Friday, November 18, 2005

Dallas Cop Memorial Service

The header links to a story on the Dallas Morning News web site about the memorial service held this morning for Officer Brian Jackson. Officer Jackson was shot dead after responding to a domestic violence call early Sunday morning.
He had been married two months.
The suspect in the shooting is Juan Lizcano, a 28 year old illegal immigrant.
Some say now is not the time to discuss immigration. Too emotional. Kind of like it may not be the time to discuss the war in Iraq. I digress.

While I am sympathetic to the desire of the illegals to better their lives, I am also bothered by their plight. As long as they remain in the country, they remain vulnerable to exploitation by landlords, employers and lenders out of the fear of being deported. I know too many "mo-jos" that walk in the societal shadows in search of the American Dream. Often the best employees a company has, they take the jobs natives don't want to do. Because the pay isn't enough for a native to do it. So after we eliminate the illegals, be prepared to pay more for services. A lot more.

So how do we stem the tide and slow the illegal immigration flood that has some in the southwest patrolling their land with guns?

A mylar fence (actually two fences with a space between them) has been proposed. From the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, proponents want to have motion-detectors and video survelliance support a larger, better armed Border Patrol. My first thought is that it won't work and would probably harm the enviroment by putting barriers in animals migration paths.

A voice on Dallas radio yesterday called for a Greyhound to leave Dallas for the border every afternoon, loaded with the undocumented picked up the day before. Besides needing a caravan of 50 buses, this man abviously hasn't seen Cheech and Chong's movie Up In Smoke. Remember the scene where the man (dressed in a tuxedo), woman in wedding gown, and untold number of relatives called INS to get deported? Seems they planned to be married that evening in Mexico and figured a free ride back, courtesy of Uncle Sam, was the perfect transportation.

My idea is somewhat different. In order to make it less attractive to come to this country, we need to make it worse here than there (WAIT! THAT MAY BE CHENEY/ROVE'S SECRET PLAN!). But seriously, in everything there is a risk/reward equation that ultimately directs our action. So, we need to make it not worth the effort. Plus, my idea solves two huge problems facing the country in one stroke. Are you ready?

What do most small-to-mid size communities in the upper Midwest face? Shrinking tax bases, due to an exodus of the young. A decline in the farm belt is creating ghost towns and antique malls at a rate equal to the spread of Wal-Mart in the South.

So, let's build Federal Detention Centers throughout rural North and South Dakota. Enough to house 2 or 3 million undocumented persons, 5,000 per. 600 of them. Create thousands of new jobs and bring ecomonic growth and stability to such a vital part of our land.

Then, whenever an undocumented person is detained by any law enforcement personnel (municipal, county, state or federal) in the lower 48, that person is the lucky winnner of a mandatory 8 year vacation in the beautiful Black Hills, or with a view of them. In the summer. In the winter, they see more snow than Carter has pills. And temperatures to die for. The sentence begins immediately. If an employer is also found to have employeed such a person, they get three years. Hopefully, their business will be there when they get out. And hopefully, the undocumented's family will miss them and the kids will wait to grow up while Mommy or Daddy is away.

2 Comments:

Blogger Lucy Stern said...

I don't think that plan will work. Who know? We will have to feed them, cloth them, pay for health care for them. Aren't we already doing that? I still go for the fence with the razor wire on top. I really don't mind people coming over here legally, but the ones who come illegally should be sent home. Maybe our country should up the number who can come over legally.

I live in Houston,TX so I see how many people are here who just walked over the boarder. Near the boarder, people who own land and farms are having problems with the ilegals stealing things or just running thru their property day and night. It really is a big problem and the Bush admin. needs to be doing something about it. I worry about terrorists coming over and playing havoc in our home land. People of middle eastern descent have already been caught entering the country.

As far as people not wanting to work for lower pay, they could have the people on welfare do some of that work and it would give them more insentive to go out and find a good job. I really don't know what would work, but something needs to be done. Thanks for the post. Have a nice Thanksgiving.

8:14 AM  
Blogger Lucy Stern said...

Oh yes, It's really sad about that Dallas police office. I feel for his precious wife. My husband is a retired police officer, so I have a soft spot for the wives of officers.

8:15 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home