every year for more classrooms, Peachcare to illegals, food stamps, etc. Let's get real. It's ILLEGAL and they are ILLEGAL. What part of that do you not understand?
The objective of the good editor, as it has been clearly demonstrated by his recent articles involving this and other related subjects, is to point out the ineffectiveness of present government. Immigration, Education and the Economy are at the forefront of issues Americans are concerned with today and he has covered those subjects in detail over the last several weeks. In each he has given an opinion, which is mind you what Newspaper folks should do, that is in my opinion, non-biused and well thought out. In each column he has examined the issue with an admireable prospective of which I have both concurred and dissented with parts of what he has written.
The base intent has been in each case an attempt to show how government has failed to meet the expectations we should all have in it's ability to function as an effective body, as it is defined under the US Constitution. He is correct on all counts in that regard. Government fails us each day in almost every category in which it was designed to operate.
As Americans, we must all understand that any government at all, despite how it is set up is a step in the direction of control over our lives and liberty. As early as the 1780's, when our country was but an infant, there loomed each day the ever present debate of how much involvement government should have in our lives and decision making of how to live them. You history buffs know full well that the Federalists, who were largely responsible for the construction of early day central government, were greatly opposed by men like Thomas Jefferson, who preferred more States Rights and individual liberty over a government that had power to control.
Did you know that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were basically political enemies? The philisophical jostling that took place in the years of the late 1700's and early 1800's was much like that of today. Essentially, there were two basic opinions then and there are two now. One believed(s) that more government in the interest of the common good is better, the other believes less is. This argument will never go away hence the object to blame will always be government, never the people themselves until an argument ensues at a dinner table between two represenative members of opposite opinion.
The issue of Immigration and how it is managed by our government is one (or should be) of great interest. Our entire country was made up of immigrants, yes, but only so many socks will fit in a drawer. Asking people to follow a set system of entry into our country is not unreasonable. We decided as a nation that illegal entry was against the law and thus, it should be. The problem is that political influence has caused one side to stop enforcing the law. This must stop!
What Mr. Buffington does is bring out the thinking we should all refer to regularly. Maintaining our rights and freedoms is something that is ongoing, it never stops. Dissention is necessary at all times under our system. It is how our system is suppose to work. We have the only system such as that in the world where complete political enemies hand control of our government over to one another, back and forth, again and again, in a constant ever changing environment that seems to re-invent itself over and over.
It started with Federalists verses Anti-Federalists(Jeffersonians) in the beginning. Two factions of folks who believed in the same basic principles of freedom and two entirely different methodologies of how to acheive it. Did you know that once upon a time a man named Matthew Lyon, who was a Congressman from Vermont, was jailed for writing his opinion in a brochure, much like the opinion of what Mike has written here in some of his columns, during a time when our interpretation of what Free Speech was, was different? For merely disagreeing with the Administration of John Adams at the time and promoting a less powerful central government! I'm not kidding, look it up! This took place during a time when dissention was looked upon as an almost treasonist act. "The Alien and Sedition Act" of 1798 made it unlawful to speak against the govenment. Why do I mention this in a thread about Immigration? Well, because it was based in an Immigration issue. That is what the Act was adopted to accomplish. It meant to prevent foriegners from entering the country and having too much influence over the political opinions of folks already here and thus tug at the elasticity of the founding father's philosophies. Improperly interpreted however, it became misused and therefore used against our own citizens, such as in the case of Mr. Lyon from Vermont who was actually a great patriot. Incidentally a dozen other men, mostly newspaper editors were convicted under this act and jailed as well. Can you imagine that?
My point is in all this babbling about history that we are a nation of people who differ greatly in philosophy of how to accomplish a relatively common goal. The problem is, in that statement, that we all have a slightly varied opinion of what exactly that "common goal" is.
It is my contention that in order for two almost exact opposite ideaologies to exist within our government, and our people, we must work hard to respect the opinions of those who disagree with us. I am thankful personally, as a Conservative that my liberal brother Americans continually tear at my conscious and cause me to think so I don't become extreme. The result of extremism is represented in the aforementioned paragraph.
There are those out there who would prefer to simply employ a force strong enough at the border to prevent entry by whatever means up to and including killing. This is not the answer as it would be essentially murder to camp out and do this. We need to enforce the laws of our country and thereby discourage the illegal entry to begin with. If an illegal knew they would be immediately deported upon discovery once here, they would be a lot more likely to employ the legal process for entry to begin with as well. Only our government can accomplish this! I thinnk this is what Mike means when he says it isn't the people's fault who are coming in here.
