If only because it is so much in the news, I have thought a bit about the immigration problem, and come to conclusions which I fear will disappoint and dismay many of you. [NOTE: it should be recognized that there are economists who conclude that, with all aspects considered, illegal immigration produces a net economic gain for the U.S. I have neither the knowledge nor the expertise to evaluate this. The present essay is written on the assumption that illegal immigration produces a net economic loss for the U.S.]

All the controversy over this, both by the supporters of immigration "reform" and by the hundreds of thousands of marchers opposing it, is just hot air. That is because, while millions of people are willing to waste their time spewing hot air on this topic, virtually no one even among the most perfervid opponents of illegal immigration is willing to spend the billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars it would take to do anything effective toward ending it.

I am reminded of the single most fatuous aspect of the gun control debate, and of a particular article which epitomizes the fatuousness of anti-gun advocates. The author wasted 10,000 words on ill-conceived and often counter-factual denunciations of guns. But that was not what was fatuous. What was fatuous was the one small paragraph he devoted to explaining how he would enforce handgun confiscation on a resistant population. That paragraph called fatuously for "strict enforcement."

Well we already have "strict enforcement" of our laws against Mexican illegal aliens – insofar as those laws can be strictly enforced on a shoestring budget. But any proposal to actually "secure our borders" would involve spending billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars which no one would be willing to spend on programs no one is willing to finance.

If you look at the arguments made for "securing our borders" you will find 99% to be philosophical discussions of why we have a right to do so and how wrong-headed are those who oppose it. I agree w/ most of those philosophical arguments in the abstract. But they are a waste of time if you are not willing to spend the astronomical amounts required to actually secure the borders.

(NOTE: astronomical amounts would be required just to secure the Mexican land border! That would cut off millions of immigrants who are decent people doing exactly what you and I would do if we were Mexicans – trying to get somewhere they can earn money to support their families. But securing the Mexican land border would not stop terrorists or drug smugglers. They would still pour in from Canada or across our sea borders. So also would lots of Chinese and other aliens who could get themselves onto a ship or into Canada. Nor would "securing our borders" deal w/ the estimated 11+ million illegals who are already here.)

Now I am going to insert a typical, and generally well-reasoned, argument by an opponent of illegal immigration who happens to be a retired border patrol officer. I have added some comments in brackets.

"Dear Senator Frist,

There is a lot of propaganda and myth circulating about illegal aliens; particularly illegal Mexican, Salvadorian, Guatemalan and Honduran aliens.

1. Illegal aliens generally do NOT want U.S. citizenship. Americans are very vain, thinking that everybody in the world wants to be a U.S. citizen. Mexicans and most others, want to remain citizens of their home countries while obtaining the benefits offered by the United States; such as employment, medical care, in-state tuition, government subsidized housing and free education for their children. The main attraction is employment and their loyalty usually remains at home. Illegal aliens want benefits earned and subsidized by middle class Americans. They want benefits of American residence without paying the price.

[I suspect this is an exaggeration, i.e., that lots of these people would like to move here w/ their families and would be good citizens – if the economic situation allowed them to do so.]

2. There are no jobs that Americans won't do. Illegal aliens are doing jobs that Americans can't take and still support their families. Illegal aliens take low wage jobs, live dozens in a single house, share expenses and send money to their home country. There are no jobs that Americans won't do for a decent wage.

[doubtless a lot of truth in this. We could substantially reduce illegal immigrations by spending billions and billions of dollars on a huge bureaucracy dedicated to tripling the wages for farm workers and other low skill workers. And one result would be to triple the cost Americans pay for groceries. In all the hot air about this issue do you hear anybody seriously advocating that?]

3. Every person who illegally entered this nation left a home. They are NOT homeless and they are NOT Americans. Some left poor jobs in their home countries. They come to send money to their real home as evidenced by more than 20 billion dollars sent out of the country each year by illegal aliens. These illegal aliens knowingly and willfully entered this nation in violation of the law and therefore assumed the risk of detection and deportation. Those who brought their alien children assumed the responsibility and risk on behalf of their children.

4. Illegal aliens are NOT critical to the economy. Illegal aliens constitute less than 5% of the workforce. However, they reduce wages and benefits for lawful U.S. residents.

5. This is NOT an immigrant nation. There are 280 million native born Americans. While it is true that America was founded and settled by immigrants (legal immigrants), it is also true that there is not a nation on this planet that was not settled by immigrants at one time or another.

6. America welcomes legal immigrants. Illegal aliens, by definition, are not immigrants. We accept more lawful immigrants every year than the rest of the world combined.

7. There is no such thing as the "Hispanic vote". Hispanics are white, brown, black and every shade in between. Hispanics are Republicans, Democrats, Anarchists, Communists, Marxists and Independents. The so-called "Hispanic vote" is a myth. Pandering to illegal aliens to get the Hispanic vote is a dead end.

8. Mexico is a neighbor, but NOT a friend of the United States. Since the 1840s, Mexicans have resented the United States. During World War I Mexico allowed German Spies to operate in Mexico and to spy on the U.S. During World War II, Mexico allowed the Axis powers to spy on the U.S. from Mexico. During the Cold War, Mexico allowed spies hostile to the U.S. to operate freely. The attack on the Twin Towers in 2001 was applauded all across Mexico. Today, Mexican school children are taught that the U.S. stole California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. If you don't believe it, check some Mexican textbooks written for their schoolchildren.

