Walls and History

Most mornings I stop at a convenience store for coffee on the way to work. Most times I am there it seems that every casual laborer in Northeast Atlanta is there too.

These workers usually have paint stained clothes or boots that have obviously often walked a construction site or suburban lawn. They arrive and leave in pickup trucks, vans or packed six or seven in aging cars. Or, they stand and sit in clusters just outside the bounds of the store's parking lot, waiting for contractors, landscapers and homeowners to hire them for the day.

They live packed in apartments, again, six or seven sharing the rent.

They are for the most part Hispanic, or in Atlanta, its perjorative synonym, Mexican. They aren't U.S. citizens. Their green cards are the product of the underground economy. They don't file tax returns or pay employment taxes (actually, some do pay into the tax systems by withholding, they just don't collect benefits). But, from what I can see in Atlanta, and what I understand to be true in other parts of the Country, they are the mainstay of the construction, landscaping and farming industries.

It is said that good fences make good neighbors. Should they be "walled" out as suggested by many politicians and pundits? China, France and East Germany have tried it to keep their neighbors at bay or their citizens in their places (ok, the French used big bumps in a line). Over time the neighbors came anyway and the citizens left, over, under and through the walls.

A local talk show host illustrates his call for a wall by this analogy: If your house has a torn screen, do you spend your time trying to round up the bugs that are in the house, or do you fix the screen first? It seems to me that there are several flaws in the host's argument and his analogy.

Walls aren't screens. They don't keep people out, or in, over time if there is freedom or opportunity on the other side. Ask the Chinese, French and East Germans.

People aren't bugs. Bugs aren't entering the house for a reason. They are flying around and wander through the opening in the screen. They would be just as happy to have stayed out doors, or having entered the house, go back outside (you've seen a bee banging its head against the window trying to reach the outside). Conversely, people see, or hear about, what is over the wall. They consciously plan to make their way over, under or through, and plan to stay. When caught, they do it again.

Also ignored in the wall argument is the fact that we have somewhere in the neighborhood of eight to twelve million people living in this country illegally. They have no plans to leave and if thrown out, will do their damnedest to get back in. More importantly, the politicians and pundits have no plan and no desire to to keep them out or get rid of them in the first place. Note that Congress recently voted to build 700 miles of wall but conveniently forgot to fund the construction.

So what to do? Arguing about "amnesty," "guest workers," or "illegal aliens or immigrants" accomplishes nothing. Call them what you will. But do call them. Register them. Throw out those with criminal records. After registration, throw out those that commit a crime. Prosecute the companies and suburban homeowners that hire anyone without a genuine registration card. Prosecute the companies and homeowners that do not withhold income and employment taxes. You will see registration and payment of taxes. Ask the stock holders of the offshore gambling companies whose executives have been arrested if real enforcement of laws deters violation.

Implementing this system will obviate the need for a wall. People will line up at the border to register for entry. They will stop lining up when there aren't enough paying jobs to make their move worthwhile, call it a self regulating supply and demand immigration policy. Those that still try to sneak in are probably up to no good; but, we would have the resources to stop them.