As if Anyone Cares what I Think

Immigration Reform is a hot topic these days. That's probably why my political science class is discussing it tomorrow.

The Problem: It is perceived by some that there are too many people immigrating to the United States every year. According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, that number is about 1.1 million, and they project that the U.S. population will be around 420 million by 2050, largely due to the incoming people and the children they have when they get here. There are a lot of different impacts this influx has on our society - economic, educational, environmental, etc. Even city planners are having trouble with housing people and law enforcement is losing ground.

Building an increased number of houses on farmland and protected wetlands to accomodate more people is posing an environmental problem. Reducing the amount of farmland presents an obvious issue - more people and less food. FAIR seems to think that the high level of immigration is causing more crime, since a lot of immigrants are low-skilled and live in poverty (makes one wonder why they left home), and poverty doesn't exactly produce a high ratio of productive citizens. Schools are becoming crowded (hell, my high school was crowded in the 1990's, but that was due to a lack of concern, not immigration) and reducing the effectiveness of the primary and secondary education the U.S. provides. Economic impacts are readily seen - the people receiving financial assistance from the states, the low-skill jobs are all (well, not all) being taken by immigrants who will work for much less (the people who built my house are certainly low-skilled.)

The Solution: I have not a solution. I'm not a policical scientist or an immigration expert. I'm a technologist who doesn't watch TV (not going to pay a cable company to watch commercials, sorry) or read the newspaper (same concept). All I am interested in every day are new gadgets and software programs that help people do things.

However, G.W. Bush and his people evidently have a plan. This in no way implies that I like George W. Bush. That said, the White House’s Comprehensive Immigration Reform aims to solve many of these problems. 6000 National Guard troops have been sent to the Southern border States to provide assistance to the Border Patrol. This seems to have helped a great deal with the resistance of illegal immigration and drug trafficking across the Mexican border. They have also expanded holding facilities to accommodate more captives and expedited the deportation process. I guess I’m in favor of these measures, on a grand scale anyway.

Bush has also asked Congress to come up with a resolution to the current issues inside the U.S., like illegal workers, expired visas, etc. He even wants to start English language programs (I assume for legal immigrants).

I would probably recommend, as the global leader, that the potential illegal immigrants get help where they are; get them something to help make their lives better so they don’t feel the need to cross over and join the crowding. I think if the influx of people to the United States without an increase in productivity does not cease, we will soon find that this country is not as glamorous as it once seemed to the outside. Tourism would decline. Companies would start to move their main business lines outside the country and the economy would fail. The United States could eventually become what I have just invented a phrase for: “Social Sahara,” a country in which everyone is so poor and dried up that no one wants to visit. Then Britain would rule again. Did my imagination just cut loose or what?

I’m not one to praise the U.S. for its selfish attitude (what’s-mine-is-mine kind of thing; close the blinds to the rest of the world), but there has to be a limit on immigration before this country becomes the one those people left. Australia has an interesting acceptance program and it seems to work. I read a bit about it during the time the Olympic games were at Sydney (whenever that was) and wanted to try to get in. I think I have a better chance at getting in to Google just because of the process involved. Not recommended for a country the size of the United States, but effective nonetheless.