Blaming the undocumented for illegal immigration is like blaming the poor for poverty or blaming global warming on the melting of the polar ice caps.
Are you a not at least a little curious as to why the majority of Americans blame the undocumented for illegal immigration?
First of all it is simply a matter of convenience (or brainwashing) to blame the symptoms who are the undocumented. It is easiest to take what is most visible or noticeable about previously failed immigration reform and make them not only the problem, but the solution too.
I suppose in the purest sense they are responsible for making the choice to break US immigration laws (if you call the decision to put food on your family's table or not a real choice).
Symptoms of a problem do not cause that problem; we also can't fix a problem by attacking or blaming its symptoms. That is of course unless there is a reason to perpetuate the problem.
Yet to really understand this problem we must dig deeper. It is not as simple as our politicians would like us to believe. The root cause of illegal immigration is much more insidious than what is commonly believed by many Americans.
Take the example of the Mexican undocumented who make up over 50% of the US undocumented. One simple question cuts to the chase: would the Mexican undocumented come or stay here if they could receive equivalent US wages and services working at home with their families? Of course they would not. Mexicans love their families and Mexico!
Mexican poverty is the cause of Mexican illegal immigration and the Mexican undocumented in the US. Now the really ugly question that most Americans do not want to delve into: does the US or Mexican government or any of their lobbyists benefit from Mexican illegal immigration (Mexican poverty)?
Of course they do. They all do. Think of what you pay for labor and think big US agriculture for example. Do large US agriculture corporations profit from all of those undocumented people picking their harvests? Does the Mexican elite benefit from the US undocumented annually pumping billions of dollars in remittances back into the Mexican economy? Are there privatized US corporations who benefit from taxpayers' monies being poured into the US border security complex? You can bet your bottom dollar there are!
Washington can't fix Mexican poverty (Mexican illegal immigration and the US Mexican undocumented) by trying or pretending to try and stop the Mexican undocumented from coming into the US.
I just love to read the many posts on immigration articles. I suspect many posters who regurgitate "border security" and mandatory "E-verify" as the sure fire fixes to illegal immigration have not a clue what the US/Mexican border is really like. Nor are they able to visualize the millions of undocumented spread out in cities all across the US.
Unfortunately these posters can't really visualize how unenforceable the border really is. They also can't visualize how impossible it is to enforce employment verification laws when so many people work under the table across the US.
.
Many Americans believe that stopping Mexican illegal immigration will stop the Mexican undocumented from being in the US. I say we have no proof that 1) it is possible to stop Mexican illegal immigration 2) our Government really wants to stop Mexican illegal immigration.
Could Washington negotiate with the Mexican government for the Mexican government to take responsibility for their poverty and therefore their illegal immigration to the US? Of course. We routinely negotiate with and sometimes sanction countries to get what we want.
So, yes, Washington could. But it would end up costing someone else besides the US taxpayers or the Mexican undocumented to fix this problem.
That is the one subject that our Washington reformers seem to refuse to broach.
Are you a not at least a little curious as to why the majority of Americans blame the undocumented for illegal immigration?
First of all it is simply a matter of convenience (or brainwashing) to blame the symptoms who are the undocumented. It is easiest to take what is most visible or noticeable about previously failed immigration reform and make them not only the problem, but the solution too.
I suppose in the purest sense they are responsible for making the choice to break US immigration laws (if you call the decision to put food on your family's table or not a real choice).
Symptoms of a problem do not cause that problem; we also can't fix a problem by attacking or blaming its symptoms. That is of course unless there is a reason to perpetuate the problem.
Yet to really understand this problem we must dig deeper. It is not as simple as our politicians would like us to believe. The root cause of illegal immigration is much more insidious than what is commonly believed by many Americans.
Take the example of the Mexican undocumented who make up over 50% of the US undocumented. One simple question cuts to the chase: would the Mexican undocumented come or stay here if they could receive equivalent US wages and services working at home with their families? Of course they would not. Mexicans love their families and Mexico!
Mexican poverty is the cause of Mexican illegal immigration and the Mexican undocumented in the US. Now the really ugly question that most Americans do not want to delve into: does the US or Mexican government or any of their lobbyists benefit from Mexican illegal immigration (Mexican poverty)?
Of course they do. They all do. Think of what you pay for labor and think big US agriculture for example. Do large US agriculture corporations profit from all of those undocumented people picking their harvests? Does the Mexican elite benefit from the US undocumented annually pumping billions of dollars in remittances back into the Mexican economy? Are there privatized US corporations who benefit from taxpayers' monies being poured into the US border security complex? You can bet your bottom dollar there are!
Washington can't fix Mexican poverty (Mexican illegal immigration and the US Mexican undocumented) by trying or pretending to try and stop the Mexican undocumented from coming into the US.
I just love to read the many posts on immigration articles. I suspect many posters who regurgitate "border security" and mandatory "E-verify" as the sure fire fixes to illegal immigration have not a clue what the US/Mexican border is really like. Nor are they able to visualize the millions of undocumented spread out in cities all across the US.
Unfortunately these posters can't really visualize how unenforceable the border really is. They also can't visualize how impossible it is to enforce employment verification laws when so many people work under the table across the US.
.
Many Americans believe that stopping Mexican illegal immigration will stop the Mexican undocumented from being in the US. I say we have no proof that 1) it is possible to stop Mexican illegal immigration 2) our Government really wants to stop Mexican illegal immigration.
Could Washington negotiate with the Mexican government for the Mexican government to take responsibility for their poverty and therefore their illegal immigration to the US? Of course. We routinely negotiate with and sometimes sanction countries to get what we want.
So, yes, Washington could. But it would end up costing someone else besides the US taxpayers or the Mexican undocumented to fix this problem.
That is the one subject that our Washington reformers seem to refuse to broach.
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