2010-05-26
Amnesty A Better Solution For Democrats Than Attacking Arizona
For the record, I'm opposed to amnesty in any form, but Democrats generally aren't. So Democrats have two possible options now that Arizona has passed legislation to protect itself from illegal aliens committing additional crimes against the people of that state. The first option, which the Democrats have taken, is to assail the state of Arizona. New York and Sacramento along with many smaller, Democrat run communities have boycotted Arizona. The President even had his Mexican counterpart come up here to help the liberal progressives in this country demonize Arizona.
Yet, here's the thing. 17 other states are now considering similar legislation, many with bi-partisan support.
Now, you can argue that there are 32 other states NOT considering similar legislation, but there really isn't a need for such legislation in many states and Democrat controlled legislatures are less likely to pursue it than those with Republican majorities or strong Republican minorities.
17 states is actually a very large number for such a short period of time. Consider how long it took for some states to get on the bandwagon of Amber Alerts and less lenient child predator laws. In order for so many states to get on board so quickly, there MUST be support among the people for such legislation to be passed in their state.
With this said, Democrats are making an enormous mistake by attacking Arizona because a lot of people from both sides of the political spectrum are likely to feel that Democrats are attacking THEM because they support Arizona.
This leaves option number two. Pass amnesty.
I know, I know, that's bad and few of us want to see it happen; but it makes sense for Democrats in Washington.
With a 59-Seat Democrat majority, Democrats should have an easy time of passing it as it is. (2022 Update: If Democrats Wanted Immigration Reform, They Would Do It Now) Add to that the fact that most of the Republican supporters of the Bush-McCain-Graham amnesty program are still in the US Senate, and I think you have the perfect storm to pass "bi-partisan" legislation that will render the Arizona law meaningless.
But time is running out. The longer this debate goes on, the more people are going to realize that this is a good law and the less likely it will be that some Democrats and most Republicans would be willing to vote in favor of the proposed legislation.
Either way, SOMETHING needs to be done and I'm willing to admit that border security isn't enough. There is a demand for their labor, even in this horrendous economy; and from my point of view, a seasonal work visa program that puts those here illegally at the bottom of the list is the best solution. Such a program would have to let in enough workers to meet our domestic demand, which could possibly be curtailed by giving the migrant workers equal pay and worker's rights as American citizens. This would provide additional revenue into the Social Security program and local, state, and federal coffers while simultaneously ensuring that it would be no less profitable to use American labor rather than foreign labor.
