Ask yourself how easy is it to entertain or support anti-illegal immigration views, beliefs or policies.Supporting
the deportation of illegal immigrants, encouraging governmental and
civil persecution and harassment, and imprisoning these individuals can
easily be understood, rationalized, and accepted if illegal immigrants
are seen as a threat to our national security or in terms of fairness
or law and order.What seems somewhat incongruous is that the
validity of these views are held by a strong vocal sector of the
population—perhaps the majority—that is bent on repressing within our
national consciousness that our nation was founded by immigrants who
forcefully wrested this land from its first occupants in order to
improve the quality of their lives. We joyfully celebrate Thanksgiving
Day--one of our most treasured holidays—but at the same time we
actively or passively support deportation or imprisonment of people who
violated our borders to better their lives and to support their
families back home.We define ourselves as sensitively religious
and humanitarian peoples. Our Judeo-Christian tradition, along with
other religious faiths and humanitarian values remind us that
compassion, love of neighbor, assistance to those in need, generosity,
and forgiveness exemplify the types of attitudes and behavior that
truly reveal who we are as a nation.At the same time, we are a
society that firmly believes in law and order. We hold that no one
should be above the law, much less outsiders.A conflict of
values? No doubt about it. Is it possible these two views, upholding
religious and humanitarian values and the principles of law, order, and
fairness are not philosophically and morally compatible? If so, which
one should be more highly regarded?Can we afford to be
religious and humanitarian peoples at the expense of sacrificing the
sanctity of our laws? Hardly. It is our respect for the legal system
that supports our religious and humanitarian way of life. And yet, can
we conceive of such a strict law and order society that it may
suffocate our religious and humanitarian values; ideals that define who
we are as a nation in the eyes of the world?Such conflicts over
our most cherished values are to be expected unless we are prepared to
establish the absoluteness of one value over others. Are we all set to
decide that law and order should be more highly prized than freedom,
the starting point of our nation and its most politically defining
value? And how would we rank equality and human dignity, enshrined by
our Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence as the primary
protecting values of our rights?Setting aside for a moment such
stressful thoughts, let us consider the various ways in which we view
illegal immigration and how these views account for our attitudes.The
term illegal immigrants, indicating that these individuals broke the
law by violating our borders, compel us to consider the issue in terms
of law and order. Moreover, if we were to assert that illegal
immigrants are responsible for crime and social disturbance or that
their presence causes serious cultural and economic disruption,
certainly it would be reasonable to arrive at the same conclusion.
Further, if we were to view illegal immigrants from within our fear of
terrorism, our concern should rightfully escalate and be treated as a
threat to our national security.A Threat to Our National SecurityCan
anyone fail to notice that the latest anti-illegal immigration rage
coincidentally took flight after 9/11? A widely held view is that
those who are likely to conduct terrorist acts against us are
foreigners—illegal ones—and there are about twelve million of them
within our borders today.But exacerbated feelings of
frustration and impotence in dealing with terrorism at home and abroad,
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the lost lives that have
resulted, seem to have contributed to a displacement of our anger
towards terrorists to illegal immigrants.Such displacement of
anger has taken place despite that the link between illegal immigrants
and terrorism is a myth that can be easily dispelled. Those accused of
carrying out or planning terrorist activities within our country are
not the same ones who have violated our borders in search of improving
their lives.Those accused of terrorism entered the country by
outwitting legal governmental procedures and careless US officials,
were American citizens, or were allowed to legally enter the country.
Although potential terrorists may have entered the country through our
borders, poor border immigrants have not been associated with terrorist
activities in the United States. Yet, fear, and perhaps an
understandable amount of prejudice, has fueled this negative attitude
toward illegal immigrants. Cultural, Economic and Social DisruptionAs
to whether illegal, or even legal immigrants may destroy our national
identity, there are no serious studies—only hypothetical ones—that
might give credence to this view. Having been a nation of immigrants
for over two centuries should have banished this anxiety-ridden fear
long ago.What serious studies will uncover instead is the
experience that has kept recurring over time: young children of
immigrants and second generation immigrants, whether legal or illegal,
become Americanized to the extent of forgetting or even not being able
to speak their parents’ native language fluently while quickly adapting
to our so-called American way of life.The other type of
disruption that illegal immigrants are being blamed for is economic in
nature. It cannot be denied that needy illegal immigrants receive
public assistance through public education, health care and other
public services. Also, it is true that these immigrants are willing to
perform menial work (that hardly anyone else is willing to do) at lower
wages, a situation that leads to job losses and depressing wage rates.These
studies, however, often fail to indicate that illegal immigrants pay
sales, excise, and property taxes as well as numerous government
charges and fees. Additionally, the point is seldom made that many pay
income taxes using false Social Security identifications, thereby
contributing to the Social Security and Medicare systems knowing that
they can never expect to receive payments in the future.Far
more significant, these studies quite often fail to take into account
the extent to which low wages contribute to keeping inflation down and
raising the standard of living of millions of citizens through their
acquisition of products and services at a lesser cost. In other words,
studies emphasizing the low points of illegal immigrants do not fully
recognize the positive contributions of these immigrants to the well
being of our population, nor do they put a dollar amount to such
contributions.Unfortunately, many of the studies on illegal
immigration lack credibility because they have been undertaken or
sponsored by groups that directly and indirectly oppose and support
illegal immigration. Hence, the question of whether illegal immigrants
are more of an economic drain to society than an asset shall remain
inconclusive until the Executive and Congress conduct further
investigations through respectable entities with no hidden agendas or
political ideologies.Crime and Illegal ImmigrantsWhen
it comes to crime and other types of social disturbance, the question
of legality seems somewhat less relevant. Criminal behavior, whether by
legal or illegal immigrants, accounts for a large share of our
predisposition against foreigners.I must admit that there is
some validity to this conception. A single crime committed by an
illegal immigrant is one too many. Although illegal immigrants account
for less than five percent of all criminal activity in the United
States*, had all these individuals been deported on time or had they
been prevented from entering the country illegally, such criminal
offenses would not have taken place.But in the end, once the
full picture emerges it is likely to cast doubt regarding the social
and economic ills attributed to illegal immigrants. They are not prone
to terrorism; they tend to assimilate into the American way of life
rather quickly; their characterization as an economic drain has not
been objectively studied; and the crime rate among them—although
unwanted and undesirable—is extremely low.A Case of Law and OrderWe
are left with illegal immigration as a law and order issue. Since this
is, by far, the most enunciated reason for persecuting illegal
immigrants and supporting anti-illegal immigration policies, the least
this attitude demands is consistency, evenness, and yes, fairness, too.We
cannot afford to be hypocritical when it comes to law and order.
