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No room for illegal immigrants
To the editor, I have some issues with Ryan Chirnomas' article on "Border Bullies." I cannot dispute the fact that immigrants, Mexican ones in particular, play an important role in our labor force. They do those low paying jobs that the "lazy American unionized worker" refuses to. However, I do not agree with illegal immigration, no matter how justifiable it may be. I myself am an immigrant. I moved from Canada almost six years ago, and I am now a green card totin' resident alien. The reason I have such a problem with illegal immigration is because I did it the legal way. My family went through the entire ill-managed process to become resident aliens. And these people do not. Illegals may work the lowest paying jobs, but the fact that they are not legal residents means they pay no income tax like you and me. They also do not have to work for minimum wage, which means that they can "steal" jobs from Americans and legal immigrants alike. The fact that our minimum wage is stupidly inflated and unions have created resentment against laborers is not the fault of John Q. Public. Illegal immigration's toll only effects the unskilled American worker, because they do not stand a chance against someone with comparable skills who can work for less than half the money they are forced to be paid. Also, open borders would be disastrous to the country's limited resources. The reason the United States is so attractive to the rest of the world is the quality of living Americans experience. However elitist it may sound, there is no point in ruining the greatest country the world has ever known for the sake of equality. One only needs to look at the economic disaster that is Canada to understand how open borders can erode a country. Extremists like Pat Buchanan are assholes - not many will dispute that. There is also no doubt that the public perception of immigration is based on fear and ignorance. However, if fairness should be the goal of our immigration policy, then let's be fair to those that have lived here legally.
Connor Doyl |
