Grand Plans, Part 2

In a press conference yesterday the President expounded on his thoughts regarding the current status of US immigration laws. He believes we need illegal immigrants to come to this nation to “do the jobs that Americans just won’t do.”

This is a rather interesting position for a President who used to be on the “front line” of immigration. The President, using his experience as governor of Texas as a guide, believes he has a firm grasp of what is needed in immigration reform. He truly believes he is doing the right thing by instructing the INS to look the other way regarding allowing immigrants, undocumented to work low-paying or demeaning jobs here in the land of opportunity. Immigrants taking jobs paying significantly higher than those in their homelands, but lower than a legal worker would be paid, and certainly without benefits demanded by most American workers.

The President spoke warmly of how these immigrants enter our borders looking for opportunity. Hoping to find jobs that will enable them to put food on the table, to help those they have left behind in their native lands. He believes this is truly win-win. The immigrants get what they want, and the Americans employing them get what they want too. Benard Kerik’s recent nanny problems have brought this problem to the forefront.

Most intriguing are the apologists who think hiring an illegal nanny is no big deal. It happened to several of the potential nominees from the Clinton days, and again to President Bush. The London Times “American Soup” column talked about the issue and how hard it was to find a good nanny, especially if you hire a legal one. Why is it that those with the most money and potential to distort the government are the ones who decide they are above the law? If the President does not believe these issues are important he should work hard to truly reform immigration and employment law.

Will this happen? Unlikely. More likely is that the President and his rich and powerful friends will continue to ignore the law and “lucky” immigrants will continue to suffer lower wages and worse treatment than their legal counterparts. Thank God he’s a compassionate conservative.