Reply #48: Maybe we here at DU are a microcosm, maybe not

[matt819]

But it certainly seems that we are grappling with the same two sides of the argument as the republicans. Half of those folks want a guest worker program (employees without votes or representation) and half want those smelly people with diseases (a paraphrase from an NPR interview yesterday) sent home. So it looks like the issue will either divide all of us even further or make very strange bedfellows.

In an ideal world, everyone would follow the rules, fill out all the paperwork, pay all the fees, and then wait in line. Or, take a step back, and all those folks wouldn't even think about crossing the border. But neither of those things have happened. Sure, there are hundreds of thousands perfectly legal aliens in the US who did things the right way, more or less. They married an American, adjusted legally from F, H, or L visa status. They invested. They were the son, daughter, parent, etc. of someone who was a citizen. Great. Welcome. Maybe in three generations (like many Americans whose ancestors came to this country in the late 19th and early 20th century) the grand children or great grandchildren of these legal aliens can struggle, as we are now, to sustain whatever hold they may have on a middle class existence.

But the fact remains that there are, according to the reports being bandied about these days, 10-12 million illegal aliens, the majority of whom are purely economic refugees. Some percentage of these people have relatives who are American citizens. In many cases, presumably, the parents are illegal, the children are legal, and I'm sure there are dozens of permutations of legal/illegal relationships.

Think about the nature of the police state that would have to be developed in the coming years in an effort to deport all of those who are deemed to be illegal. Think about the resources that would have to be diverted from other areas - law enforcement, border security, port safety, etc. - in order to investigate and then deport the 12 million illegal aliens. Sorry about being a bit simplistic, but consider this. Let's say, starting tomorrow, the "System" can begin the process of deporting 1,000 people every work day. Arithmetic. 12 million illegals, 1,000 deported daily, roughly 250 work days. Assuming no further illegal aliens make their way to the US, the last illegal will be gone in 48 years. And then consider the social and ethical implications of destroying families and then the impact on federal and state resources to address their needs.

Yes, I know, they shouldn't be here. It's not right. They're breaking the law. But it is what it is, and, as much as we all might like to bid them farewell and maybe even drive them to the border, the cost is too great, financially, emotionally, socially, ethically, politically. You name it.

As for the guest worker program, that should die a horrible and immediate death. That's nothing but a sop to big business, allowing the formalization of an underclass that will always be underpaid and unrepresented. Sure, go ahead and try to tax them. Does taxation without representation ring any bells. This is nothing but 21st century slavery.