Op-ed column on illegal immigration

By Congressman Richard Baker

Massive demonstrations across the country, as well as a legislative debate in the U.S. Senate, have helped focus Americans’ attention on the problem of illegal immigration. It’s a problem that, left unchecked, will continue growing as the ranks of illegal aliens, currently estimated at 12 million, swells by another 500,000 every year. Clearly this situation, from both a security and economic standpoint, is untenable, and must be addressed.

However, taking a magic wand and changing activity that once was illegal into legal, as the various Senate bills do, may be a neat trick, but it is not a serious response, and certainly will not solve the problem. In fact, it will make it worse, by creating yet another incentive to those who would sneak across our borders.

Rather than changing law to reward illegal behavior, and in so doing inviting even more, the more sensible and effective approach is to tackle the problem from both the supply and demand side. In all the debate over this issue, if there’s one strong consensus viewpoint among the American people, it’s that the first thing that needs doing (before any discussion of what to do with illegal immigrants already here) is to cut off the endless inflow of new ones. That means finally getting serious about not only strengthening the borders and beefing up patrols (the supply) but also cracking down on businesses that hire them (the demand). If we don’t do these things, it is all but certain that 10 years from now we’ll be right back debating “what to do” about the 5 million additional illegal immigrants who came in since today.

Just to be clear, I consider myself strongly pro-immigration, but of the legal variety. I find it rather disingenuous that one of the main talking points of the open-borders/amnesty crowd is to enumerate all the wonderful cultural and economic benefits immigrants bring to America, as if being against illegal immigration somehow means being against all those contributions as well, a position which I imagine is held by very few. Actually, letting cheaters cut in line, which amnesty essentially allows, is most insulting to the very immigrants who play by the rules to enter our country and go through the long and methodical process to remain here and become citizens.

But then, much of this debate has highlighted how some people refuse to correctly identify what’s being discussed, and seem to go to great lengths, to the point of ridiculous Orwellian double-speak, just to avoid using certain words. Instead of “illegal immigrants,” one now hears of “undocumented workers,” as if there’s any such thing as “documented” workers, or “guest workers,” although I don’t recall an invitation ever being sent, nor have I noticed those breaking in acting like they need one. The Senate has replaced “amnesty” with “earned citizenship,” turning on its head our usual sense of justice, in which the only thing lawbreakers earn is punishment (which in this case would mean “earning” a one-way ticket home), and not a blanket dismissal of charges with a bonus to keep what they’ve stolen.

Similarly, we hear the strange proposition that illegal immigrants “do the jobs Americans won’t do,” when the truth is that Americans will do any job whose wages are not artificially lowered by those who accept what’s offered outside the lawful rules of the marketplace.

No, such a serious issue demands straightforward talk, which is why last month I joined 71 members of the House strongly encouraging members of the Senate to consider the following fundamental principles for any immigration reform bill:

· Border Security: We must make an honest attempt to secure our borders through greater manpower and infrastructure resources – over and above what Congress has already authorized.
· Interior Enforcement: No solution to illegal immigration will work until we begin to prosecute employers who lure illegal aliens into the U.S.
· Enforcement First: No foreign worker plan can function unless we have operational control of our borders and unless we know who comes in and out of our country.
· No Amnesty: Rewarding persons who have broken the law with an advantage that they would not otherwise have had encourages more illegal behavior and is unjust to immigrants who came to the U.S. legally.

These are the same principles at the foundation of H.R. 4437, the "Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act,” which was approved in the House of Representatives late last year, and which I was proud to coauthor and support. It’s my hope that the Senate passes a bill that reflects these principles. Without them, I will strongly oppose it. With the safety and financial well being of the American people at stake, they should expect as much and demand no less from every member of Congress.