A very conservative friend and I have started a discussion via e-mail about the controversial "drivers licenses for illegals" proposals that have been floated in several areas of the country. I thought I'd post my view in response to his question about my take on it. (I don't have his take on it, yet ... though I'm sure its coming.)
First, I believe the immigration reform issue is so emotionally charged that no rational plan has a hope in hell regardless of who proposes it. Even the Republicans can't decide among themselves wither "homeland" security should be the priority or "business friendly" should be. On this issue those two priorities are in direct opposition.
Second, with 12,000,000 of them here already, we have a significant problem - and there is no practical solution that involves rounding them up and sending them home en masse. It's a situation that has been with us for decades - though it has only just recently been "discovered". They didn't arrive here in the last year or two. They have been among us throughout the last century .... first invited here, then discouraged, then invited again. They are not here on vacation. They are here because they need to eat and because segments of our economy have built their business plans around their existence - notably the hospitality industry, restaurants, the construction industry and agribusiness to name a few.
Aside from our on again, off again love affair with their cheap labor, I think one needs to be aware that a lot of the problem has its deeper origins in the US export of Milton Freedman's bankrupt "corporations and the invisible hand of the markets" solve all problems. The net result was tremendous support for right-wing dictatorships throughout Central and South American wherein the rich in these countries became super rich selling the national resources to American businesses at the expense of the nations economy in general and their citizens. The few that prospered did so in spades --- but there has been a cost. Everything has a cost and these displaced people are part of that cost. Too bad they don't just crawl off into a corner and die ... the certainly don't fit into Freedman's formulas. (Would love to discuss Uncle Milty's "invisible hand of the market" with you at some point ... I'm sure the conversation would be spirited. I'll give you a clue: I think it's mostly bunk.)
Third: Its a simple fact that you can't control something you can't identify & measure and until we find a way of identifying who these people are, we have no hope of controlling the situation internally. I don't know what the answer is but I know measurement and control are at the bottom of it. I haven't explored drivers licenses enough to feel that's THE solution. However, I do know that New Mexico provides for drivers licenses and some of the positive effects are that uninsured drivers in that state have declined from about 25% to roughly 11%.
As for current migration across the border ... walls don't work. They didn't work when the Soviets (whom the Right resembles more and more every day) walled in Berlin and they didn't work when China tried to wall out the Mongol hordes. We need tighter security at the borders, but walls are a band-aid that only makes the Minutemen happy. We have the technology to register everyone at the border at entry. Other countries require visitors to report to the local police on daily, weekly, or monthly cycles thereby verifying their whereabouts. Failure to report results in an arrest warrant. Apprehension results in instant, no-questions asked, no appeal deportation. Students are visitors and subject to the same rules. We have the computer power ... we just don't have the political will. No papers? Instant bums rush.
Right now a major part of the decision involves a serious prioritization. Is it more important to gain control of our borders than it is to get into a pissing contest over wither or not a workable solution appears to "reward law breaking"? (Given Libby's pardon, I'm surprised its an issue with those on the right ... but go figger!) I vote for doing what is necessary to gain control of the borders, as well as doing whatever it takes to identify and measure the illegal aliens already here so we can control that aspect of the situation. If driver's licenses do the trick, I'm all for them.
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