WHO LET ALL THIS RIFF-RAFF INTO THE ROOM?

April 27, 2010

Immigration analysts are rightly concerned that illegal immigration is a huge problem in the USA.  Republicans have called the issue a "crisis," while simultaneously arguing that the "crisis" shouldn't be addressed until 2012.  I wonder why?







Arizona recently reacted to this "crisis" by passing it own legislation that calls for law enforcement to stop, detain and question  individuals that they might "reasonably suspect" is in the country illegally, and ask them for paperwork to definitively prove their status.  Many people think this legislation has gone too far and will lead to ethnic profiling, something that has been deemed unconstitutional.  

Some people allege that laws like the one enacted in Arizona are racist by nature.  Conservative supporters of this law argue against this point and stress that the law is designed to weed out ALL undocumented aliens.
Since this is the case, we should not limit ourselves to the undocumented aliens from Mexico, Central and South America.  The difficult part is; How do we determine exactly who is legal and who is illegal??  What does an undocumented alien look like?

Well, the Department of Homeland Security states that about 70% of all undocumented aliens come from Mexico, Central and South America.  The other 30% - about 3.1 MILLION PEOPLE - are obviously from other parts of the world.  THAT'S A LOT OF ILLEGALS.

Someone told me that I couldn't understand the problem since I didn't live in Arizona, but I do live in New York and according to the Department of Homeland Security, New York ranks HIGHER than Arizona in the number of Undocumented Aliens living in the state.

Anyway, Undocumented Aliens do not simply consist of aliens that enter the country illegally.  According to the ACLU which reviewed the statistics; "The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that roughly 250,000 - 300,000 immigrants take up residence here each year without permission. Half of these immigrants enter with valid temporary visas but overstay the authorized time. The other half, only 125,000 to 150,000 enter illegally.

John McCain was quoted only yesterday as saying that the "borders of the US are broken," and that Arizona was FORCED to act.  He thinks the law is a good idea.  Interestingly in 2008, McCain said that there were "50,000 Irish men and women in this country illegally who want to become citizens'' and that "we have to give them a path to citizenship."

I'm not sure if McCain is implying that undocumented aliens from Mexico, Central and South America (or anywhere else for that matter) DO NOT "want to become citizens'' or why McCain now opposes entertaining legislation in Congress to "give them a path to citizenship."  I don't believe it's just because McCain is Irish, do you?

Anecdotally, most of these fine, hardworking Irish men and women live on the east coast, many of them in and around New York.  One of them (aided by an able, yet also undocumented Mexican) makes one of the meanest Shepherd's Pie I've ever had.  But that's not the point.

50,000 Illegals is 50,000 Illegals.  It's not about the number or race of these illegals, it's about respecting the law, right?  Supporters of tough anti-illegal immigration legislation should therefore logically support directives that allow law enforcement stop and question anyone who appears "Irish" as well.

The ACLU also reports that Italians make up the "second largest group of the undocumented aliens in New York State."  Naturally, supporters of tough anti-illegal immigration legislation should then support directives that allow law enforcement stop and question anyone who appears "Italian" as well.

The Urban Institute recently estimated that there were "between 65,000 and 75,000 Canadians currently living in the United States illegally.  Therefore it is reasonable to assume that supporters of tough anti-illegal immigration legislation should also support directives that allow law enforcement stop and question anyone who appears "Canadian" as well.

In fact, The Department of Homeland Security reports that there are over 750,000 Europeans in this country illegally.  750,000!!  That's a lot!  And its not like these Europeans are out in the fields picking oranges or standing outside of the Home Depot seeking work as manual laborers, these people are (presumably) engaged in lawful work - work that is likely being taken away from U.S. Citizens who might otherwise want these jobs, right?

Now, let's just use some of the same mathematics that the leading Fair and Balanced conservatives are using.  Homeland Security reports that there are 10.5 million Undocumented Aliens living in this country illegally.  Most conservative critics say that it is impossible to accurately make that claim.  Lou Dobbs, has pegged the number at about 12 million, and estimates from news sites spanning the political spectrum range as high as 25 million.

So the number of Illegal European aliens could be anywhere from 20% to 150% MORE than the Homeland Security total.  That means the total could be anywhere from 900,000 to 1,875,000 Illegal Europeans in this country.  YIKES.  I wonder if any of these Illegal Europeans ever need hospital care, and where they go if they do.  It stands to reason that supporters of tough anti-illegal immigration legislation should support directives that allow law enforcement stop and question anyone who appears generally "European" too.
There are also well over 1.25 MILLION Asians in the country illegally, including Chinese, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, Thai, and Indonesian, among others.   This leads me to believe that supporters of tough anti-illegal immigration legislation should in fact, also support directives that allow law enforcement stop and question anyone who appears generally "Asian." 

The statistics also show that there are approximately 1 MILLION Africans and people of Middle Eastern origin in the United States illegally.  In addition, recent conservative estimates are that there are 200,000 illegal Haitians in the USA.  Again, logic would dictate that supporters of tough anti-illegal immigration legislation should then support directives that allow law enforcement stop and question anyone who appears generally "African,"  "Middle-Eastern," or "Haitian" as well as the aforementioned "Irish," "Italians," "other "Europeans," "Canadians," and "Asians."

So logically the fairest way to enforce a law like this would be that EVERYONE should be regularly stopped, detained (with handcuffs if necessary) and required to provide definitive proof of citizenship status regardless of their race, color, or creed, right?

After all it's not about the RACE of the Illegals or the NUMBER of Illegals.  It is the fact that they are in the country ILLEGALLY right?  And if you are NOT illegal, why would you have a problem having to prove it wherever and whenever a police officer asks you to?

Maybe the police can just say; "Zeigen sie mir Ihre papiere. Schnell!"

I wonder if that would make the tea-baggers happy?

MSNY 04.27.10