Why Not Enforce Existing Immigration Laws?

John F. McManus
JBS
Saturday June 9, 2007

With laws already on the books to deal with the flood of illegal immigration, many in Congress and the President refuse to enforce them. Now, with their plan to "reform" laws dealing with immigration evaporating, they ought to consider enforcing existing laws to deal with the problem.

Wouldn't it be grand if our leaders would decide to look at already existing laws to treat the very serious problem of illegal immigration? Wouldn't it be wonderful to hear a collective "Why didn't I think of that?" oozing out of Washington? Consider:

• Our nation already has a law prohibiting illegal immigration. It isn't being enforced.
  
• Our nation recently passed legislation mandating the erection of a fence along the southern border. It isn't being built.
  
• There are laws against hiring illegal immigrants. They are widely winked at.
  
• California voters enacted a law (via referendum) to put an end to the extremely costly dispensing of welfare, education, medical, and other benefits to illegal immigrants. A judge voided it.
  
• Mexican officials, both within the U.S. and in their own national offices, counsel poor Mexicans who want to violate our immigration laws — in flagrant violation of normal nation-to-nation customs. These seriously unfriendly acts are tolerated.

The obvious realization looking for some champions to voice it loudly and clearly is that United States doesn't need any "overhaul" of immigration laws. It needs leaders who will protect our nation "against invasion," as called for by Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. It needs enforcement of various laws already on the books. And it needs some common sense to address a tremendously serious problem.

If the various "freebies" doled out to illegal immigrants at taxpayer expense (education, medical care, food, housing, etc.) were terminated, most of the illegals would go home.

The United States welcomes more legal immigrants each year than the rest of the world combined. We have nothing to apologize for when the topic arises.

What we don't need is another amnesty, like the one in 1986 that was supposed to end the illegal immigration problem. It didn't. Now, a similar measure addressing a far larger number of illegal immigrants already in residence is what so many in Congress and President Bush want — even though they couch their desire in nice-sounding terms.

America's leaders don't even have to fret over whether to use a ball point pen or a pencil to do what's right. The laws they should enforce are already on the books.

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