Cracking down on illegal immigrants can get tricky.
State Rep. Debbie Riddle, a tea party favorite in Texas, introduced a bill that would make hiring an “unauthorized alien” a crime punishable by up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Boy, that ought to do it.
But somewhere between Debbie’s desk and the House floor, a thoughtful aide added a caveat: aliens hired to do household chores don’t count. Hiring an undocumented maid, caretaker, lawnworker and any type of houseworker would be allowed.
Why? Doesn’t Rep. Riddle understand “illegal?”
Another Texas representative explained to CNN, “a large segment of the Texas population would wind up in prison without the exemption. When it comes to household employees or yard workers it is extremely common for Texans to hire people who are likely undocumented workers. It is so common it is overlooked.”
CNN explored further and talked to Jon English, Rep. Riddle’s chief of staff, who explained that the exemption was an attempt to avoid “stifling the economic engine” in Texas.
It is interesting that Mr. English believes that the Texas economy runs on illegal immigrants.
There are other Texas opinions.
Legal ethics writer Jack Marshall wrote on his blog: the exemption “guarantees a measure without integrity that sends a mixed enforcement message and does nothing to stop the long-standing ‘we don’t want you but somebody has to do those menial jobs’ attitude that has paralyzed our immigration policy for decades.”
WHAT THIS SLAPSTICK comedy in the Lone Star state tells us is that basic reform of the immigration system and the way it is enforced has to happen first.
When the conversation started in President George Bush’s first term the dimensions of the challenge were outlined. There were more than 11 million undocumented workers in the United States at that time — six years ago. The total was growing, someone estimated, at about 500,000 a year.
Immigration, legal and otherwise, slowed drastically in 2008 because the recession dried up jobs and border patrols had been stiffened. There is no reason to believe, however, that the number without papers is any smaller today than it was when President Bush, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Ted Kennedy and others on both sides of the aisle tried to deal with the issue in a rational way.
A big part of the problem — as Rep. Riddle may now realize — is that those 11 million illegals are working, have families and are part of the U.S. “economic engine.” It not only isn’t practical to throw all of their employers in jail, it would be impossible to arrest, try and deport the illegals themselves. To comment on the obvious, declaring all of those millions of employers and workers to be criminals and treating them as such would be grotesquely immoral.
(One thinks of the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland rushing about screaming “Off with their heads!”)
Paths to permanent residency and eventual citizenship should be found for most aliens now in the country who want to stay. Immigration quotas based on the need for additional workers at all skill levels also need to be established.
The goal should be to treat all human beings with decency and justice. The Constitution provides help to those who need guidance.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
