I'll tell you what, Madison, I can't wait for next Wednesday. And not just because I'll finally see more of my favorite commercials ("Head On, apply directly to the forehead. Head On … "), and fewer political campaigns ads. Rather, I'm looking forward to Wednesday because it marks the date politicians finally get back, at least mentally, to the business of running this country. And there is no doubt that the issue of immigration reform has to be issue No. 1 on the long "repair the country" to-do list when the politicians finally do get to Washington. Those poor bastards.
So instead of handing out redundant suggestions on how to win this election, I'd like to dish out a few recommendations on how to score the first policy victory of the new Congress with the issue of illegal immigration, for those who are already ensured a victory come next week. Listen up, Dems:
In order to avoid completely losing control of yet another key issue in the country, you have to be willing to take a common sense approach to the issue of illegal immigration. Step No. 1: Shed the unwitting idea that this is an issue of race or ethnicity. Hispanic, and primarily Mexican culture, is not something new; Spanish is the second most prominent language spoken here and, by the way, we have bordered Mexico for quite a long time now. So while I am by no means suggesting that we have entirely swept our xenophobic tendencies under the rug, immigration reform has not so much to do with Mexicans as it has to do with money. After all, you didn't really expect us to care about anything else, did you?
Also, this is not a new wave of immigration. While this issue may have just arrived as a topic of serious debate this past April, the 12 million illegal immigrants in this country did not just arrive in March. It's time we dug a little deeper, and I'm counting on the Dems to lead the charge.
Having long been the party that unites minority groups in this country, Democrats need to relay to their constituency that this is an issue that actually benefits the average American, regardless of race or ethnicity. True, a small percentage of the voting base may be alienated, but it will undoubtedly be accounted for in 2008 when the right-leaning stragglers of the past six years finally come home to the party that works hardest for middle-class Americans.
Democrats need not be labeled the party of opposition much longer if they unveil the glaring truth that uncontrolled illegal immigration is, indeed, another vice that contributes to making the rich richer and the poor poorer.
Uncontrolled illegal immigration takes jobs away from Americans. You see, it is a trained response for big business to falsely indicate that certain jobs are offered that simply won't be taken by the inhabitants of the home country. Mexico, the richest country in Latin America, annually imports 40,000 Guatemalan workers to its major coffee farms to harvest the coffee every year. The reason? They say that Mexicans are too lazy and won't work hard for the coffee growers. Bullshit.
Just like Americans paying illegal immigrants from Mexico, Mexicans can pay Guatemalans less money for the same job than they would have to pay for workers from their own country. It is not that illegal immigrants take jobs that Americans won't, it's that they take wages that Americans won't.
Light bulb: Control immigration.
Yes, this may involve the daunted W-word ("wall"), but building a wall along the border does not mean cutting off immigration, it means controlling it. So while different economists debate the merits and pitfalls of immigration, we can control the illegal immigrant population as our economy changes and as economists across the country continually analyze its effects. Not to mention severely damaging the main arteries of drug trafficking from Mexico that bring in 80 percent of all methamphetamines, 90 percent of cocaine and 95 percent of marijuana that exists in this country. Also, there is the added benefit of stopping terrorists from entering the country with relative ease, as a number of confirmed Hezbollah members have done in the past three years.
Democrats, this is an issue that goes far beyond race and ethnicity, and it is an issue that you can't be afraid to take hold of.
So, Speaker Pelosi, round up the troops next Wednesday and present them with the novel idea that immigration reform is an issue that Democrats can win by increasing border control, which means increased immigration control, which allows for the plausible increase of rights for existing illegal immigrants and the continuing economic benefits that the country already profits from.
I can see it now. Democrats: The party of proposition.
Andy Granias ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and international studies.