It's hard not to notice the protests today over immigration. Not because it's disrupting much of the country's life, but because its all over TV and the web. I'm going to plead ignorant to most of it, as many will, but something strikes me as odd.CNN.com had an article with some economists justifying illegal workers as part of a necessary factor of our economy. I've heard this argument before. We need illegal immigrants because they're cheap, no?
Well... If we justify open immigration and grant them citizenship, will they not be taxed and paid minimum wage, rendering the cheap argument moot? If we do not grant them citizenship, but justify their illegal status, wouldn't we then be creating a de-facto indentured slavery of sorts? To suggest that we need the cheap labor is to suggest that we should ignore the problem completely. But thats too late, it's been acknowledged. We either have to do more to send them back, or work out some sort of amnesty program.
We have 11 million people in this country who are without the benefits afforded to the rest of us. In my mind, they're welcome to them, but only if they assist in paying for them, which would imply granting citizenship. With that, should they not have to go through the same process as other immigrants? From what I understand, the Chinese don't, and neither do the Cubans (the whole feet on dry land thing, no?). If we grant them citizenship, does our economy suffer drastically? Should it?
I think a better solution would be to prop up Mexico so they don't need to leave en masse to begin with. We spend billions of dollars on countries in the middle east. Would it be too far fetched to suggest doing the same for Mexico? They have oil too, you know..
I really wish I knew more about this topic and had more objective sources. Anyway, feel free to pass links my way..
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