Americans seem to like their issues served hot. And they don't like complicated dishes. So complex problems that involve many interdependencies are reduced to a meat-and-potatoes argument where important factors are just pushed to the side of the plate. Immigration is the latest in a long line of nutritionless meals for American society, to stretch the metaphor a little further. And although Bush has become the king of political diet foods (Calorie-free! Honest!), Americans across the board are doing a poor job of dealing with this issue.
More below.
The amazing thing about the immigration debate is that we act like our neighbors can't hear us. We talk about this problem like they aren't in the room, that they are not part of the discussion. The USA has a long history of abusing the countries of the Carribean, Central America, and Mexico. From stealing their land, to invading them, to exploiting them, we just give every indication that we just don't like them very much. People actually don't like to leave their homes. They don't like to risk their lives to move a thousand miles or more to look for work. They move because of a pervasive economic dislocation that drives them from their homes where they endure bone-crushing poverty to the USA where they work hard in fields, factories, construction, and service jobs at rotten wages. Americans are a little annoyed that they won't just stay home and accept their bone-crushing in good humor.
I have a friend who keeps a sign over his desk that says: Fast. Cheap. Good. Pick two. Good solutions can be fast and expensive, or cheap and slow. In the same way, a good solution in this case requires something deeper than the band-aid, slogan driven politics we have seen so far. Where would a good policy start? I have three suggestions:
1. Talk to our neighbors. We need a comprehensive plan for North and central America, and the Carribean, to put some serious effort into development of the region, to make trade fairer, to build the infrastructure that fuels development, and to help stabilize a more prosperous region. But talk to your neighbors about this. A little humility, for a change.
2. Work with Mexico to initiate a process of alignment. By harmonizing laws in the US and Mexico as much as possible, we can start down a road that would permit a semi-open border, similar to the US-Canada border, over a decade or so.
3. Enforce labor laws in the USA and raise the minimum wage. People may come here illegally, but they shouldn't have to be exploited when they do. The dirty little secret about illegal immigrants is that business loves them, and so do we consumers apparently. We don't enquire too closely what our painting contractor is paying his/her workers. We just say $700? Great price! So a little less moral superiority from the left, huh? San Francisco is a very liberal town, but there seems to be plenty of work for all the guys standing on the corners every morning as I walk to work. They can't all be working for Republicans!
