Common sense needs to guide immigration matters

Lou Marzeles
Editor and Publisher

     A lot of people lately think Arizona should be dropped from the U. S. Maybe Mexico might like to have it. But what if Mexico were to adopt a tough new anti-immigration law?
     Oh, wait. Such a law was already passed. In Arizona. And a lot of people are outraged about it. But what’s the law really about? Let’s see. The difference is that before, if you were an illegal alien, you could get picked up by the INS and deported; whereas now, if you’re an illegal alien, you can get picked up by the INS and deported. Of course, the real issue is the broad latitude the new law grants law enforcement in “researching” whether or not one is legal, which seems largely to do with one’s appearance and whether or not one can produce documentation of legal status. If such a law were in effect in Washington, the police could see you walking down the street in Goldendale, decide that maybe you look different enough to be illegal, and stop and ask for your papers.
     And by the way, some are calling for such a law here in Washington state—though, to be sure, far more are insisting that no such law ever sees the light of day. The debate here has begun.
     The reality is, a lot of Americans are out of work, and a lot of illegal aliens have jobs in the U. S. And a lot of those illegal aliens are doing work that, frankly, no Americans want to do. And some Americans who are not working could do those jobs, if they were motivated enough, and still you can’t make people want to work. And most illegal aliens are hard-working people. And still illegal is illegal, and there’s an inherent problem with illegality.
     Can there be a way for illegal aliens to legally do work that would actually benefit the American economy, without enacting heavyhanded law and without compromising jobs that Americans can and want to do? We’ll find out.