perfidy

Still not entirely clear what it is that the roughly gazillion people taking to the streets in our major cities are taking to the streets about. From what I've read so far about all this protest and march and waving of national symbols, the word "illegal" has not yet appeared.

I've read alot about "immigrants' rights", but I'm not sure what that means. I'm willing to bet that if I asked 10 random people what the term "immigrants' rights" means, I'd hear 10 different answers. Or more.

I have a couple of major bighuge problems with illegal immigration, but that's a specific problem: illegal immigration. There are solutions that might fix it. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with "immigrants' rights", but it does have to do with solving a stated, specific problem. I don't believe though that has anything to do with the current demonstrations. Besides, I feel that any event that includes the ANSWER people entering the lists on your side pretty much shuts down the possibility that I'll take you seriously.

If at its core we equate "rights" with "fairness", and by that we mean that illegal immigrants are treated like citizens, it also means that citizens be treated like illegals. Now that might have some merit. Free health care, for starters; if I don't pay medical bills now, I get a lien on my house. Working tax free might be nice, too; I am willing to wager that an illegal working under the table somewhere has a helluva lot more disposable income that myself, who as of this writing, has precisely $54 to my name and by the way it has to last until Friday.

But look, don't get hung up on that rant- I'm more concerned about the future. As best I understand it, the last amnesty ca 1986 gave legal work documents to something like 3-7 million illegals. THAT was supposed to fix the problem, because after that one-time event, we'd get serious about enforcing our immigration policies and border security. So 20 years later we have something like 3-4 times as many, and face the same problem, with the same language being used to offer a fix. And I believe that what will ultimately come down is amnesty by another name. I think it's a slam dunk.

OK, fine. Everyone who came by legal means, ridiculous expense, and interminable paper drill was a sucker. Lady Lethal and I and a whole lot of others will have to live with that.

But what happens in 2026?

I wonder whether it might just be easier, for everybody, to just dispense with the American border altogether. Anyone who wants to live here can just arrive, by whatever means it takes; no pesky checks to see whether the person's a felon in his home country, or infected with a communicable disease; and work. Or not. The legions of bureaucrats who run immigration could be fired and thereby save a ton of dough, which would definitely be a net plus. And it's not like America's market for unskilled- or nominally skilled- labor is going to dry up.

So open it up, dispense with the red tape and the lines on the map, and come what may. I think the cultural, language, and class problems that would be created or intensified by the sudden influx of a billion or so new citizens might not be nearly as bad to contend with as the mush-mouthed verbiage that political leaders and demonstration organizers try to make me believe these days.