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Jewish World Review August 26, 2005 / 21 Av, 5765 If Bush doesn't take care of immigration issue properly, the Dems might do it for him By Froma Harrop
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
President Bush should know he's not doing us any favors by
offering to enforce the nation's immigration laws. It's already his job. Yet
that's the deal in his new guest-worker proposal: Keep the cheap labor
flowing to business, and maybe I'll start going after employers who hire
illegal aliens.
This mindset is making Americans crazy, and Democrats have taken
notice. The public sees illegal immigration as its No. 1 international
worry, according to a recent survey. Long afraid of the issue, Democrats are
beginning to tackle it in a serious and politically potent way.
Two Democratic governors, Arizona's Janet Napolitano and Bill
Richardson of New Mexico, have declared states of emergency along their
borders with Mexico. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is not only calling for
better border controls, but for enforcing laws that punish people who employ
illegal immigrants.
That last item is key. Bush's immigration game has been to
divert public attention with a big military-style show at the border. But
once illegal entrants get past the border, and millions do, they are free to
undercut the wages and benefits of natives and legal immigrants. Bush has
failed to do what would really halt illegal immigration — apply the
employer penalties long on the books. The neat thing for Bush is that he
gets to please business interests. Meanwhile, the costs of providing social
services for the illegal population fall on state and local government
budgets, not his.
Until the cheap-labor crowd took over the party, Republicans
were the stalwarts in defending the borders. Democrats shied away from this
issue and its sometimes racist overtones. They also saw immigrant families
as their future constituents. But the consequences of uncontrolled illegal
immigration have so flooded other issues, it can no longer be ignored.
Some conservative Republicans are yelling at Bush to address the
rising public anger. They see trouble ahead for the 2006 congressional
elections. Their best hope is that most Democrats remain frozen in old
thinking. So when Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean opines that using
this issue in 2006 would turn immigrants into "scapegoats," Republican
strategists must sigh with relief.
The good doctor from Park Avenue should take an educational trip
to some carpentry shops on Long Island. There, he'll find legal immigrants
being put out of business by illegal aliens working at competing shops down
the street. The story repeats itself across the nation. The conflict isn't
just between immigrants and natives. It's between illegal immigrants and
legal immigrants.
The class-war aspects of uncontrolled immigration have begun to
register with other Democrats. Consider the weird argument that illegal
immigration is good because it keeps down the cost of lettuce, hotel rooms
and restaurant meals. Of course, it does. It's odd that everyone expects to
pay the going American rate for the services of lawyers and doctors. In this
view, only the sweating classes are supposed to keep prices low.
Congress does enforce immigration laws for some better-off
workers. For example, the H-1B visa program brings in foreigners with
specialized and technical skills. The annual limit of 65,000 H-1B visas was
quickly reached this year, but Congress refused to raise it. By contrast,
the people who mop floors or paint houses compete in a labor free-for-all,
and Congress just sits back.
Democrats can make these points without demonizing illegal
aliens. Most are good, hardworking people. And while some observers condemn
them as lawbreakers, the fact remains that the Bush administration has
virtually given them a green light to come here. Illegal immigrants should
be forgiven for not seeing much of a law to break.
But sympathy for individuals should not trump national defense
and protecting the economic security of working Americans. Republicans own
Washington, and have failed in both regards. Democrats should offer to do
better.
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© 2005 Creators Syndicate |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
