Posted by
arandomguy on Monday, November 27, 2006 11:06:20 PM
Trying to gain support for his presidential bid, Senator Joe Biden has begun the 2008 campaign season already with a stop in South Carolina, the first southern state to hold a presidential primary. He was scheduled to speak for a half-an-hour, but ended up speaking for an entire hour on a variety of issues.
Normally, I don't bring up what Joe Biden says, because he is just another bloviating politician with whom I generally disagree with. However, what he had to say on illegal immigration has piqued my curiosity because, astonishingly as it may seem, he's got the right idea. He said that he is in favor of tightening the border with fences, and punishing businesses that hire illegals.
"Mexico is a country that is an erstwhile democracy where they have the greatest disparity of wealth," he said, as he explained why illegal immigration from Mexico is such a problem.
"People are driving across that border with tons, tons - hear me - tons of everything from byproducts for methamphetamines, to cocaine, to heroine," he said, speaking about the illegal drug trafficking trade, something very popular along the southern border, and a continuing source of frustration for law enforcement.
I don't agree with Biden on most other issues, but even Democrats can get it right once in awhile. It's hard to tell whether he's pandering to moderates in an attempt to run for president, or whether he legitimately believes what he is saying - or perhaps, both. Even so, it is good to see some senators from the other side of the aisle coming and speaking out on the illegal immigration problem.
We do need a fence on the border, and we do need to punish business that hire illegals. Oddly enough, the Democrats also want to raise the minimum wage, something I am opposed to. Raising the minimum wage will only exacerbate the illegal immigration problem. The reason illegals are hired, is because businesses don't want to pay their employee's the minimum wage. If the minimum wage goes up 40%, this problem will only get worse.
One way to help stop the illegals from coming, is remove the business practices that make it beneficial for teh illegals to come here in the first place. This includes no social welfare for illegals, no health care, no education, and everything else that real US citizens get. But we also must make it so that it is no longer profitable for companies to hire illegals. Stiff penalties - $1,000,000 for every illegal laborer perhaps - and a strong fence on the southern border will quickly eliminate the profitability of illegal labor.
And if the labor isn't profitable, the businesses won't hire illegals. And if the businesses do not hire illegals, then there will be no reason for the aliens to come here and stay here. They will stay where they are - Mexico, and leave our border alone.
Whether Joe Biden understands this or not, I do not know. But he does seem to have it right about the fence, and that's a good first step.