Everyone realizes that the press is largely becoming leftist in this country. Mike represents the very few who are bold enough to speak up and comment straight forward about the issues that confront folks every day and he does that very well. For those who disagree, be advised that you should be thankful that such people exist so that the balance of our collective philosophy stands to be properly represented.
Also I wish folks would stop using the argument of, "illegal's have taken on jobs that few people born in this nation choose to do" ... please show the proof of this. I don't remember any worker shortages since I was born ... in fact all I have seen is a rise in unemployment and welfare recipients. The shift to hire illegal's was a result of businesses reducing the cost to produce goods. Many businesses know they can hire illegal's and pay those workers less than 1/2 they would an American citizen. I know plenty of construction workers that did not just lay down their hammers because they were unwilling to do the work.
It is a difficult debate with many views on right / wrong, but immigration is the modern day World War as we are fighting to maintain our standards of living and our identity in OUR country where we pay taxes, live, and die. If something is not done soon it is likely the USA will become something totally different than the vision many American's (past and present) had for this great nation.
For example, I recently moved and many of my FORMER friends bailed on helping me move. They all, however, said "go get some illegals". There is a demand for them, mainly because they are willing to work for cheap doing things that friends help others do, or that is just very hard work with little pay. There are many illegal opportunities with human trafficking, sex-trafficking, and drugs, but quite difficult to find, prosecute and deport. We have amny of our own problems. Many of the the people that are screaming "secure the borders, enforce the laws" are the same people that will drive to a parking lot and pick up some cheap manual labor. we must stop doing that, we must take care of our communities, we must help the police know where the crimes are happening, so they can do their job, and take care of ourselves. It is not the governments job, but our own. Our government has grown far too large and is not effective and we have become lazy with the media crying "governments job" and us continuing to perpetuate a problem. this country wasnt built on the principles and by the government, but rather freedom loving PEOPLE who were accountable and took care of themselves and others.
Sanctuary cities are encouraged by the demonstration that a certain city government will not enforce the law by advising the feds of illegals that are arrested by local authorities.
The INS moves so slowly that a turtle would leave black marks on their backs. Again, this is government. The bigger that the federal government becomes, the less effective it becomes as well.
Almost every issue facing our government, education, immigration and the economy at the center would be best if governed by smaller, state's governments or even smaller entities. This way, each area would feel the direct impact of each's philosophy, thereby making them less apt to support things like sanctuary cities. If those cities had to bear more of the burden of the cost of the actions, they would be less prone to support such positions.
BIG government is a losing proposition from the beginning.
In my ancestry there is Irish. English, French,Scottish, Welch, Spanish (Mexican) and Indian. I'm pretty much a Heinz 57 of diverse ethnic background.
My points are merely that immigration has to be controlled or it is a dis-service to everyone...including the people who come here, whether legally or illegally.
Let me give you an anology: Let's say you have a house and 2 acres of land. The house is sizeable, fit for a family of Six to Eight. Next door you have beighbors who decide that your house is more suitable than the one they live in. Would it be appropriate for them to invite themselves to come and live in your house because it is nicer and larger?
Report: Illegal immigration costs Ga. $2.4B
It's in the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Liberty and Justice for All or Equal justice under the Law.
I also know that true justice can only be served when tempered with compassion.
It is the Government unwilling to do its job mainly because its to busy doing the things it never was given the Authority to do.
How ever we have to always be rational and civil to one another regardless of our difference of opinion and not let our passion over something drive our emotions to being what we use to make our decisions.
Common sense will always be the best rationale for proper reasoning .
Now with having said all that, the question is where do we go from here ?
Knowing we are a sovereign country of laws , and that the Illegal's are coming here for a better way of life, I get and understand that.
So also does the bank robber who by no fault of his own , who has been left unemployed and desperate to feed and house his family, a construction worker perhaps, knowing his situation in this economy .
Should he be allowed to break the law ? Common Sense would say no. Along with Equal Justice for all.
To the point of the illegal's just being here doing the jobs that most US citizens don't want or will not do , is just another false statement .
I am a carpenter and have many friends in the trades who all say the same thing about it.
That every job that they go to looking for work and get denied. The job site is usually filled with people of Latin or Hispanic descent.
If offered a job and they give a desired salary they are then laughed at and turned away being told they want to much. I personally have been told this by Licensed Contractors myself and then been told they would just go and hire a Mexican from the Home Depot or where ever the day labor site was . (A side note: allot of the Subcontract labor which has been displaced being self employed and not having Unemployment Insurance are not getting any help to aid in their suffering and are not reflected in the Unemployment stats ,putting the actual unemployment numbers allot higher than what's being reported )
So you see its not the truth when you here it being said that we don't want the job. I have never thought myself to good to do any job provided it offered a descent living wage.
