Illegal immigrants must be the worst criminals ever to set foot in the United States. How else can we explain the fervor over the decision by KUSA-Channel 9 to offer legal advice to immigrants during its “LawLine 9 program”?
We have a system in which murderers, rapists and even former foreign dictators like Manuel Noriega have a right to legal representation, yet we go berserk when 9News offers legal advice to immigrants – some of whom are probably in the country illegally.
We act as if a Mexican worker who secretly slipped into the United States and got a job in the construction industry in order to feed his family is worse than Timothy McVeigh.
No one argued that McVeigh should be denied legal representation, yet many Coloradans apparently think it’s wrong to offer legal advice to illegal immigrants.
We seem to have lost our sense of proportion when it comes to illegal immigration. Yes, it’s against the law to sneak across the border. Yes, there are so many people coming into the United States that it’s a problem. Yes, we need to devise solutions to deal with the people who are already here and stanch the flow of new immigrants.
Do we want them to stay in the shadows as unknown, uncounted and hidden people, or do we want them to make contact with the authorities? Shouldn’t we want them to formally apply for green cards?
We seem to be saying “once illegal, always illegal,” and the only options available to illegal immigrants will be to leave voluntarily or be deported. But this isn’t realistic, because they are not going to voluntarily give up their jobs, and we don’t have enough immigration officers to find them and deport them. So we have to encourage these immigrants to enter the system.
The IRS faces similar problems. If a taxpayer failed to file a return for 2004, then he might be afraid to file in 2005, 2006, 2007 and so on, because he’s worried about the penalties, fines and possible jail time he could face for not filing in 2004. So instead of paying his taxes, he goes into hiding, which shifts his share of the burden onto the rest of us.
It makes sense for the IRS to periodically offer amnesty to tax evaders, telling them that if they file and pay what they originally owed, the penalties and fines will be waived. Some people will argue that this approach rewards illegal behavior, but it’s a way to open the door to offenders and let them reconnect with the system.
By insisting that legal advice should not be given to illegal immigrants, we’re arguing against our own interests. Regardless of how a person came into this country, we’re better off if he enters the legal channels rather than staying in the shadows.
When it comes to illegal immigration, we seem unwilling to deal with these simple realities. Whether we like it or not, many industries have grown dependent on cheap, immigrant labor. If that labor were suddenly unavailable, those industries could surely retool and survive. But for the moment, the dependency exists – it’s the force that draws so many workers across our borders.
When you drive around metro Denver, you don’t see thousands of Mexican families living on the streets in shanty towns. They’re not moving here and pitching tents under bridges, because, for the most part, they’re finding work.
We need them – maybe not all of them, but at least some of them. If we accept that reality, then our solutions will be more reasonable, more workable and more durable. If we don’t accept it, then the shrill debate will continue without ever solving the problem.
Former Bronco Reggie Rivers (reggierivers2002@yahoo.com) is the host of Drawing the Line Wednesday’s at 8 p.m. on KBDI Channel 12. He writes Fridays on the op-ed page.
