Fences rarely provide solutions

Before there was an Arizona law on illegal immigration, there was a Manassas and Prince William County, Va., law that I have written about in a earlier post. In my opinion, and the opinion of a federal judge in Phoenix yesterday, there are aspects to these local laws that are unconstitutional. I might add, on a humanitarian level, there are also unfair elements to these types of laws born out of desperation to solve an undeniable problem that impacts many communities across the country.

However, I've been in Manassas several times in recent weeks and there is no denying that an illegal-alien problem still exists there, maybe more so than most areas around the state. Some estimates claim that illegal immigration costs Virginia more than $1 billion a year. I imagine the state of Arizona is facing an even bigger bill. Small towns in particular, like Manassas, simply can't afford these kinds of expenses.

Something does have to be done to guard our borders. That's just commonsense. We are living in the worst economic times of our lives. Just from an economic standpoint, moderating the flow of people into this country, regardless of where they come from, seems fairly prudent. We must fight this recession on several fronts and reduce expenses where we can. War and illegal immigration are just two areas where we could save billions.

It is important to look at immigration (legal and illegal) as a economic issue and not a race or emotional debate. In better times, there were some economic benefits to having some illegal immigrants here, working for minimum wage and spending money in various communities. Those times have probably passed with the loss of jobs. Many of those immigrants are still here and are unemployed and not circulating money back into the economy.

The federal government is charged with protecting our borders, issuing work visas and should not be undermined by the states or municipalities. But the feds should also understand that we can't continue to give jobs away to whomever wants to come over here, whether they come legally or illegally, whether they work for minimum wage or hold white-collar jobs. There aren't enough jobs for everyone. We have to shut off the faucet and allow jobs to catch up with the population.

Leaders in Washington should act soon so that states that are already running huge deficits don't have to add to the red ink by providing services to folks who aren't here legally. Police need a clear set of rules to work under in addressing illegal aliens -- rules that don't endanger them or inflame the situation. Employers must also play by the rules when hiring workers. And we all need to bite the bullet and accept that our veggies and fruit might cost a bit more if we really want to solve the problem of illegal workers.

No fence along the Southwest border is going to solve all our problems. Immigration regulations in general need a major overhaul. We need laws that allow people in under a fair system while protecting the economic and security interests of America. Times change and smart legislation needs to reflect that. To do nothing is to ask for more trouble, more court battles, more bad laws and more expenses we can no longer absorb.

Lessons from Northern Virginia for Arizona

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, I was driving through a small town in Maryland. I was at a four-way stop in my brand new Ford Explorer. To my left was a police officer in his cruiser. The light turned green and I drove on. Within a half a mile, I was pulled over by the cop. He asked to see my license and registration, which I presented to him without question, and he let me go shortly afterward. I don't know why I was pulled over that day. Was it my new, black SUV with the tinted windows that somehow raised his suspicion? Was it that I looked like someone who might have stolen the vehicle? This wasn't a checkpoint where everyone was being stopped, nor did I commit any traffic violation. So was this some kind of errant ethnic profiling in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks? I can tell you that as an American citizen, it was a very unsettling feeling for me.

In essence, this is what is wrong with the new Arizona law that tries to curb illegal immigration based on how people look rather than how they actually behave. This was the same problem that Prince William County, Va., faced in 2007 with its push for tougher laws that eventually had to be curtailed. If you get a chance to see the film 9500 Liberty, you will see what these types of laws do to communities. In Prince William County and Manassas, Va., even the police chief was against the tougher laws for reasons he outlined to a county commission that didn't seem to listen. The chief made a strong case about how the law would make policing tougher and actually result in more crime.

Eventually, the county's economy began to collapse because so many people left the area. Hispanic kids, even the ones here legally, weren't going to school out of fear of being targeted by authorities. Community policing efforts became fractured because of a lack of trust. This is what Arizona will face on a state-wide basis.

I have included the 9500 Liberty trailer here, but it doesn't totally capture the complexities of what went wrong in Northern Virginia when misguided politicians tried to push the law to its limits. The documentary is currently being shown in various movie houses in Arizona. Perhaps it will provide some insights on why laws like this often make matters worse and why the authors of these bills sometimes have less than honest or honorable intentions.

There are functional and fair laws already on the books to address certain problems created by illegal aliens, or anyone else, who violate the law. Federal enforcement and immigration policies do need to be beefed up to curtail the flow of illegal immigrants from all countries, not just ones from south of the border. But Arizona, like Prince William County, should not take matters into its own hands by creating laws that go against common decency. Arizona has embarrassed itself enough in the past by doing things like not recognizing Martin Luther King Day. And it paid an economic and moral price for it.