The Great Resolution

The headline to the statement below was something about the Obama administration’s fragile hold on the Latino electorate and how it all depends on promises made regarding immigration reform. It was a paragraph, but I schematized it some. I lettered and numbered it so as to really absorb its genius. It reads:

(A) White House spokesman Adam Abrams said the president wanted to sign a bill that strengthened border enforcement and
(B) cracked down on employers "who exploit undocumented workers to undercut American workers."
(C) He also said the president wanted to resolve the status of 12 million people who were in the U.S. illegally,
a. "that they should have to register,
b. pay a penalty for breaking the law
c. and meet other obligations of legal immigrants such as
i. paying taxes,
ii. or leave the country."

(http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100215/pl_mcclatchy/3427344)

Without getting all poli’ical n’ stuff, I’d like to point out how asinine this statement is.

A is ridiculously empty. Of course, the job of a president should be to sign bills that strengthen border enforcement. One of the essential requirements of Nationhood is that it has borders and that they are protected. So every President since Washington been signing bills that “strengthened border enforcement”—this is nothing new.

B just says: “don’t hire illegals or you’ll get it…you’ll get it good.” Again, every president since I’ve been alive has made this threat. The interesting thing about this quote is that it adds that the “undercut American workers” bit. So here we have an interesting logical situation: if the exploited undocumented worker does not undercut American workers, then ...what? Most “illegal immigrants” never undercut American workers. I have never seen an “American worker” cut lettuce for a living—work that requires one to bend over for 12 hours a day 7 days a week without the possibility of a chiropractor…in the mud and without being allowed to spit or pee or talk or shit for fear that wiping will contaminate the hands and in turn the lettuce…. So B is idiotic.

C: Once, while driving past Little Rock, Arkansas, I saw a billboard that caught my attention. It said: “God wants the 11 million illegal aliens out of our country.” I guess God doesn’t always get what God wants, since the number is now 12 mill—this was in 2004. The Great Resolution, or C, will take a variety of forms, each with its own moral twists: a: they’ll register, and wear an I for illegal; b: they’ll register, wear the I, and pay for it; and c: they’ll register, wear the I, pay for it, and (i) pay taxes or (ii) leave the country. Which means, of course, that if they pay taxes, they can stay…or not.

The Great Resolution is, again, nothing new. Most illegal aliens already pay taxes in the hope that they’ll be able to apply for residency one day, at which time they’ll be asked: have you paid your taxes? At which point they can say confidently: well, yes, I have all these 1040’s stretching back 24 years. And, as per certain implied agreements, they’ll be allowed to stay...or not...usually not.

This all means one thing: Obama can easily keep his campaign promise by doing exactly what has been done before. The Illegals, of course, will keep on paying taxes and if they’re "asked" to leave, will leave and turn right around.*

*at the risk of saying way too much about my political sensibilities, I voted for Obama and will continue to support him and his administration. But this policy, or its representation in the media, just sounds illogical...and that's upsetting.