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The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

Be Our Guest

Approximately 12 million undocumented workers live in the United States. These workers-or illegal immigrants, depending on which political idiom strikes your fancy-literally form the foundation of our national economy. They do the back-breaking work that few Americans esteem, and they do it for a wage that even fewer Americans would stand for. They deserve the respect and decent earnings due to all people.

However, the United States does have sovereign borders and laws dictating who can cross. It cannot simply allow anyone to enjoy the benefits of American citizenship without first becoming a citizen-or without paying taxes, for that matter.

Thus, the United States must ensure the safety of its borders using the most logical method: It must erect more than 700 miles of fortified wall, complete with electric fence, moat and alligators. It should also equip the border patrol with helmets, cannons and hand grenades, and perhaps a few squirt guns.

This may sound ridiculous. It should. But both a bill already approved by the House and Senator Bill Frist’s plan to tighten illegal immigration don’t sound so different.

Frist’s real plan, sans alligators and squirt guns, is just as outrageous. It calls for the complete removal of illegal immigrants from the United States. Failure to comply would result in a felony charge. Churches, businesses and social service agencies attending to undocumented workers would also be punished. Needless to say, the Hispanic population nationwide didn’t take to the idea.

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Although it is inappropriate to advocate illegal immigration, the Hispanic community was right to protest Frist’s proposal; it is utterly impractical. You cannot throw out an integral sector of the economy without providing its members any route to legitimate citizenship. That would rip a giant hole in the nation’s economy, eliminating the work of millions of hours in agriculture and service. Further, it would indicate that our society is stagnant, unwilling to welcome or tolerate new members, or their culture.

As it stands, this proposal is heartless. In refusing illegal immigrants the possibility of earned citizenship, it ignores family ties that form the communities of our country. It is also unfeasible. Because no natural barrier-say, an ocean-separates us from our southern neighbors, we must make the barrier ourselves, a barbed-wire marker of geopolitical boundaries. This takes work enough. However, it would cost more time and money to locate each illegal immigrant and ensure his or her departure from the country.

Neither can we advocate pure amnesty for illegal immigrants with a good-natured smile, leniently cooing, “OK, just this once.” This would do a disservice to those who worked hard to become legitimate U.S. citizens. It would also cheapen the worth of U.S. citizenship, as no work would be required to attain it. The economy might also be flooded with more workers than it could sustain, causing unemployment rates to rise.

Instead, we must take the truly logical path and implement a guest-worker policy. As you read these words, Congress is haggling with at least two separate proposals-the more conservative House bill, which passed in December, and a more lenient guest-worker policy proposed in the Senate, which will soon move from committee to the floor. These guest-worker programs would allow foreign citizens to work and then either return to their families or begin a program leading to U.S. citizenship, so as to avoid a permanent-if informal-working “second-class.”

One proposal allows for a six-month work period. Another proposes a “blue card” for 1.5 million farm workers, legalizing their status. Another allows for a two-time renewable, three-year visa, which leads to a green card and an 11-year-long citizenship process.

The problem of immigration isn’t new. In fact, it cannot be called a problem. Our nation, as President George W. Bush recently reiterated, is a nation of immigrants. Nineteenth- and 20th-century immigrants in the famed “Land of Opportunity” worked for their own survival and that of their families at home. Invariably, due to slim pickings here and higher pay than in the homeland, the newest members of the family got the chores nobody else wanted.

Although specific conditions are different today, the theory is the same. Earned citizenship will require time and hard work. The government has the responsibility to extend citizenship only to those willing to give their time for it.

And, unlike complete banishment or complete amnesty, a guest worker policy, which flexibly allows foreign citizens to work in America for a short time and then return home, will benefit both parties. The United States will sustain its economic character; Undocumented workers will have a hand in their own fate.

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