HOODWINKED BY IMMIGRATION REFORM

HOODWINK: Pronunciation: 'hud-"wi[ng]k: To take in by deceptive means; to cause to accept what is false, especially by trickery or misrepresentation; to betray, deceive, dupe, fool; to conceal one's true motives by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end.

The fifth HOODWINK AWARD goes to the members of Congress and the Bush Administration who talk about immigration reform but make it so complicated and controversial that true reform will never occur. That appears to be their true intention.

The Problem:

Workers coming across from Mexico are searching for better paying jobs and many United States employers are searching for workers who fill vacant job positions and typically work at a wage that will allow for greater profits while holding prices down. Even though illegal immigrant workers may get paid less, they will still have much of their paycheck left over after living expenses to send money back to families in Mexico because their expenses don’t include taxes and fees for health care, education, etc. Because of this need for workers and employers to circumvent the laws of our country, we have also allowed our borders to be opened up to criminals, drug smugglers, terrorists and diseases.

Illegal drugs from all over the world come into the United States through Mexico. The financial impact and human misery costs of these illegal drugs that affect all strata of our society are just as pervasive and deadly in small towns as big cities with the hope of younger generations drained with its availability.

Our continued high tolerance for massive illegal immigration also gives terrorists a deadly cover. More than half of the Islamic radicals convicted or tied to recent terrorist attacks on the United States over the past decade either were themselves illegal immigrants or relied on illegal immigrants to obtain false identification documents. We would be naïve to not believe that there are not many, many more of these terrorists entering our country with the ease of those entering our country searching for jobs. And, if it is possible to smuggle tons of drugs across our borders, it is just as plausible to contend that weapons of mass destruction can also be brought into our country and cities.

Included in this mix of illegal immigrants are those criminals who prey upon our citizens as well as those innocent but illegal workers who use the same paths to entry. Contagious and infectious diseases that have been all but eradicated in our country are making a comeback because infected, untreated people have entered our country without any screening while our laws protect us against our own citizens who might infect the rest of our population. Meanwhile, all of those coming into our country illegally, whether it be for work or with bad intentions, are lumped together by many in our society as criminals, and many who are here legally as citizens who might have accents or a different color skin are having their citizenship and legal status questioned while others are being displaced in the workforce by those working “off the books.”

Taxpaying citizens of our country are bearing the brunt of much of the price tag of illegal immigration including the costs of overcrowded schools and programs developed specifically to provide an education that was not planned for students arriving illegally with different languages and cultures; skyrocketing health care buoyed by free care to those entering the system illegally through emergency rooms that have the most costs; law enforcement and jails and prisons are taxed beyond capability dealing with the many criminals who add to illegal entry crimes against our vulnerable population with a punishment offered many times that just deports them back across the borders to begin their trek again; and all the other situations of government responsibility to our citizens that are being diminished by overburdened resources.

The solutions:

First, we must close our borders. We need to seal and secure our borders with fences, technology and manpower to prevent anyone from entering our country except through numerous secured entry points. This will allow for an expeditious flow of legal workers who can pass through elaborate screening involving background checks, disease monitoring, and job identification. We need to end undocumented travel across the border. This is simply common sense. The very foundation of our country is based upon our Constitution and the laws that grant rights and privileges along with responsibilities and limits to our citizens, and to prevent enforcement of those principles and rules to one group denies rights and privileges to those who accept the governing rule of law and will eventually crumble the foundation of our country. If we do not take control of our borders, we will continue to cause our taxpayers and citizens to be burdened with the expense of an increasing dependent illegal population; it will cause people who are enticed by better wages to risk their lives entering our country illegally to be regarded and treated like criminals; we will continue to lose the war on drugs with all its consequences on our children and our economy; AND EVENTUALLY WE WILL BE FIGHTING THE WAR ON TERROR IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

We cannot offer amnesty to those here illegally as we have done in the past or risk compromising the intention of our sovereignty and the many laws that govern our legal, law-abiding citizens. There must be however, a path to legalization of entry into our country that begins with those here illegally, leaving and reentering according to the law. The mechanism must be established that eventually equates to ease of entry for those who have job opportunities with law abiding employers who will pay a legal wage and collect and pay taxes to help relieve the burden of government to those coming to our country to work. To come to this country to work must be viewed as a privilege that requires a set time to reenter legally, and not complying will result in deportation without ever being allowed to return and fines and sanctions to employers who hire illegally.

We must immediately cease offering benefits and privileges to those in our country illegally. Giving a driver’s license to an illegal immigrant is known as giving the “keys to the kingdom”. It is known as a breeder document that enables an illegal immigrant to acquire all sorts of fraudulent documentation including access to boarding airplanes. Offering the benefit of in-state tuition and financial aid to illegal immigrants attracts illegal immigration into New Mexico, especially when states bordering us have eliminated these benefits, since many of our country’s legal citizens don’t have this benefit. Providing free health care to illegal immigrants prompts the cost of health care to skyrocket. If they can make enough money to send most of it back to Mexico, they can pay something for health care and other benefits they seek. All these costs are currently being paid for by U.S. citizens and legal immigrants.

It will be expensive and take a strong commitment on the part of our government to protect our country both economically and militarily. But to not act is irresponsible to our country. Once we take action to secure our country we will once again have a definition of our sovereignty that we appear to have lost.

My grandmother, my father and his two sisters came to the US legally from Italy and passed through Ellis Island. My grandmother had a promised job and needed to provide an address where she and her family were going to live and who was responsible for them. She needed to have at least $50 in her possession. They had to have a health screening to show that they had no diseases or had to be quarantined and vaccinated. They came here for freedom, liberty and opportunity. They never had the goal to bring "Italy" to the US but rather to assimilate into American society and culture. They viewed education as the great equalizer and immediately learned to speak the language of the country in which they were becoming citizens. All their children became educated as US citizens. It was hard for them but it was their dream to come true. This was an immigration policy that worked for the new citizens and the ones already here.

Contact:: Senator Joseph J. Carraro; 505-898-9369; joecarraro@aol.com