Demanding law and order as a supreme value in our society imposes
specific social and governmental expectations on us. To the extent that
these expectations are not met prejudice and hypocrisy set in, and as
we all know, these are ugly traits that tend to dehumanize us. Also,
they run contrary to most religious faiths.Sometimes, however,
what happens is not that we are hypocritical or prejudicial, just
somewhat thoughtless. We must remember that hypocrisy and prejudice
require full awareness that two equally opposed moral views are
sustained at the same time. Thus, only when I claim to be honest and
law abiding while I cheat and steal from others do I become
hypocritical and prejudicial.But this is precisely what goes on
in our society among millions of our citizens, including, perhaps, many
who are against illegal immigrants on law and order grounds.Take,
for example, a powerful indicator of law and order: paying taxes.
According to US law, it is a felony to evade taxes. Whether our system
of taxation is fair or unfair, there are democratically established
procedures to change the laws in our country. Hence, purposefully
failing to pay taxes amounts to stealing from the rest since others
have to assume the burden of those who cheat.Since the well
being of society in general, including its defense and public services,
depend on taxpayers, failure to pay taxes is seen as quite un-American.
Tax evaders conspire against the nation and its people. They undermine
our society by selfishly sucking from others, like leeches living of
the blood of real law abiding citizens.Among these tax evaders
are many who consider themselves law abiding and religious individuals
who, nonetheless, support the continued persecution and deportation of
people who violated our borders out of sheer necessity—given the
hardships they often endure—on grounds of fairness and law and order.How many are there?According
to the Tax Foundation, there are approximately 15 million households
and individuals who file no tax return at all. There are no dollar
figures to go along with these numbers, but certainly it has to be far
more than the conservative estimates provided by the Internal Revenue
Service in its study of the Tax Gap or the difference between what
taxpayers should pay and what they actually pay on a timely basis. The
IRS indicates that for the Tax Year 2001, this gap amounted to $345
billion.But, do we hear a chorus of law abiding citizens
clamoring for the persecution and prosecution of 15 millions tax
evaders? One would think that the government would swiftly deal with
such criminal conduct as harshly as we have acted lately toward illegal
immigrants.Not necessarily so.In 2005, IRS Commissioner
Mark W. Everson suggested that we cannot be too aggressive in pursuing
tax evaders for it could be seen as, well, un-American. Said Everson,
no one should think we can totally eliminate the gap. That would take
Draconian measures and make the government too intrusive.Commissioner
Everson’s comment might not be entirely off the mark. Would it not be
reasonable to assume that US citizens should have more leeway in
violating their own laws than those who are regarded as illegal aliens?What
cannot be disregarded is that, in the end, there is a great deal of
hypocrisy, prejudice, and/or thoughtlessness in how we view illegal
immigrants. In light of the above, how can we claim that persecuting
and deporting illegal immigrants on grounds of law and order is morally
valid?Of course, reason and common sense should tell us that
even if it were proven that illegal immigrants contribute immensely to
the country’s economy, its culture, and its social life, violations of
our borders cannot continue. Current and past presidents and congresses
have been far too lax and irresponsible in this regard. After all, we
cannot afford to not take care of our borders at a time when terrorism
is a threat worldwide.There needs to be a lawful and humane
system to deal with illegal immigrants already in our country. There is
nothing remotely compassionate about displacing our anger and our
prejudice against those whose sin has been to break the law to earn an
otherwise honest living while indirectly benefitting us in
unrecognizable ways.Ironically, a conservative Republican
George W. Bush attempted to create a coalition among centrist
Republicans and Democrats to provide a viable solution to this issue,
only to be defeated by largely conservative, family values, law-abiding
and religiously-oriented citizens.Oh, well.* There
were 105,405 noncitizens in state and federal prisons as of 6-30-07.
This count includes estimates from 06 figures in Florida, Illinois, and
Oregon that did not report their numbers in 07. The total number of
both citizens and noncitizens incarcerated in local jails nationwide in
07 was 704,966. Estimating that a 6.6% (percentage of noncitizens
imprisoned in state and federal correction institutions) is similar to
the number of noncitizens in local jails, adds another 46,527
noncitizens, bringing the estimated total of noncitizens imprisoned
nationwide to 151,932, representing 6.6% of the total inmate population
in the US of 2.3 million as of 6-30-07. This percentage is considerably
reduced today, if we take into account that an unknown number of
criminal violations have been committed not by illegal immigrants but
by legal residents; and that the nature of crimes by illegal immigrants
at the federal level consists mostly of border violations. Thus,
setting aside immigration offenses and crime committed by legal
residents likely brings the nationwide crime rate by illegal immigrants
below 5%.Contact the author: Author@jricardoplanas.com.
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