Show I wish King Solomon was still around Aaron Zundel I IThe The Globe Globe House Hous bill has caused quite a stir Why just a few weeks ago about a half a million people marched in Los Angeles to protest the bill For those of you in the dark HB is all ali about illegal immigration Among other things it stiffens penalties penalties penal penal- ties s for offenders as well as punishing businesses that use illegal labor In short all as well as those who harbor them will become felons If passed the bill would affect an estimated estimated estimated esti esti- mated 12 million illegal immigrants inthis in inthis inthis this country maybe more At this point I will warn my more regular readers to brace themselves asI asI as asI I am about to say something shocking Ready Ok Im I'm not sure what to think about it This current ct issue of immigration isa is isa isa a complicated one if only because weve we've ignored it for so many years that its it's mutated into one of the biggest crappiest and most chaotic messes weve we've ever dealt with To make matters matter's matters matter's matters matter's mat mat- ter's worse unlike many of today's other political social or economic issues there doesn't seem to be any clear answer There doesn't even seem to be a muddy answer and I dont don't think Im I'm the only one who feels that way Generally an issue polarizes people into supporting either option A or option B Pro-choice Pro or Pro-life Pro Pro- Pro war or war Anti-war Coke or Pepsi Americans tend to pick sides But not with immigration With immigration theres there's a whole lot of scratching head-scratching and standing around at least for the majority of us I think that most rational people can agree that locking down the borders should be at the top of the USA's immigration immigration immigration gration to-do to list but after that things get a little ugly You see iee its it's not the keeping people out of the country that's confusing its it's what were we're going to do with all the people that are already here What are we going to do Deport all 12 million of them While not d directly part of HB this suggestion is actually being considered by many people and when I first heard it I thought it was a joke Literally It conjured conjured conjured con con- images of Jonathan Swifts Swift's A Modest Proposal Then I realized people were serious I have a different idea Why dont don't we just sculpt re-sculpt the statue of liberty have her drop the torch and give the finger instead Seriously though aside from being one of the most impractical things Ive I've ever heard the deportation idea seems downright cruel These are peoples people's lives were we're talking about lives that are for the most part devoted to nothing more sinister than building better circumstances circumstances circumstances cir cir- cir cir- for themselves Its It's a motivation motivation motivation moti moti- that smells an awful lot like the American Dream to me a dream Ill I'll be damned if I take away from someone without a really really good reason Yes we did recently invade a country country country coun coun- try seven thousand miles away and shake up a whole lot of Iraqi lives in inthe inthe inthe the process but I think all except the most extreme of us can admit they are better off or will be in the long run However I have a hard time believing that the same applies to the masses we weare weare weare are considering exiling back to third world poverty But what do we do Amnesty is out both Carter and Reagan proved that doesn't work The Bush white houses house's current idea of a guest worker program is pretty solid but its it's not without its flaws either On the flip side of this issue theres there's something to be said for the law We cant can't tell people its it's ok to break rules even if its it's with good intentions There needs to be some accountability for those who decide to do things illegally In the future if you want to put new offenders behind bars that's just fine by me perhaps they might think t twice ice before they decide to skip the visa However for those currently in the country the present idea of f having them pay fines back taxes and learn English seems sufficient to me |