BYU NewsNet - Viewpoint: Immigration

College Democrats: Measure twice before cutting

By Matt Hankey

America is a special place. The inspired protections written into our laws are sacred. Though not without blemish, our history is full of people fighting to ensure these protections are afforded to every class of people. Patriots, abolitionists, pioneers, feminists, civil rights fighters and countless others have had to stand up to unjust laws, refusing to accept security in exchange for freedom. It's easy to understand why people might want to come to our country. Sadly, those that come are often exposed to discrimination, private and official. Our generation will be the one that fights for their civil rights.

Our nation has a long history of unjust immigration laws. In many ways, we've failed to expiate these policies: our immigration laws are still rooted in fear. We're actually considering building a wall along our Southern border. We have armed maniacs forming militias in the border regions. We raid businesses and arrest - not the employers who often exploit, underpay or otherwise abuse immigrant labor - but the workers. We deny them the very right to work, halting production. Crops often spoil in the fields, the labor pool having been detained. Worse, we seek to deny them the very benefits of their labor, insisting they remain ineligible for social security, health benefits, even drivers' licenses. Deportation often divides families. For what? Who do we protect when we bind the hands of the most vulnerable?

The immigration question is more moral than it is political or economic. It's our land that has been blessed, not certain groups of people. You touch your foot to American soil and your rights should be protected. Even the Church, long silent on political matters, spoke up on the immigration issue. Earlier this year, the Utah legislature considered passing laws to crack down on immigration. Elder Marlin Jensen reminded lawmakers, "Immigration questions are questions dealing with God's children . . . a more thoughtful and factual, not to mention humane, approach is warranted, and [I] urge those responsible for Utah's immigration policy to measure twice before they cut." Elder M. Russell Ballard and other Church leaders have met with lawmakers, urging them to step back and exercise more compassion when considering the issue. The Church honors no distinction between documented and undocumented immigrants. "Illegal" immigrants can enter the temple and serve missions. We send missionaries to their communities, teaching them in their own languages.

A favorite fear of the opposition is that immigrant communities won't learn English and won't conform to our culture. We only stand to lose if we limit our exposure to foreign cultures and languages. Kenneth Pike once pointed out, "Cultural arrogance is perhaps often expressed more directly through one's disinterest [sic] in another's language than through any other cultural expression. God chose to work within man's language system in his relation to man. Now He calls on us in turn to speak the language of the people we wish to help. Refusal to do so, when we could have done so, is an affront to that person's worth." Even so, these fears are without foundation in the first place. Immigrant communities are learning English and they are certainly making positive contributions to our culture.

Our primary method of filtering immigration today seems to be socio-economic. Almost without exception, the difference between successful visa applications and those that are declined is money. Successful applicants have it, the declined do not. One day our society will be called to account for what we have done with our poor. I hope we have a better answer than, "We stopped them at the border." The laws are unjust, they need to be reformed. When laws are unjust, their violators must be forgiven. If we are to err, it should be on the side of humanity and mercy.

College Republicans: Enforcing illegal immigration, encouraging legal immigration

By Daniel Woolston

Most people in the United States consider illegal immigration a serious issue, but also think shipping 12 million people home is too large a task. Among the usual arguments for some type of amnesty include the following: How will the government locate all illegal immigrants and send them all home? Or, won't sending home so many millions of hard workers destroy our already weak economy? Or lastly, won't the images that would be produced for the world of the country sending home so many millions of immigrants destroy our already tarnished reputation around the world? Many of these concerns are unfounded because they rely on faulty assumptions. The problem of illegal immigration can be solved with compassion, but also with legality. It is surprising that people assume that the government would have to locate, apprehend and transport all the illegal immigrants back to their home country. Why make the government do it when the market, combined with enforced legislation, could do it for us? For example, the federal government can further enforce laws that already exist by creating a great disincentive for employers to hire illegal immigrants.

If a $10,000 per day per illegal immigrant "hired" fine were enacted and enforced firmly by government authorities, it would be extremely risky for an employer to continue using illegal labor - in fact, they might just be willing to instead pay more per hour to a legal citizen (probably a legal immigrant.) Illegal immigrants would soon realize that to obtain work, they should go home and apply to immigrate legally. The government could even provide a voucher to any illegal immigrant desiring a bus ride home. However, the key to the whole idea is enforcement. If the fine is strictly enforced to the point where employers fear being caught more than paying a higher wage, it will work.

This one fact, perhaps more than any other, draws attention to a weakness in government that is adversely affecting so many issues and is further weakening the public's trust in government. There is a constant push for new, tougher laws to fight crime, terrorism, drugs and in this case, illegal immigration. However, there are often tough, specific laws already on record aimed at eliminating any such behavior. The problem is enforcement. With a government budget stretched thin and already too large, it becomes increasingly difficult to effectively enforce the law. There needs to be no debate on the issue - thus the very name of the issue - illegal immigration. If legal immigration increases and illegal immigration decreases, the American government could allow more legal immigration through temporary work visas, paths to citizenship and so on. When illegally crossing the border is the only realistic way to work in the United States, the market encourages that very path.

I don't want to sound anti-immigrant by any means. Legal immigration to the United States is a wonderful thing and will only improve the United States. Legal immigrants contribute academically, in technological innovations and culturally. I understand the terrible situation that many are in in their respective home countries. Many countries throughout Central and South America, Africa and Asia are filled with corruption and dictatorships. For two years I lived among many legal and illegal immigrants in the northeastern United States. They come here because they want a better life for their families. Since it takes so long to immigrate legally and the border is porous and just a few thousand dollars and a border coyote away, they cross illegally. If we enforce our laws, allow the market to send illegal immigrants home and create easier ways to immigrate, our country will be a safer and more economically prosperous place to live. Why not just let all those who have crossed illegally stay? Because they have broken the law. To continue to have a country to which people want to belong, we must not only be a country of financial prosperity, but a country of laws that are efficiently enacted, observed and enforced. Beyond national security, I want to end illegal immigration because I want to continue legal immigration.