Kerman Harvest Festival this weekend. Always fun to see everybody. Nothing like carny food. The weather has been fabulous. Cool in the morning and warm in the afternoon. Mid-80's. I love Fall weather.
It's been kind of quiet on the farm this week. Busy, but nothing new. I thought I would post my latest op-ed. It was picked up in the local press. Immigration reform is not only an issue in the US, but around the world. The former UN Secretary General listed the current global migration as one of the great issues of our age. After I was quoted in the Economist a few years ago a German reporter flew out to LA and drove to Kerman to interview me on the subject. Voters in Europe are selecting more conservative governments on this one issue. Here's my two cents.
We Will Not Solve the Immigration Issue by Penalizing Employers
By Paul H. Betancourt
Copyright September, 2010
So the way to solve the problem of illegal immigration is to penalize employers? Are you serious?
The Obama Administration is suing Arizona for enforcing federal law.
Cops aren’t allowed to ask.
Teachers say they don’t want to be immigration enforcement officers, they just want to teach.
Doctors and nurses say they don’t want to be immigration control officers either. They just want to care for patients.
It looks like employers are the last ones standing.
There are advocates, journalists and academics that say the only way to control immigration is employer sanctions because jobs are what are attracting immigrants. OK, I’ll agree that jobs do attract immigrants. Will you agree there are other things that attract immigrants?
Citizenship for children who are born here?
Free education?
Free health care?
I’d be willing to support employer sanctions if we tighten up on these other attractants also. This is where things get sticky. It has been tried before.
1986-Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)
We started working the issue of illegal immigration over twenty years ago when the problem was a lot smaller. IRCA is behind the rule that you have to prove a right to work when you apply for a new job. Through IRCA many people received work documents. But, IRCA eventually failed because the only way to enforce it was to issue national identity cards and the ACLU and their merry-men went to war over that issue. They are right, to enforce anything resembling immigration reform we are probably going to have to issue some kind of national identity card. That is an unpalatable thought for some people.
1994- Prop 187
Many of you remember this one. California voters approved restrictions on social services for the undocumented. This was eventually struck down by the courts. What amazed me during this debate was the reaction of the people in the education and health care communities. Teachers were saying, “We don’t want to be immigration officers, we just want to teach kids.” Nurses and doctors were saying the same thing. What makes you think I want to be an immigration officer? I have a farm to run and a crop to bring in. I am not an immigration officer either.
This notion that employment is the only attraction for illegal immigration is nonsense. Yes, employment is a huge issue and it needs to be addressed. But, the fact is there are other attractants, free public education, free health care and opportunity for one’s children come to mind.
It is political suicide for conservatives to bring up the issue of the Fourteenth Amendment, but it is an issue that should at least be discussed. After the Civil War Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment to grant citizenship to the freed slaves who otherwise had no legal standing. It was a good move. However, it leaves us with the de facto situation where if a child is born within our borders it automatically becomes a US. Citizen. We assume this is normal in other countries, but it is not always so. We often talk about doing things like the Europeans. Well, one European country, Switzerland, does things another way. In Switzerland, just being born in Switzerland is not enough to be proclaimed a Swiss citizen, at least one of your parents has to be Swiss also. I am not saying that we have to follow the Swiss example on this, just a reminder that there are alternatives.
A Step Toward Solution-
The most reasonable solutions I have seen on the issue of immigration reform were proposed by President George W. Bush. His proposals were sliced and diced from both sides of the aisle, but they have the merit of being reasonable and practical. Bush started on immigration before 9/11 and might have succeeded if that attack had not changed our whole national agenda. In 2006 he brought up the issue again. President Bush had five principals in his proposal: Secure the borders, Temporary Worker Program, Hold employers accountable, Face the reality that millions are already here, Honor our tradition as the melting pot and embrace our common identity as Americans.
Yes, I see that holding employers accountable is one of Bush’s principles. Can you see there are also other issues? We are not going to solve this issue by trying to balance the whole equation on the backs of the employers.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Well spoken, Paul. I wonder if this one will ever be settled. And of course there is always the "who would employers like yourself hire if immigrants weren't here"? As a 19 year old I thought I would try my hand at picking grapes. I lasted about 2 hours and I hardly picked anything. (Girly, I know, but too many spiders, bees and wasps).
ReplyDelete