Congress took up the issue of illegal immigration this week. While I do not know the perfect solution to this issue, there is one aspect of the Sensenbrenner bill — passed in the House in December and now being debated in the Senate — that is very clear: The law would make every resident of this country not following legal immigration processes a felon. With the sweep of a pen, millions of people would become criminals, subject to arrest and imprisonment along with anyone who aids them. It is another case of congressional power run amok, and should be rejected not simply because it’s a bad immigration policy, but because the mentality that drives this sort of legislation contradicts the basic principles of good governance.
An estimated 12 million illegal aliens live in this country, and presumably, the vast majority of them are gainfully employed at wages below what their American counterparts demand but above what their home countries’ economies supply. So this bill, if passed, would take 12 million economically productive individuals out of the workforce. Twelve million new prison cells, 12 million mouths to feed, 12 million bodies to clothe by the federal taxpayer, 12 million jobs lost, 12 million stacks of legal paperwork for pro bono defense attorneys, 12 million court cases. President Bush had better start appointing new federal judges quickly!
That is, if this bill is serious. But I doubt there is any congressman who truly wants to arrest and deport 12 million people. So the bill is either a tactical stunt to shift the terms of the Senate debate to the far right, in which case the House passed a law it does not want to become law; or it is meant to be passed but not enforced, in which case, well … why don’t we give Congress some Monopoly money and Lego policemen and tell them to go play?
In fact, this is precisely the impression this bill creates of Congress. Legislators sit in their high chambers, devising fancy proposals that fill reams of legal jargon to keep the media busy. Votes for legislation are traded like baseball cards. Little things like the practicalities of enforcement are dismissed. Unintended consequences are ignored and the horizon of analysis ends at the next election cycle. It’s all a board game, where the players can manipulate any piece for political advantage. With this kind of power it must be easy to forget that even the U.S. government does and must have limitations.
The problem is, while Congress plays SimCity, it is dealing with real money, real laws and real lives. Criminalizing millions of people is an absurd and frankly fascist way of thinking. It is not new, however. Prohibition made millions of people criminals by decree. The puritanical “War on Drugs” creates crime-infested cities by banning victimless behavior. The drinking age makes almost every college student in the country a criminal. A significant portion of the seven million people in the U.S. correctional system are criminals by definition, not by injurious action. In the case of illegal immigrants, those 12 million are criminals more for what they did not do — wait in line for years — than for what they did do. So politicians can say they’re tough on crime, law enforcement can demand more funding and the public can rest with the illusion that the problem is solved.
It is little wonder that so many people are disenchanted from government when politicians treat them like playthings. The hatred for law enforcement expressed through rap music is fueled by laws that make decent people into criminals. This bill would simply create another second-class citizenry that hates policemen, and we’ll be wishing we had 12 million people seeking employment just to fill all the law enforcement positions that will be needed. It is all the more hypocritical that the bill’s stated goal is to end decades of disregard for unenforced laws.
Geographic boundaries are part of the definition of a sovereign state, and this country has every right to define the terms of citizenship, control the borders and regulate immigration. But laws are supposed to have reasonable and unambiguous power, and passing unenforceable and counterproductive laws like the Sensenbrenner bill would make a mockery of the system. The Senate has an opportunity in the coming weeks to come up with something better: a rational, workable, comprehensive policy — something like the Kennedy-McCain bill — that would fix a truly broken system. We’ll see if they’re up to the task.