i've been hiding out a lot lately at the casa de cripple. lot of folks over there seem convinced that barricades and vigilante justice are the best ways to nip our immigration issues in the bud. i think the conversations turn racist too often and the productivity gets lost in the fight.
lets talk about fourteenth things first. supply and demand. we provide a lottery to law breakers in this country and the ticket is absolutely free of charge. as long as we supply US citizenship as a birthright, i think you can count on the demand to boil over.
case in point, take a look at eagle pass, texas. according to US census data, it had a population of 22,413 in 2000, 95% hispanic. then i found a very interesting statement in this little article, "Immigrant students entering EPISD at the secondary level are placed in a beginning ESL class. Of the 4,606 students in the bilingual/ESL education program, only 929 or 20 percent, are in grades above the sixth grade." great, so 80% roughly are under 12 years old? ESL makes up a 6th of the city's total population? i don't know about you, but i doubt these baby banditos climbed a fence or toddled across our border.
i see instant presto citizenship as a much bigger carrot than low paying cash labor. who's going to deport your sole guardian if you enjoy all the perks of a full blooded citizen? plus, due to the US patriot act (thank a republican), i think the days of flying under the financial radar are already numbered.
if the immigration problem is to be solved, we must remove citizenship as a birthright. no fence can block supply and demand when across the border lies the promised land.
Posted by shoe at May 18, 2006 09:19 PM | TrackBackExactly. The 14th Amendment was written to ensure slaves and descendants of slaves became citizens. It should be repealed.
Posted by: Denny at May 19, 2006 01:23 PM