Friday, November 02, 2007

I'm back...

but thought I'd start using this blog to also discuss the e-mails that float around on various topics. Got one today that likened illegal immigration to burglary. Just thought I'd modify the scenario to paint a more accurate picture of what's happened in the US, particularly with Mexico.

Imagine I want someone to clean my house but don't want to pay market rates for their labor (I can't find people to do that kind of work for a price I find economical). Imagine my neighbors are the same. Now, imagine I find you on the street and you're willing to work for obscene wages so I invite you to live and work in my house. I turn a blind eye to your illegal status because the fruits of your labor are cheap and my household budget is much lower than it would have been otherwise. Thanks to your hard work, my standard of living is also much higher.

Imagine that you get old and I hire your children, and grandchildren for generations. Now imagine someone from another neighborhood, also full of houses with illegal help, discovers this situation and starts complaining about it. Is tossing you and your family out on their collective ear the appropriate course of action?

This analogy is obviously imperfect but makes a critical point in this debate: illegal immigration is not a new phenomenon. It's been happening for decades and it's financed a standard of living we wouldn't have otherwise had. Putting an end to it is all well and good, but viciously turning on people who helped build this country seems far from the right thing to do.

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