Illegal Immigration
I realize that Pope John Paul II died yesterday,
and I will be doing a blog entry on that topic, but I've had this one in my head
for a couple of weeks now and I wanted to put these thoughts down
first...
I guess this is something that
goes on in every industrialized nation that seems to beckon people from other
countries with the promise of a better life: the debate about immigration, whom
should we let in, and who should be stopped at the borders. With the words
inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, perhaps a disproportionate number of
immigrants and refugees might come to the United States than, say, Germany or
Japan.
I will admit up front that I
don't know what defines an illegal immigrant, compared to a legal one, other
than, presumably, having the appropriate paperwork to come in to the country. I
do know that illegal immigration does put an undue strain on both local and
national resources and it therefore does become a problem. I believe one town
in Idaho is suing the federal government for the costs it has incurred as a
result of illegal immigration and lax border security. I'll be curious to see
how that pans out.
But there is one
aspect of illegal immigration that gets a lot of people up in arms, but I have
to admit that I don't perceive it as that big of a deal. Like many things
experimental, it started in California: giving illegal immigrants drivers'
licenses.
The argument against it is
simple enough: giving them a license could add some kind of legitimacy to the
fact that they still are not legally in this country, and a very fine line must
be walked while making every effort to ensure that those immigrants who have
come to this country legally are entitled to certain benefits first. I'm not
turning a deaf ear to that argument, but it's a bit simplistic. In an ideal
world, either the illegal immigrants would be prevented from entering the
country, or they would be entering the country
legally.
But we don't live in an ideal
world.
Every once in a while some
politician proposes something tantamount to large-scale (if not national)
registration of gun owners in order to separate those who would use guns for
legal -- as opposed to criminal -- purposes. The National Rifle Association
immediately will assail that politician for proposing something that is
antithetical to their cause. Let's face it: if the government tries to take
everyone's guns away, they'll know where to go first. (True enough.) And the
people who get their hands on their guns illegally would not be deterred anyway
(Also, true enough...)
Speaking as
someone who not only chooses not to own a gun, but as someone who has no desire
to own a gun, I actually appreciate most of what the NRA stands for. I consider
them second only to the American Civil Liberties Union in terms of standing up
for my constitutional rights, and, although I do not turn a deaf ear to those
whose lives have been shattered by reckless and criminal use of guns, I believe
I generally side with the NRA first. (I do occasionally wish the NRA would be a
bit more sensitives to the needs of those people whose lives have been
shattered. They didn't need to confer in Denver shortly after the Columbine
massacre...)
The reason why I mention
the NRA here is I would like to use their arguments against a national gun
registry and use it as an argument in favor of giving drivers licenses to
illegal immigrants. If there are people who are already breaking the law simply
by being in this country, wouldn't it be somewhat helpful to have some
information about them in a database that is easily searched by the law
enforcement agencies that might wish to keep tabs on
them?
That's why I can't get worked up
about giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. I have to admit that it's
not an idea that I would have thought of, but when all is said and done, let
them have those licenses. That will bring some income into the state coffers
and will let us know the approximate whereabouts of people who are already
draining budgets.
Then we can tackle
the bigger issues posed by illegal immigration.
Posted: Sun - April 3, 2005 at 09:52 PM