Anybody ever watch Dirty Jobs with Mike Row ?
Now that we have established that its just plain greed or perhaps some other hidden agenda. One of the magnets that drive them here is greed.
Lets examine some of the common sense effects allot of which have already been stated in other comments here.
SSN . How does and Illegal obtain a Social Security Number to work ? Much less pay Income tax .
Fake ID , ID Theft , which I might add has been on the rise in this country for years . We have all seen all the adds for the ID Theft protection services right?
Public welfare services or aid . Well first of all under the Impala law nobody can be turned away for medical services in our emergency rooms .
This one I know from personal experience .
I am an unemployed carpenter not receiving unemployment. I lost my insurance and applied for Well Care for my daughter . The application came to me in Spanish . Hello!!! That might be your first clue right .
I don't hate anybody people. I have had allot of contact with the Illegal's myself and have come to love them and their culture as well. I have also seen a large decline in blacks on the construction site.
Not to stereotype as some might assume and you know what that means . LOL
Blacks were for as long as I can remember in my 30 years in the trades have always been the ones that did mason work, concrete work, but they have also been replaced and its just for the cheaper labor and usually they are paid in cash to avoid the new Contractor Licensing Laws in the state. To avoid the taxes ,workers comp @ 28% for the contractor now etc.etc
Allot of those people I am friends with and had come to love also . Its not about hate or racism it is about Equality period ! Nobody because of race gender ,lifestyle ,culture, religion, wealth, position of power etc etc . Nobody should be above the Law equally applied to all. Illegal or otherwise. !! Hope I didn't leave anybody out.
Now lets look at another fact based in truth and sound common sense .
If the Illegal's are here to get away from the violence and poverty or poor conditions in their home land, how is it fair and equal to allow them to come and take a job I am ready willing and able to do , how is that fair to me and my family just trying to have a better life ?
So common sense would also dictate that if those are the conditions that they are escaping ,why would they want us not to close the borders and protect them from the very thing in which they say they are trying to escape?
Also if they are coming here to stay why are they sending a larger percentage of their money back to their country of origin?
I thought that was what they tried to sell the War on Drugs with, as sending our money out of the country to help our enemies and it hurts our economy .The more we print the less its worth .!
So is it Economic warfare I don't know . However I do know this much, somebody that wants to stay here wouldn't be sending their money to another country I wouldn't think .
Most importantly who will be left holding the bag and left to clean up the mess? Who is going to have to pay for it ?
Is that going to help any of us be able to retire after a 10 or 15 year career like most of the ones sending their money home? We are lucky if we can retire now after working a lifetime.
Who has to try and put their life back in order after somebody has stolen their ID . Not the criminal who stole it that's for sure . So we had better start demanding more of our Government and perhaps more of ourselves and find a common sense solution before we let our emotions turn things really ugly.
I sure hope it does not come to that .
One last question I have to ask . Why isn't the Main Street Media or known better as The Lame Street Media not reporting on this truthfully.
I know its about the bottom dollar and blood and guts or drama are what sell the news today . What ever happened to honor truth and nobility ?
Yep you are right it was 2 questions . May we build upon what we have in common rather than tear each other apart with hate ,and fight over where we are different!!! Don't hate the messenger, hate the message if you must !
I am a legal US Citizen and Proud to be one.
I dont agree with allowing Illegals to come to US wrong way either. If we dont know who they are how can we tell criminals from others.
We have to know.
I am sorry for if my people have brought you and your family harm may you forgive us .
I also know its not about race or hate that US Citizens want Mexican and others Illegal to go home and come the right way .
Racism is just a political tool used to try to silence people who dont agree cause they have no valid
argument .
The African used this as political weapon to silience people who didnt think it was right for them to recieve special consideration and not be equal. Reverse discrimination I think . Discrimination is discrimination and racism is racism . I know Mexican racist as well as African and White .
Its not about hate or racism for all just for some. I have seen and heard KKK and I have seen and heard Black Panthers I see LaFamila Gangs ,they all hate the same .
Gaurd the border and then we can work to make it better.
Same as the Police man ask to search your car and you say no . Then he says if you have nothing to hide you want mind . Come here Legal and if they ask you if you are legal you want have to hide. Even Americans have to show ID when stopped or questioned by Police why is it not fair or racist to ask Hispanic ,Latino or
all people?