There is a process for gaining entry to this country and it should be followed. I have no problem with a controlled influx of peoples from any country. If our system is too slow or limits are set to low then we should address that problem. If we have a quota and it is low there shouldn't be any challenge in increasing that limit - many people are quite okay with allowing millions in so the votes should be there. Those that hire illegal immigrants should be fined or arrested. That would go a very long way to solving the problem. They too are breaking the law.
The boarder should be made secure but we should address the problem of improving the legal process so it doesn't take so long. Apparently many people feel that adding millions of immigrants to this country is a good thing. I don't know because I can't fully wrap my mind around the complexities of adding millions of low skilled workers to the economy. I don't know if it helps or hurts. All I know is to me the single key issue is this; if we want them to come into the country it shouldn't be across the desert but through the gates. Simply making it legal should solve many issues. I do not understand why the immigration process isn't brought up and argued the way so many other issues are in this country.
To grant amnesty to all of them is to ignore due process. This alone would weaken the key to order in this country and that is our legal system. I do not know what to do about the millions of illegal immigrants that are here already. It gets way too complex for me when things are injected into the conversation such as children of these illegal adults being born in the United States. I certainly would not agree to splitting families up. Yet to grant amnesty would simply invite another influx of illegal immigrants and the problem would resurface.
I think those who enter the country illegally are suffering because of indecision and lack of process in this country. I don't fault them for wanting to come here, earn money, and send it back to Mexico or other countries. The disparity between one side of the boarder and the other is so dramatic. The worst living conditions in Ventura County are comparable with the best conditions in Baja Mexico. The poverty there is some of the worst I've ever seen and I have traveled widely. But in my opinion the poverty is inextricably linked to the lack of law and order in Mexico. That is the last thing we want to import.
A few years ago I met with the church people of the church we support in Carranza Baja Mexico. I was the Mexico Liaison for our church's Mission Committee at the time. We tried to help those wonderful people improve their state in life by introducing the concept of micro loans, a practice that helps poor people around the world. The process is to have a small group of people pool their money and form a mini-bank. That money would then be used by one of the members to improve their personal situation and they are then required to refill the pot with some of the profits of their enterprise. Then the next person dips into the pot. Our church would have seeded the pot. The church members would form a committee and examine and approve the borrowing member's business plan. The church members understood and wanted to make use of this process but they all said it was a losing battle. The problem is there is a line or size of business which is ignored if you stay below that line. If you cross that line and your business becomes large enough to be visible it is then heavily taxed and much of the taxation is local, basically a rip off by the local officials and police. So the lack of law and order is actually handcuffing the people. It is possible if your business becomes successful enough it may be taken over by those in power.
I fully support the new Arizona law. Clearly one of the things that makes the United States stand out among all countries of the world is law and order. This problem is a big gap in our law and order and should be addressed.
Obviously this is a hot issue with me. I'm glad I'm not a politician who has to struggle with a solution. I'm just upset that the focus is misdirected. Many people bring up the argument that we who want to close the boarder, or make laws like Arizona, don't like the Mexican people. Nothing could be further from the truth, at least in the case of those to whom I have spoken with about this issue, and it certainly isn't true of me. That stand is simply, to me, a diversion from the fact that they are here illegally.
