FOR MANY Mexicans and others illegally immigrating into the United States, there are only two options -- continue living in squalor for the rest of your life or risk life and limb in order to receive a livable wage. While most congressmen and senators understand an illegal immigrants desire to work in the United States, few are interested in giving them even the most basic rights once they cross the border and most consider it a crime to aid them.
The Senate Judiciary Panel took a good step Monday to approve a bill sponsored by both Ted Kennedy and John McCain that, according to the Associated Press, would allow a portion of the 11 million illegal aliens to seek U.S. citizenship provided that they learn English and have worked six years prior to applying for amnesty. Congress should approve this bill and reject House measures calling for heedless enforcement.
There are many issues that the Senate bill correctly addresses. First and foremost is how to slow the influx of illegal immigration and provide incentives for applying to the United States legally. The influx of illegal immigrants is not going to dissipate or even decrease if legislation is passed to limit foreign workers from applying for jobs. The best way to stop the problem is where it starts by means of border security. The bill provided by Kennedy and McCain would provide for doubling the border patrol by 2011, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
One proposal from the House provides for a literal fence dividing the United States and Mexico for 700 miles is not a practical goal. Fence construction across the border would be too costly, would do little to stop illegal immigrants from attempting to cross the border and would hurt relations between the United States and Mexico. Better designed border security technology along with proper funding is able to restrict the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border as much as a fence would.
Additionally, increased border patrol funding would be able to aid illegal immigrants who are in need of medical attention if they are harmed crossing the border, allowing them to be sent to their country of origin safely and unharmed. In 2005, 460 illegal immigrants died crossing the border, up 40 percent from last year, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Even illegal immigrants should receive basic emergency medical treatment that citizens would normally receive, in the name of basic human rights if nothing else.
There are other proposals as well on immigration, but they are not as effective at dealing with the immigration issue. Proposals by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., would allow for illegal immigrants to receive temporary visas for three years, and then be able to reapply for another three years once the visa expires, according to The Washington Post. President Bush also desires a similar temporary guest worker program for illegal immigrants in the United States, allowing them to work menial jobs under a temporary visa, thus pleasing both large corporations using illegal immigrants and anti-immigration advocates.
Unfortunately, the plans proposed by both Specter and Bush are only a temporary solution to the immigration problem. Illegal immigrant workers who receive these temporary visas would likely continue working even after the visas expire, thus adding more long-term problems from illegal immigration than before.
While Specter's and Bush's positions on these issues are not perfect, the House's provisions offer little or no opportunity for illegal immigrants or their employers. For instance, the House has proposed provisions to make it much more difficult to hire foreign workers.
This would drive many companies out of business, since most construction and agricultural companies require primarily immigrant labor. Twenty-four percent of agricultural workers and 11 percent of construction workers are illegal immigrants, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. Forcing a database on the companies' workers would make companies the ones tracking illegal immigrants and would result in even fewer opportunities for employment in unskilled labor for both legal citizens and illegal immigrants, hurting the job market.
An illegal immigration bill should contain rational provisions, such as realistic security measures and a chance for amnesty for those who have peacefully worked in the United States. The bill proposal that passed the Judiciary panel accomplishes those goals. The House, however, is being needlessly harsh on immigration by proposing to make illegal immigration a felony and forcing others to bypass the law by helping them. The choice is simple, or as they say in Spanish -- la opción es simple.
Adam Silverberg's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at asilverberg@cavalierdaily.com.
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