Something To Think About
I remember the uproar over the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration amnesty of 1986. I remember the promises that this was the last time and it would never, ever happen again. I remember what happened.
The US Senate voted in favor of the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration amnesty in September of 1985. It took until November 6th, 1986 for it to be finalized and sent to President Reagan to be signed into law. But election day was November 4th.
In 1986 there was a midterm election. The Republicans lost control of the Senate.
The U.S. Senate election, 1986 was an election for the United States Senate in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term. In a midterm election, the opposition Democrats held the traditional advantage. Also, Republicans had to defend an unusually large number of freshman incumbents elected on Reagan's coattails in 1980. However, 1986 was unusual in that it was the first time since 1918 where the chamber had changed hands in a second term midterm.
Were the two things related? I suspect so but can't prove it, of course. But consider: Simpson-Mazzoli legalized around 3 million illegal immigrants. 20 years later, we're looking at 12 million. Simpson and Mazzoli wrote an article in 2006 that explains, exactly, why it did not work.
The foundation of IRCA was enforcement and border security, but to work, it required consistent funding: for agents to investigate workplace violations, for prosecution of employers who broke the law, for more Border Patrol agents, and for installing the latest in high-tech monitoring and surveillance equipment. We saw the need for funding to develop a simple, reliable and tamper-proof system, a "more secure identifier," using cards or biometrics. Opponents from the right and the left savaged it as "a National ID," although it was not something that had to be carried on one-s person but was to be presented only at the time of "new hire" employment or when applying for government benefits.
After two decades, the system is still not in place. Unfortunately, what is in place is the use of several different identifiers, which were meant to be temporary, and a flourishing underground economy engaged in creating fraudulent documents for illegal immigrants.
All administrations since 1986 have allocated funding and personnel resources more generously to the task of securing the border than to enforcing IRCA in the workplace. Why? One answer is that there are never enough federal budget resources. Another is that administrations of both stripes are loathe to disrupt economic activities - i.e. labor supply in factories, farms and businesses. And we know that disruptions in the labor supply are the natural, unavoidable and even desirable consequence of strong border and workplace enforcement.
I have been saying all along that if enforcement is handled first all the rest can be worked out. But we are going down the same path, yet again, instead.
Immigration Reform, Politics | Gaius Thursday, 7 June , 2007
By old_dawg, Thursday, 7 June , 2007 @ 3:01 pm
This bill will result in a permanent Democrat majority and the continued attack on America’s traditional moral and legal foundations. Within a generation or two, we will be reduced to the quality of life experienced by those other socialist havens of Mexico and Cuba.