Political Red Herring: Illegal Immigration

If the punditry starts talking about this subject, change the channel. There is nothing that anyone currently in power will do that will provide us anything even approaching a solution to this so-called 'crisis.' Why? Because illegal immigration is the symptom, not the problem.

The 'solutions' currently being bandied about range from amnesty and stiffer laws to mass deportations and building a wall along the border. The problem with all of these solutions is that none of them will fix the problem. They all try to address the symptom, which is the influx of unregistered immigrants.

Amnesty? You might as well send out invitations to anyone not already here.

Stiffer laws? There are already laws covering this. That's why it's called illegal immigration. The problem is enforcement, and the costs (implicit and explicit) in the execution thereof.

A wall. A wall? Only one word needed here: Asinine.

So how can we stop the flood of illegal immigration? Treat the problem, not the symptom.

We've already identified the symptom: Massive numbers of people are coming to the US illegally.

Now, let's find the cause: Why?

Why are so many people willing to risk jail-time, deprivation, even death, in trying to come to the US? Answer: Because it's better than what they have now. That's the root of the problem. It's that simple.

Trying to come to the US, even with all the dangers and pitfalls, is better than trying to continue where they're at.

Stop and think about that for a second. These people are willing to abandon everything they have ever known, and pass through a barren desert, risk passing groups of vigilantes that are openly hostile to them, and start over with nothing...completely from scratch, to try to have a better life. How bad would things have to be for you to make that kind of sacrifice?

So, back to the question: Why? Why would they do that? Because the governments are broken in our neighbor countries to the South, that's why. Corruption, wealth disparity, to name two things. These and other factors all contribute to the low quality of life.

Any politico that starts yammering about 'immigration reform' without talking about foreign relations with Mexico and other Central American countries is simply pandering. No reform will be successful without working with the countries that they are immigrating from, and bringing their quality of life up to the point that they no longer feel the need to start over in the US.

If Mexican families felt that they could live comfortable lives in Mexico, then why would they want to come here? Do we have a Canadian immigration problem? No. By and large, Canadians are perfectly content living in Canada. Why? Because their quality of life is just as good as ours (better, if you agree with socialized medicine).

Be careful. The news media/political punditry wants you to think that 'illegal immigration' is a critical issue that will spell the doom of our American Way of Life if not immediately addressed. But fretting over it, especially when there are no true solutions being offered, is simply a distraction from other, more important issues.