Neighbors, fences and poor immigration policies

Let me frame this post by saying I'm a recovering republican, currently a libertarian. Libertarian beliefs, as I understand them, can be boiled down to three statements:

1. Big government is bad, bad, bad.
2. Big government is immoral, immoral, immoral.
3. The phrase "There ought to be a law" should be illegal.

Ok. There's more to it than this but for simplicity's sake I'll say that forced taxation on anyone in order to solve someone else's problems doesn't have a Constitutional or moral foundation. As my husband likes to say, "I can't come into your house and force you to give me part of your paycheck to buy my groceries or whatever. If I can't do it, why should the government be able to do it?"

Now, about immigration. I used to believe, back in my republican days, that illegal immigration was a major problem, something that required drastic measures. Like say, a long big wall to keep them out. I thought it was a major problem because I had a few other false beliefs. First, I believed illegal immigrants were a huge drain on our already bloated social service programs.
Second, I believed that entering the country illegally made you a criminally minded person. And goodness knows we don't need more criminals in the country.

This is where my whole thesis fell apart. As of 1996 immigrants are not eligible for any social services. Furthermore, immigrants are paying into these programs through their taxes. So they're paying into programs they are ineligible to benefit from.

And they're all criminals, right? The underlying assumption is that there must be a reasonable means for law abiding people to enter our country legally. I don't know much about the work visa process but I do know that millions of people aren't coming into our country to deal drugs. They are coming to work. They are working the backbreaking, labor intensive jobs we wouldn't let our native teenagers work. There is a reason they are coming here. And there is a need for their labor. How many middle class white, 16 year olds are scrambling to get the good grape picking jobs this summer? But the competition from illegal immigrants keeps the rest of our wages low, right? Not really. Of course there is a lot of evidence that supports the contrary opinion. So it's a matter of who you want to believe.

Illegal immigration is a tough, tough issue. It's heartbreaking to think of the thousands who have died on their journey here. I keep thinking, what would I have done? What if I were a Mexican mom with little prospects for work and fewer prospects for a good education for my kids? What if visas were only granted to people who had paying jobs waiting for them across the border? What would I do?

My personal experience in the immigration issue comes from my work at a elementary school on the southside of San Antonio. Our grade level had 3 english speaking classes and 1 spanish speaking class. These kids were from Mexico or their parents were from Mexico. Every holiday we would assign the kids a family art project to decorate our bulletin boards. Getting my kids to return their projects was like pulling teeth. Invariably, less than half of mine would bring their projects back. But down the hall it was a whole other story. All the spanish speaking children would bring their elaborately decorated projects back. All of them. and the projects were beautiful. What does this say about those parents? What does this say about the parents in my classroom?

So is this a massive case of xenophobia? Let's not forget that we were all immigrants. And at various times in American history we've decided we had too many ____________ and limited their entry into the country. Somehow I think that is what this might really be about. Too many Mexicans. And what does this have to do with the libertarian party? Libertarians say no government has the right to prohibit the entry or exit of law abiding individuals. Controversial, I know. But I see the logic. Who are we to say 'you don't belong here? '

Ok. That's the end of my first political post . Comments are welcome...as long as they're nice and friendly. :)

http://here-in-idaho.blogspot.com/