9. Many illegal aliens enter this country for a better life, but there are more than 6 billion people on this planet. At least 1 billion live in poverty. If wanting a better life is a valid excuse to break the law and sneak into America, and if we allow that one billion to come to America, we'll turn our country into a Third World nation overnight. Besides, native-born Americans want a better life. I'll bet Bill Gates and Donald Trump want better lives. When will our lifeboat be full?

10. "There is a labor shortage in this country." This is a lie. There are millions, of American housewives, senior citizens, students, unemployed and underemployed who would gladly take difficult jobs at a decent wage.

11. "It is racist to want secure borders." What is racist about wanting secure borders and a secure America? What is racist about not wanting people to sneak into America and steal benefits we have set aside for legal aliens, senior citizens, children and other legal residents? What is it about race that entitles people to violate our laws, steal identities, and take the American Dream without paying the price?

For about four decades American politicians have refused to secure our borders and look after the welfare of middle and working class Americans. These politicians have been of both parties. A huge debt to American society has resulted. This debt will be paid and the interest will be high. There have already been riots in the streets by illegal aliens and their supporters. There will be more.

You, Senator Frist, have a choice to offend the illegal aliens who have stolen into this country and demanded the rights of U.S. citizens, or to harm the citizens of America. The interest will be steep either way. There will be civil unrest. There will be a reckoning. Do you have the courage to do what is right for America? Or, will you bow to the needs of those who do not have the right to remain here?

***

U.S. Border Patrol (Ret.)

Hereford, Arizona

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The foregoing letter makes lots of points with which I substantially agree – on a philosophical level. What I do not find is even one practical proposal for reducing illegal immigration. Anyone who says as a philosophical matter that Mexicans are somehow entitled to emigrate to the U.S. against its laws is confounded by the unanswerable question. Why Mexicans? They are not, after all, the only poor people from impoverished nations who want to come and get jobs in the U.S. All Mexicans have over Kenyans or Bangladeshis is not justice but only geographical propinquity, something which conveys no rational entitlement to emigrate to the U.S. If instead of a rationalized system of emigration, Mexicans are entitled to pour over our borders and take most or all of the jobs available for poor, unskilled emigrants they usurp the opportunity of such emigrants from more remote lands such as Bangladesh, Kenya, etc. to come to the U.S. On what basis can such a usurpation be defended?

But all the indignation over illegal immigration is pointless. All the philosophical debate in the world is trumped by a simple question: All right, so you condemn illegals: so what do you propose to do about them? Far and away the best and most practical answer to illegal immigration is already being done by those who now denounce it in the most emphatic terms. No, that will not do anything to stop illegal immigration. But, while denunciations are futile, at least they do not waste resources in a hopeless effort. Consider the alternatives:

LET’S BUILD A WALL ON THE MEXICAN BORDER. It works for the Israelis doesn’t it?

Yes it does – because large elements of the Israeli army, and the heavily armed Jewish population, observe and patrol the wall. A wall is a fortification, and a fortification is a force multiplier, i.e., something that allows a defensive force to repel an attacking army. The Israeli wall covers a very small area and is "manned" by a force of soldiers and civilians far larger than the entire U.S. Border Patrol. To erect a wall on our thousands of miles of borders w/ Mexico would cost billions and billions and billions of dollars and accomplish nothing because we have no defensive force to guard it.

LET’S POST THE NATIONAL GUARD TO THE BORDER:

"Send the National Guard to the border" intones Bill O’Reilly who has never met an idea too unrealistic or simplistic for him. Does he really not know that the National Guard are "weekend warriors" -- as in serving one weekend a month? What are we to do about the weekdays and the other weekends in the month?

Presumably he thinks the National Guard can be mobilized for a year or two as the units sent to Iraq have been. But that just does not work. Those who have joined the National Guard are engaged in a gamble: they get pay and other benefits in return for: (a) serving one weekend a month with (b) the understanding that if some crisis arises they may be mobilized to serve for a much longer term. What happens to the Guard if we post them all on the border so that the longer term of service becomes inevitable rather than a mere gamble? The answer of course is that if we begin mobilizing units and posting them on the border for all time there will soon be no National Guard for no one will join it when lengthy service is inevitable.

To have a military presence on the border we would have to assign four or five regular Army or Marine divisions to that duty. Given that our military is stretched very thin already, that means creating, training, paying and equipping 50,000 or more troops. Between doing that and building a wall which might allow us to secure the border w/ only 50,000 troops you are looking at exactly what I said before: billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars.

If you are willing to pay that enormous cost you may be able to stop many of the least dangerous illegals, i.e., the poor people who are only coming here to find jobs at wages and in conditions Americans deem unacceptable. You won’t stop drug smugglers. They have ample money to bribe soldiers with and sooner or later they will find some soldiers to accept those bribes. And once those soldiers have taken bribes from drug smugglers they will start taking them from terrorists too, and eventually from enemy nations.

WHAT ABOUT A GUEST WORKER PROGRAM?

That’s great if you want to improve working conditions for Mexican workers in the U.S. and spend billions of dollars on a federal program to do that. But what has it got to do w/ securing our borders? Certainly it would reduce the flow of illegals across the Mexican border – because it would dry up lots of jobs. But there would still be employers who want to hire illegals for sub-standard wages and illegals who will steal across the border for such jobs. And a guest worker program would not do a thing about drug smugglers and terrorists.

The illegal immigration debate is "full of sound and fury signifying nothing" – until someone produces a pragmatically and politically viable way of securing all our borders – the Canadian and the sea, not just the Mexican. Congress is engaged in a senseless debate which will go on and on and will produce (if anything) only an endless progression of useless, financially wasteful laws.