Some prominent members
of the GOP continue to go wobbly on immigration and amnesty “reforms.” If they
were serious about stopping illegal immigration, they would of course insist 1)
that all borders be secured, and 2) current immigration laws be enforced. Only
after those two steps have been taken and completed is it time to discuss the
concerns about illegals who remain.
There are
two facts usually omitted when legislators are promoting immigration "reform". One is the likely result of
securing our borders and starting to vigorously enforce the laws would be to significantly reduce the number of illegals "living in the shadows". If memory
serves, it was Mark Steyn who pointed it out years ago, when he was driving along the
Canada-US border at Niagara Falls, shortly after 9/11. That day, Canada-bound traffic
was at a standstill, jammed with illegals heading for Canada. They assumed, incorrectly as it
turned out, that the United States would get serious about enforcing
immigration laws and sealing the borders. So when we read about 11 or 12 million
living “in the shadows,” how many of those millions would voluntarily leave if the government got
serious about enforcing its existing laws? Half? Most?
The other distorted "fact" concerns the hand-wringing about needing to bring people out from the shadows – and giving
them a “path to citizenship.” There already are numerous paths to citizenship (and also click on the
Exceptions tab on the left-hand sidebar for more paths), and anyone here illegally is
welcome to go back to their country of origin and stand in line with those who
are applying for immigration, legally, through one of these existing programs.
Rep. Paul
Ryan, who seemed like a good guy VP candidate on the Romney-Ryan ticket, is
going all “Rubio” on us. According to the Boston Globe:
Democrats
doggedly pursuing a far-reaching immigration bill are counting on help from
Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate last year and an unlikely
candidate for delivering the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s
second-term agenda.
Ryan, the
House Budget Committee chairman who is frequently mentioned in the GOP lineup
of possible 2016 presidential candidates, stands apart from many fellow House
Republicans in favoring a way out of the shadows for the 11 million immigrants
living in the U.S. in violation of the law.
Ryan’s arguments
are the same ole, same ole. And the always astute Thomas Sowell debunked Ryan’s
rationales – separating emotional appeals from economic realities -- in
an interview with Laura Ingraham, reported in The
Daily Caller:
During a
June appearance on Ingraham’s show, Ryan had said the U.S. might face labor
shortages unless immigration policy is overhauled.
“That’s incredible,” Sowell
said. “I mean —first of all to an economist, it is incredible to speak about
shortages without talking about prices,
in this case wages…You know there, there have been so many predictions of
shortages of so many occupations and the shortages don’t materialize. And why
not? Because if there is a shortage, the wage rate goes up. That attracts in
more people and lo and behold, the jobs are filled.”
“In agriculture, the farmers would obviously prefer to get workers who get low pay rather than workers they have to pay a higher wage,” he continued. “And as long as there are an unlimited supply of farm workers coming in from Mexico, they will never have to raise the wages very much. They say Americans won’t do these jobs. These are jobs Americans have done for generations, if not centuries. And it’s a time when millions of Americans are out of work, and are looking for any kind of work. And so this is utter nonsense.”
. . . .
“The other main thing though is that if we don’t control the borders, we don’t have an immigration policy because regardless of what policy you put on paper, if people can just walk
across the border when they darn well please,
then your policy means nothing. The other thing that bothers me is the
Republicans seem to think we will give — illegal immigrants citizenship if they
do a, b or c. Democrats say x, y and z. I don’t know why we need promise anybody citizenship
before we get control of the borders and have time to sit down and think and look
at the facts, and then try to draw up some rational policy.”
“In agriculture, the farmers would obviously prefer to get workers who get low pay rather than workers they have to pay a higher wage,” he continued. “And as long as there are an unlimited supply of farm workers coming in from Mexico, they will never have to raise the wages very much. They say Americans won’t do these jobs. These are jobs Americans have done for generations, if not centuries. And it’s a time when millions of Americans are out of work, and are looking for any kind of work. And so this is utter nonsense.”
. . . .
“The other main thing though is that if we don’t control the borders, we don’t have an immigration policy because regardless of what policy you put on paper, if people can just walk
across the border when they darn well please,
then your policy means nothing. The other thing that bothers me is the
Republicans seem to think we will give — illegal immigrants citizenship if they
do a, b or c. Democrats say x, y and z. I don’t know why we need promise anybody citizenship
before we get control of the borders and have time to sit down and think and look
at the facts, and then try to draw up some rational policy.”
Just
more reasons to send postcards to members of the House of Representatives, and
Paul Ryan moves to the top of the list. No Amnesty. No immigration "reform." Secure the borders.
Rep. Paul Ryan
216 6th Street
Racine, WI 53403
Speaker John Boehner
7969 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Suite B
West Chester, OH 45069
Rep. Eric Cantor
4201 Dominion Blvd. #110
Glen Allen, VA 23060
Rep. Kevin McCarthy
4100 Empire Drive, Suite 150
Bakersfield, CA 93309
Rep. Trey Gowdy
104 S. Main St.
Greenville, SC 29601
Rep. Darrell Issa
1800 Thibodo Road, #310
Vista, CA 92081
