It's the Law

I'm going to show my ignorance today by addressing something that seems very straightforward to me but I'm certain that I'm missing some delicate intricacies somehow.

Close our borders to illegal aliens.

People in other countries want to come to America for all kinds of reasons. Business travelers fly into this country by the thousands everyday. Great. Tourists fly into this country by the thousands everyday. Great. These people are legal aliens. Let them in. Screen them carefully and let them in.

I wish to close our borders to illegal aliens. These are the men, women and children who pour into this country by the thousands everyday by walking, driving and flying across our unbelievably porous borders. They are not here for a week to sell their products to American companies. They are not here to see the Grand Canyon and Yosemite and the volcanoes of Hawaii. They are here to work. Their country doesn't have the economy to support them. There isn't work for them in their own country so they come here. I can't blame the aliens for wishing to come here. There are plenty of people willing to pay them to do all sorts of manual labor. They are willing to work hard for very little money and therefore are an attractive workforce for those unscrupulous enough to hire them. All of that makes sense to me. Now for the part that doesn't make sense.

For some reason, these people who violate our laws by sneaking into our country have some political strength. Why? There is a legal way to enter our country and these folks have chosen to circumvent it and then our political leaders make all sorts of outrageous concessions to them. (PC notice: It's no longer okay to call them illegal aliens. Preferred term is undocumented immigrants.)

There are all sorts of estimates of the costs to our economy to let them stay. There are all sorts of estimates of the costs to our economy to remove their cheap labor. The cost is not the issue. The law is the issue. Year after year we have seen political pandering erode the laws that those panderers were sworn to uphold. Shame on us (lowly voters) for allowing it to go unchecked.

If the borders are to be opened then put it to a vote. Let the American people decide. If we have a law, enforce it. Close the borders. Punish those unscrupulous companies and individuals who hire illegal aliens.