Immigration
A different perspective from a border state

I have the news playing on the TV as I sit here in my home in Tucson, Arizona on April 2, 2006 and write this article. I recently acquired a TV set that allows me to have PIP (picture-in-picture) so I am able to monitor two news stations at the same time. I have Fox News in the main viewing area, and its arch rival MSNBC playing in the smaller inset screen. A mere click of a button switches the larger and smaller screens. Oddly, even though these two TV cable news stations are indeed locked in a vicious battle for ratings, they both show the same things, at pretty much the same times.

For the past few days, both news channels' screens have been filled with headlines, discussions, and footage of protestors – all about the new, proposed immigration law changes. I'm not going to waste ink here going over the proposed laws or the changes that have taken place in them over the years. Nor am I going to deal with the additional changes that different groups want to see affected in the new laws. My 'curiosity,' if you will, is about something much more basic.

Without passing any opinions along about the proposed new laws, I am going to acknowledge a couple of facts. You remember "facts." They are what you used to get on the news. Fact: there are about 11-million illegal aliens in the United States right now. Fact: hundreds of thousands of people came out and demonstrated against the new immigration laws. Fact: the arguments center on how strict the new laws are – ranging from a new felony offense on one side of the table, all the way to amnesty on the other side.

Now, try to forget your position on the new laws – just for a few minutes. I'm not going to try to change your mind, or get you to reposition yourself on the issues of the new laws. Not at all. I'd like to go back a couple of steps and take a look at the bigger picture.

It is my understanding that a primary obligation of the government is to protect our borders. To this important end, the citizenry endows the government with substantial (unlimited) funds and an ever-growing array of powers and police agencies. If we know that 11-million illegal aliens are in the United States, then the borders have not been protected. The government has not done its job. The police agencies have all failed. It's really that simple. The government is obviously a) not protecting the borders and b) not enforcing the existing laws – which is why these illegal immigrants have not been caught and punished.

The concept of capture and punishment of these illegal visitors to the country raises another set of questions. One of the most obvious was presented by Senator McCain. The new laws suggest arresting and then charging and then trying illegal aliens for a felony. About this, McCain, to paraphrase, simply asked: How do you intend to do that?

We already have a Border Patrol. Do we need yet another police agency to stop this steady flow of illegal immigrants into the US? Interestingly, amidst all the talk of a new immigrant worker law, we have that as well.

One extremely disturbing pattern here is that no matter how much the citizenry gives the government, or rather that the government takes from the people, it is never enough to get the job done. In the presence of the lavishly funded CIA, NSA, FBI, US Army, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Customs, FAA, Navy, and so on, and so on – 9/11 still occurred – as did the Oklahoma City Bombing. After the fact, the citizens are informed that the government needs "more" in order to protect them. Enter Homeland Security. This is not an isolated example by any means. Remember Katrina? Pearl Harbor? A stream of unsettlingly similar examples can be found in our history.

Ultimately, then, it must not really matter which way we lean on the immigration issues. It doesn't matter what enforcement agencies are created, or what new laws are made. All the combined (and quite formidable) might of all the police agencies in the United States can't enforce the existing laws – that's why 11+ million people are here breaking the existing laws.

My last comment on this wholly disenchanting situation is that a growing number of American citizens are taking the issue of border security into their realm of personal responsibility. The group, known as The Minutemen, simply places its volunteers along the border to watch for people trying to illegally enter the United States. The stationed Minutemen then simply contact the Border Patrol and report the incident.

The Minutemen have actually been quite effective, but alas, they are drawing flack as a group of 'vigilantes.' Unlike true vigilantes, however, the Minutemen do not determine crime or pronounce/carry out punishment. They merely inform the proper authorities, who should then take action. Much like a Neighborhood Crime Watch program, but on a larger scale. It wouldn't be so bad if these volunteer American patriots were not getting any help from the government, but it's worse. The government is doing things that hamper their efforts. Most recently, the government of the United States of America informed Mexican authorities of the size of the Minutemen organization, and the numbers and whereabouts of its members. Go figure.

In summary, instead of everyone marching, and arguing, and protesting about how to best change the laws to solve the illegal immigrant problem, what Americans should be asking themselves is: why aren't the current laws being enforced? And if the genuine objective is to seal the borders for security purposes, then why is it that the government is not supporting the efforts of the Minutemen?