Solving Illegal Immigration is More About Respect Than Fences

The reality of illegal immigration is that enforcement will never work. Think on it for a minute. Outside of harming another human, is there ANY law you wouldn’t break to secure food and lodging for your family? We tend to act as though brown people who speak our language with accents think with accents and care for their families with accents as well. The problem of immigration will never be solved with fences or guns. The only viable solution to our immigration problem is found in taking away the DESIRE to come to America for work. The only way to do that, is to make sure that Mexican citizens are able to find higher paying jobs in their own countries. There is no other viable way to protect a two thousand mile border.

One of the travesties of American corporate existence is the outsourcing of jobs to foreign countries for inexcusable wages. It is my contention that it should be illegal for companies with interests outside of the United States to pay lower wages out of the country than they would pay in country for the same work. Contrary to popular belief, regardless of a foreign wage hike, American companies are not likely to pull out of those countries on the basis of being forced to pay their workers higher wages. For the most part, jobs that have been farmed out in Mexico, and to Mexican citizens who have immigrated illegally, are jobs that Americans will not do for ANY wage. Furthermore, smart employers know that when you find a good worker with a solid work ethic, that you will pay nearly anything to keep that worker.

It is crucial to our existence as a nation that we find a way to bolster the Mexican economy. I have heard the arguments about corruption in the Mexican government, and the arguments are not completely without merit. However, the reality is that by creating a middle class in a country largely void of such a socioeconomic group, we empower people to make changes in their system of government. The issue of curbing illegal immigration is too important to simply sweep the real solutions to the problem under the table on the basis of a supposition that the Mexican government might take advantage of our efforts to be of service.

Some would disagree on that point. Some would say that illegal immigration is not that big a deal. To those folks, I ask you this. Are you SURE, that in the middle of a migrant field of workers, that you can tell the difference between Paco and Mohammed? I speak Spanish. I have lived in Mexico. Still, though, I would not want to base the security of my nation on my ability to distinguish Arabs from Mexicans on sight. The richest nation on the planet can not share a two thousand mile long border with what is considerably close to being a third world nation for forever without running the risk of infiltration on the part of a foreign government.

Iraq supposedly had the sixth largest army on earth at one point, yet when our soldiers went to confront them, where were they? Iraq supposedly had weapons of mass destruction, yet when our soldiers went to find them, they were nowhere to be found. What have we found? We have found tunnels four miles long under the Mexican-American Border used to smuggle people and drugs. How sure are we that they weren’t used to smuggle weaponry?

No, I’m not being an alarmist, and I think likely that my scenario is a bit out there, but the reality is that there is no way to know for sure. With twelve million illegal immigrants running around America, there would truly be no way to know if ten percent of them traded in their Farsi for Spanish. There would be no way to know, until it was too late.

I propose that NOW is the time to build ethanol plants in Mexico. Corn grows better in Mexico than it does in the Midwest of the U.S.A. I propose that NOW, is the time to legislate increased paychecks among people working in American based companies around the world. I propose that by ANY MEANS NECESSARY, we do what it takes to bring Mexico onto our economic level. I currently live in BC Canada. Canada largely enjoys the same standard of living as Americans. I can’t help but think, however, that if Canadians had brown skin, that Canada might be in the same place Mexico is economically.

Until we do the RIGHT things to curb illegal immigration, until we do the SMART things to curb illegal immigration, and until we do the Globally Conscious things to curb illegal immigration, there is no way that the average American can be sure that when “Jaime” comes by with “Pepe” to mow the lawn, that it won’t really be Osama and Romballah there to mow us down with weaponry smuggled through “drug” tunnels.

We have a tendency as Americans to treat brown people as lower class citizens. We have a tendency to assume that Manuel’s only gifting is manual labor. Let me ask you this. If you had the skills to be an architect, a doctor, a lawyer, a captain of industry, but you were treated by one nation’s people like a day worker, how long would it be before YOU revolted? There is a general arrogance among our nation’s people that assumes the best occupations and the best pay should go to white people. Mark my words. That sort of thinking will be the downfall of Americans. America is the strongest, richest country on the planet. Somewhere along the line though, we got this asinine idea that those facts made us superior to others. In reality, you and I are lucky. We were born into the land of opportunity… well those of us who were fortunate enough to be born white.

The next time you feel tempted to look down your nose or assume the worst jobs befit the people who speak your language with an accent, stop and ask yourself how well you speak THEIR language. Then, do something wholly un-American. Give them a better opportunity.

This seems like it has gotten off track… that I started talking about illegal immigration, and ended with talking about Humberto’s qualifications to be a rocket scientist. I assure you that it is not. This is all part of the same issue. Illegal immigration will not be solved until we bolster the economy of our southern neighbor. We will not prioritize the bolstering of our southern neighbors until we learn to respect them as equal to us, equal in intelligence, equal in ability, equal in their love for their families, and equal in value. In my experience, I have never seen a worker as dedicated and as devoted to their occupations as those Mexican workers, both legal and illegal with whom I have had the good fortunate of serving. Did you ever think that maybe the guy driving your taxi or ringing in your cigarettes might be a college graduate stuck with the only jobs that Americans will consider him for? It’s no wonder there is so much hatred.

Solving illegal immigration isn’t about fences and weaponry. It’s about respect, and equality. In many cases I am quick to share an opinion. This article, however, my friends is FACT. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!