Getting My Daily Dose of 411

Graduation has come and gone. I strutted across the stage, I hosted the family, and I had a great time visiting with my fellow graduates throughout the festivities. I especially enjoyed the steak I had on Friday afternoon, thank you Andy for making the trip to Forsters in Plymouth. (David, you need to try one of these) And though I never actually climbed into the ring at Upper-Cut, it was interesting to see the inside of a real live gym. Langino’s mug is plastered all over the walls; I guess no one around here has ever seen an Italian boxer/lawyer kick so much butt before. But then again... who has?

I have to admit that I’ve been a little unplugged from the broader world for the better part of the last month. The last three weeks of school was all consuming (due to my ‘ahem’ “condensed studying”), plus I was trying to maintain a full social schedule, and get the house in shape to entertain the family. Not that I’m complaining, everybody is busy, but there was not a whole lot of time to read my favorite blogs or newspapers.

Even though I have been in a news depravation chamber I call “my life,” it has been impossible to miss the fact that immigration (legal or otherwise) is a problem. The immigration issue is not just any run-of-the-mill problem either. It is an intricate, complex, beguiling puzzle that has no easy answers. Solving the “immigration problem” (And by “Immigration problem” most Americans mean “Mexican-immigration problem”) will take a steady multi-faceted effort by numerous private, federal, and local agencies. At this point America cannot realistically expect to be able to completely stop the flow of illegal immigrants through the great Southern deserts. Americans should not expect anything other than a reduction of illegal immigrants. And how significant that reduction ultimately is remains to be seen.

Until there is a dramatic economic upswing in Mexico or a substantial downturn in the American economy there will be pressure on the poor and able to cross the boarder. Money is a powerful motivator. And not just from the immigrants’ perspective either. Big business and consumers both benefit from cheap imported labor. The law of supply and demand is creating an undeniable incentive for Mexicans to illegally cross the boarder and for American companies and consumers to look the other way. Couple the monetary incentives with America’s painfully slow bureaucracy and you get an “immigration problem.”

President Bush being a great leader and visionary had concluded that the already overworked National Guard should “support” Boarder Patrol efforts. This is not a solution, this is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Illegal immigration will not be stopped through use of force. Deploying the National Guard to halt illegal immigration is like putting a band-aid on a leaky pipe.

Illegal Immigration was the one issue I thought the former Governor of Texas would understand.