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 Congress Do Your Job
by Tom Campbell
August 5, 2010
The rage over immigration has reached a level that would be absurd if it didn’t affect so many lives. Many are advocating the repeal of language in the 14th Amendment that would grant citizenship status to anyone born in America, asserting a “drop and leave” mentality growing among illegal immigrants and even a new cottage industry of “birth tourism.” Pregnant women come to this country, have their babies here – assuring them US citizenship - then return to their homeland.
This is the latest struggle over outdated and unenforceable immigration laws in America. The anger and problems have resulted in the State of Arizona passing tough new immigration laws and the US Justice Department suing that state. We think the lawsuit is misguided. Justice should be suing our Congress for failure to do its job. Immigration is not and never has been a state matter. It has and should remain a national jurisdictional issue.
There is no question that undocumented immigrants are flooding into many states in this country, North Carolina included. They come to find work and employers are glad to receive hardworking, lower paid employees, but these undocumented visitors also present problems to local governments who must educate children, provide health care, jail space and other government services. There is evidence that immigrants have more vehicular accidents and a greater incidence of driving while under the influence. Yes, they pay taxes, but many demand and receive wage payments in cash so as not to pay income taxes.
To his credit, President Bush tried to broker an agreement that would allow immigrants to come here, get green cards and move toward citizenship, but he couldn’t find enough support in his own party to pass this agreement. Since that time the problems have exacerbated.
North Carolina has its share of illegal immigrants. At one time that number was pegged at 350,000 but some think it may have shrunk by as many as 100,000 in recent months because of the decline in our economy. Most agree that when the jobs return, so will the workers.
This isn’t an insolvable problem. Let’s stop talking about trying to hire thousands of guards to patrol our thousands of miles of borders. That’s not a practical solution. Our nation could solve this tomorrow morning. All we have to do is pass a law saying that any business caught with undocumented immigrants will pay a ,000 fine per incident. When the companies stop hiring, the immigration flow will slow to a trickle. Businesses don’t like this solution and neither should we. Who would maintain our lawns, construct our buildings, clean our houses or provide any of the many jobs these immigrants are willing to perform? There must be better solutions.
Every Congressional representative in this state is up for re-election in November. Instead of demanding pledges not to raise taxes, perhaps we should ask for a pledge that they will pass immigration reforms in the next session of Congress. This one action could end a nagging national and local issue, could heal the anger among our own citizens and chart a future course for how we will treat those who come into our country looking for a better life. It is the humane and sensible course to take. Congress, do your job. |
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