Incentives and Disincentives

“We can’t round up and bus 11 (or 20) million illegals.”
 
“They just want to make a better life for themselves.”
 
“People aren’t illegal.”
 
You have heard these and other statements, repeatedly, about illegal aliens. People perform linguistic gymnastics in order to portray people who violate American sovereignty as harmless, but the fact is, the very existence of such law-breakers calls into question our seriousness about the Rule of Law in the US. Whether one prefers less precise terms, such as “illegal immigrants,” or less honest terms, such as “undocumented workers,” the inescapable fact remains that those who come into our country while dodging border authorities are aliens, and are here illegally.
 
Ignore the argument that we cannot deport them all. First, we do not know how many illegals are here. With the exception of the brazen few thousands who openly mock authorities, most do not tend to rush to the nearest camera or pollster and declare their legal status. Nevertheless, the accepted number is in the 11 million range. Second, there is not a need to deport them all.
 
When political personalities such as Newt Gingrich have spoken of “self-deportation,” they have been laughed at. Liberals do not understand the concept, and the “mainstream” media is not interested in assisting in the spreading of knowledge. Gingrich brought up self-deportation during his 2012 campaign for president, taking a known concept and giving it greater visibility.
 
When American authorities enforce immigration laws, the risk of being caught living as an illegal alien is so great that people avoid coming here. For those already here, the jobs dry up, government benefits are denied, and the entire purpose for coming to the US is nullified. Illegals “deport” themselves.
 
An example of self-deportation has taken an unusual turn in 2017. In March, the CBC reported that Canadian authorities have already detained more Mexicans this year than in all of last year. While the numbers are low (over 400 detentions), it is a clear example that the incentive to come to the US has dimmed now that Donald Trump is President of the United States.
 
During the Obama years, there were times when the number of resident illegal aliens dropped because of the poor economy. Illegal aliens struggled to find work, so they went home.
 
When employers are given the signal that there will not be consequences for hiring illegal aliens, the Rule of Law suffers. When sanctuary cities are allowed to exist, the fabric of society is torn; the disruption is filled by illegal aliens.
 
The devious nature of sanctuary cities cannot be overlooked. The law-breakers who lead these cities may assert the high moral ground, claiming to help people, but they have chosen to elevate the destruction of citizenship - a forgotten institution - over what we used to call “playing by the rules.” Think about all the legal immigrants and naturalized citizens who exhibited respect for America, the Constitution, and a society where Law is respected. Those people followed the rules, are more likely to show love for our way of life, and are more prone to fit in - to blend into the great Melting Pot of our diverse nation.
 
Unfortunately, the rogue leaders of various cities around the country spit on all of these concepts, and spit on the hard work and respect shown by legal immigrants and naturalized citizens.
 
The claim that city police are asked to perform the duties of federal officials is bogus. They are merely asked to detain individuals who cannot demonstrate American citizenship until federal authorities arrive. Sanctuary cities instead rush to release suspected illegal aliens, just as the NYPD did in February when they released a member of the fierce Central American gang, MS-13. Fortunately, the extreme ideology of mayor Bill de Blasio was thwarted when I.C.E. tracked down the gang member. The federal government protected New Yorkers when the mayor refused to do so.
 
Federal authorities who are carrying out the law - protecting our borders - have been made out to be enemies, but the reality is they are carrying out constitutional duties. They are the good guys.
 
The felonious city leaders are working against taxpayers, unconcerned about the tens of billions of dollars drained from our economy every year by illegals. Sanctuary city leaders work against crime-fighting efforts and put up the false argument that not all illegals commit crimes. Whether all illegal aliens commit crimes - other than coming here illegally - is not relevant. What is relevant is that the ones who do come here and commit crimes committed preventable crimes. At what point do these law-breaking city leaders of sanctuary cities become personally liable for encouraging and allowing crime and criminals to prosper?
 
Federal authorities are thus denied the opportunity to screen illegal aliens for national security threats. Can the mayors of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Rochester, and many, many other cities guarantee us that they are not harboring national security threats? The obvious answer is “no,” they cannot make such guarantees. This issue is not only about Hispanics fleeing backward, Third-World, socialistic failures in the Americas.
 
One common group of advocates for sanctuary cities is young people, which demonstrates a breakdown of our education system. These young people obviously are not being taught the value of citizenship, national sovereignty, and e pluribus unum. These young people have not yet had many life experiences, yet they know what is best for the rest of us. They are ready to run for political office and disrupt society in any way possible to advance their ill-conceived causes.
 
No one has the “right” to enter the United States. In our Republic, American citizens elect representatives to pass laws within the framework of the Constitution. These laws become the will of the People. No citizen of another country has the right to overturn the will of the People. They can only obey or, like the citizens of America, suffer the consequences of breaking the laws.
 
The easiest route for solving our national problem caused by this invasion of illegal aliens is to encourage self-deportation. We need to make it as unattractive as possible for people to come here illegally and to stay here. We citizens get to choose who comes here, and given the mess we are in currently, self-deportation should be a national priority.