Letters
to the editor: Wake-up call
Ms.
Eyre's letter demonstrates her misunderstanding
of the intentions of our state and federal
governments regarding illegal immigrants
and the Mexican-American border.
First
of all, we need to look at the bigger picture
regarding immigration. Illegal immigrants
are crucial to the U.S. economy as well
as to that of the state of California. Translation:
American and Californian companies make
a net profit off of cheap foreign labor,
and if anyone thinks that stricter immigration
laws will ever be a reality, they are kidding
themselves.
Prior
to the Sept. 11 tragedy the Bush administration
was seriously considering granting legal
status to millions of Mexicans working and
living in the United States illegally. The
administration backed off, however, after
experts and polls suggested that, because
of the ensuing recession, security concerns
and shifts in foreign policy, public opinion
would not favor such an amnesty program.
And
was anyone paying attention in 2002? January
of that year found Secretary of State Colin
Powell stressing the importance of the United
States regularizing the movement of Mexicans
back and forth across the border, as reported
by the Washington Times. This suggests the
federal government's solution to illegal
immigration is to liberalize immigration
policy.
On
Jan. 11, 2002 Immigration and Naturalization
Services Commissioner James Ziglar told
the Washington Post that if our country
is unable to rely on illegal workers "We're
going to have a bunch of economies that
are going to die on us, because [these employees]
provide essential labor to our economy.
This is an issue we've got to deal with,
primarily with our friends in Mexico."
If
that doesn't spell it out, then maybe this
will. Journalist Jonathan Treats reported
in a political commentary dated March 28,
2002 that Ziglar suggested the United States
"find a way to move a substantial portion
of the current illegal flow [of immigrants]
from Mexico into legal channels via some
kind of temporary-worker program" in
order to ensure economic stability in our
country.
What's
interesting is Ms. Eyre's mention of the
possibility that illegal immigrants crossing
the state border could be terrorists (presumably
she is referring to the Mexican-American
border in California). This notion is absurd
and Ms. Eyre's implication that granting
two million illegal immigrants the ability
to apply for licenses might "provide
them with the means to board other planes
and fly them into other buildings"
demonstrates that she is terribly misinformed.
For the record, none of the individuals
responsible for the terrorist attacks have
ever been accused of entering the country
through the Mexican-American border. In
fact, most if not all of them entered the
country legally with visas.
The
amount of illogical fear the government
has infused into the American people via
network news and other media outlets is
simply dripping from Ms. Eyre's submission.
Yes, these people may be here illegally,
but let's think about all of this a bit
more realistically. Just because laws are
in place does not mean they are necessarily
enforced, and unfortunately, in light of
the Enron scandal and the California energy
crisis, crime does, in fact, pay.
--
Allison Eaton
Journalism major
|
