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Americans Must Choose:Immigration Chaos or the Illusion of Privacy? - An estimated 11 million people have crashed our borders and untold millions more are likely to immigrate illegally to the U.S. in the coming years. America has lost control of its immigration policy, leaving our political leaders scrambling for ways to ratify the chaos that exists through amnesty or guest worker programs. At the same time that illegal immigration has spiraled out of control, the INS has virtually abandoned all efforts to enforce immigration laws beyond the immediate border. Between 1998 and 2000, INS quietly ended any pretense of enforcement in the interior of the country, sending a clear signal that anyone who could elude the Border Patrol was home free. In just two years, fines against employers who violated laws against hiring illegal aliens dropped by an astonishing 97 percent - from 7,115 fines levied in 1998 to just 178 in 2000. Today, virtually no illegal alien who has not been convicted of a violent crime is repatriated to his or her homeland. The excuse given for abandoning efforts to detect illegal immigrants in the work force and fining employers who hire them is that the law is unenforceable. Without any verifiable work eligibility documents, employers have a built-in excuse for ignoring the law. The lack of such a document is attributed to Americans’ aversion to government-issued ID and concerns about privacy. In reality, the lack of a secure work eligibility document is attributable to the enormous lobbying power of cheap labor employers and immigrant advocacy groups who do not want immigration laws enforced. Americans have long ago accepted electronically verifiable documents, such as credit cards, ATM cards, and even state-issued drivers’ licenses. Throughout the democratic world, similar documents have been used for years without infringing on people’s civil liberties. Moreover, people understand that a verifiable work authorization document, like an electronically readable Social Security card, will not make one bit of difference to their privacy. Unless someone has been living in a cave somewhere, the government and countless private data collection services already have access to information about each and every one of us. We cannot lose what we no longer have. The alternative to a verifiable work authorization document, linked to the Social Security database, is immigration chaos. The price of maintaining the illusion of privacy will be the loss of something real. Without any means of controlling who settles within our borders, Americans will lose control of their domestic labor market, social institutions, open space, language and culture. The 2000 Census data confirm what the price has been for uncontrollable immigration. It has resulted in the largest ten-year increase in our population, exacerbating domestic problems like urban sprawl and straining resources. Our nation’s overcrowded schools are not the result of the so-called baby boom echo, but the 8 million increase in the school age population over the past 30 years is entirely attributable to immigration. The health care crisis and the dramatic rise the in medically uninsured, which has hospitals turning patients away from emergency rooms, is similarly a direct result of mass immigration. With the abandonment of interior enforcement and a contemplated amnesty for millions of illegal aliens these conditions will worsen. If we have no means of determining who has a right to live, work and enjoy social benefits in this country, how do we exert any control over our borders? Given the choice between immigration chaos and having one’s Social Security card verified electronically when applying for a job, most Americans would opt for the minor intrusion of verification. Since most employers obey most laws, the INS would then be able to focus its enforcement resources on the small number of employers who do not. Stiff penalties against such employers and repatriation of aliens found to be here illegally would send a strong message that the United States is serious about controlling its borders, its labor market, its population size and its vital social institutions. We can either maintain the illusion of privacy and accept the consequent loss of control, or we can make employer sanctions work by adopting an employment verification system that is effective and has teeth. Most Americans would prefer to preserve what they still have rather than cling to illusion. |
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