If you head down to Tijuana at night and put on a pair of infrared night-vision goggles, it looks like the start of the Boston Marathon!"  - comedian Dennis Miller

 

If only this were something we could all laugh at together. Sadly, it is not. Every day, America's borders are repeatedly violated with utter impunity. And the powers-that-be in Washington are simply not going to do anything about it. I'm not sure which I find more appalling:  that no one can see (or sees but won't admit) that a border open enough for Mexican migrant workers to cross is also open enough for Al Qaeda to bring weapons across, or the willingness of America's political leaders to openly defy their constituents and place her security at serious risk.

 

If we are ever to get a handle on the borders (both Mexico's and Canada's), there are some first principles that we must somehow get back to, before dealing with any immigration-related economic issues:

 

• Every nation has the right to self-defense (the cumulative sum total of the self-defense rights of all the individuals therein), and they have the right to decide for themselves who shall and shall not enter their lands and by what standards such entry requests shall be evaluated. Included in this is the right to take whatever legal means are necessary to stop those who would attempt to get around these security measures. This could mean anything from a simple paperwork check to a fence or wall, guards, and cameras, or even military forces. And it is not for any nation to judge how another may do this; as passé as this may sound to some of a more liberal persuasion, there is still such a thing as sovereignty. It matters not whether anyone else likes it.

 

• As much as we might identify with those who are economically desperate, the fact is that those who illegally sneak across the border are, first and foremost, lawbreakers. As in criminals. Many seem to think this crime is about as serious as a college freshman drinking a beer, but it is rather far more than that. Each illegal alien sneaking over the border is effectively raising their middle finger at the rule of law and thus at America herself. If these folks love America so much (as some disingenuously claim to invoke sympathy), this is a rather funny way of showing it. Is it not reasonable to think that those who show proper respect for the country they would like to enter should get first consideration, ahead of the lawless?  Furthermore, if we start postulating that economic hardship is justification for criminal behavior, we might as well wipe the theft, burglary, and robbery laws off the books. And then it will be a quick descent into anarchy. This is a precedent that cannot be set if we wish to maintain the rule of law.

 

From the above principles, a set of fairly common-sense policy actions can be pretty quickly ascertained. And contrary to the bullying and intimidating epithets frequently hurled by those opposed, there is nothing racist or bigoted about it (unless inanimate objects like walls somehow can pick and choose those whom they will block, which would be quite the accomplishment for brick, mortar, chain-link, and the like). In fact, the most important reason for doing this has nothing to do with Mexico or Canada or even economics at all; any border open enough for migrants to enter is open enough for terrorists to do likewise.

 

•  Erect an effective security wall on both the Mexican and Canadian borders that would put a stop to 99% of the illegal crossings that presently occur. If properly designed and outfitted with camera technology, the need for security personnel to man it would be minimal. If need be, dig down to block any tunneling under that might be attempted. Just as a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, so too is a wall only as effective as its most traversable point.

 

•  Make it crystal clear that, for any who do get past the wall and subsequently discovered, their only reward will be a presumption of further criminal intent (based on the initial criminal act of illegal entry), and after such interrogation as may be deemed necessary and appropriate (to prevent any further attempts and obtain any information about other potential criminal activities), an immediate return trip to their country of origin.

 

•  Just as we cannot play only defense against Al Qaeda, so too do the root causes of illegal immigration have to be dealt with if we are ever to get a real handle on the situation. Which is a polite way of saying that Mexico needs to get its house in order and stop shoving all its inconvenient problems (and inconvenient people) north of the border, just as a child "cleans" his room by loading everything into the closet until the door bursts open and it all spills out. Hopefully, a real wall would help to finally motivate this. If Mexico can become a better place to live, then a whole lot of folks won't feel such a need to leave it in the first place. I do not claim to be an expert in Mexican politics, but I don't think I need to be to know that nothing will change for the better down there if Vicente Fox and his successors think they can just keep dumping their problems on America. (Kind of like the child filling the closet instead of truly cleaning up the room.)

 

•  Make it equally clear that, for those who knowingly employ illegal aliens, the penalties will be harsh. This crime also seems to fall into the "college freshman drinking" mentality, but again it is far more. Every time a business helps an illegal alien to hide him or herself inside America, they are aiding and abetting a criminal. And if they cannot be certain exactly with whom they are dealing (which is pretty darn likely), then they are putting America's security at risk. I daresay that's more important than cheaper labor. And just as improving Mexico ought to motivate folks to stay, so too ought knowing that few here will risk employing them. Being poor doesn't mean they're not smart enough to do risk/reward evaluations and determine that the trip isn't worth it.

 

• On a related note, to the extent that this is fed by Americans being lazy, arrogant, and thinking that manual labor is somehow beneath them, we need to rediscover the work ethic. It may seem quaint to say so, but sloth was once considered a deadly sin. And given the current obesity epidemic, I daresay we have some suitable personnel out there who could use the exercise. Last, it is by working this type of job that we get and stay motivated to shoot for something higher. It was true for my grandfather, who in the 1920s shoveled coal and cleaned ashes at creameries, moved outhouses, and dug fence post holes along highways to pay for semesters of college; it was true for me in the early 1990s, when I washed dishes, lugged boxes in warehouses, and spent a hot summer in a steel plant to help pay my tuition; and it should be true for us all. There is nothing dishonorable in honest work, however menial. Hopefully, it is every bit as temporary.

 

• Finally, to the extent Congress can make America more competitive with other nations that have inexpensive labor, it should do so. Companies can also do risk/reward assessments, and know when skirting the law isn't worth it. For starters, I would propose a cut of the 35% corporate income tax, the fifth-highest in the world. There also needs to be tort reform (so companies don't have to spend so much on lawyers and frivolous lawsuits), something to limit regulations (which have huge compliance costs; Sarbanes-Oxley alone has cost public company shareholders $1.4 trillion dollars), and something to limit benefit requirements (a recent joke is that General Motors is now a health-care insurer that also happens to make cars). I have long believed that to the extent America is uncompetitive, it is more self-inflicted than we care to admit. Which means it's self-curable as well.

  

Much as the fight against Islamic terror is a matter of will, so too is the issue of illegal immigration--which is fitting, since both at their core are about American security and self-defense first and foremost. But beyond that, it's not a question of what is right and proper or what we ought to do, but a question of whether we have the will and fortitude to be politically incorrect and do it. Make no mistake, this is something that will have to come from the grassroots up, as neither political party has any interest in changing a thing. Republican business interests want the cheap labor (and fear of accusations of racism), while Democrats want the instant constituency for big-government programs (and voting bloc). We must steadfastly hold all their feet to the fire, for if they feel free to openly defy the will of the people on this, then Congress is as much a threat to security as anyone scaling a wall.