Speech Outlines Plan For Immigration, Citizenship, National Biometric ID's, And Closed BordersWe've got the Freepers and Red Staters to take Bush's speech on immigration as the implacable, infallible word of God, so I thought I'd tackle the worst case scenario I see represented in Bush's words tonight. If one looks in the right places, one can indeed picture the emerging Police State which Bush promises us in such civilized words. You see, Bush's immigration plan isn't really about keeping people out; it is more about keeping people in.
Let's take it point by point. President Bush:
First, the United States must secure its borders. This is a basic responsibility of a sovereign nation. It is also an urgent requirement of our national security. Our objective is straightforward: The border should be open to trade and lawful immigration — and shut to illegal immigrants, as well as criminals, drug dealers, and terrorists.
Seems straight forward enough. Close the borders to keep the illegal ones out. But closing the border is a two way closure - it also keeps all of the illegals, who are already here and want to remain here, in. No longer can they freely cross back and forth across the border. Certainly Bush has proposed a "plan" to aid such illegals in becoming legal, but this must seem cold comfort to those who have been on the run for years, who are already distrustful of the government.
So a certain percentage of these illegals - I would say a large percentage of them - will be "trapped" in America, wedded to low paying jobs, unable to re-cross the border without the proper paperwork. Suddenly, America is "blessed" with a captive workforce. But, of course, don't blame the poor corporations:
Once here, illegal immigrants live in the shadows of our society. Many use forged documents to get jobs, and that makes it difficult for employers to verify that the workers they hire are legal...Yet businesses often cannot verify the legal status of their employees because of the widespread problem of document fraud.
Oh, poor, poor, multi-billion dollar corporations. So helpless in stemming the tide of illegal immigrants working shit jobs for shit wages. Somebody call the wahmbulance.
So the border is closed. Okay, no more "bad guys" coming in, because Bush says so. But what about the ones who are already here? How do we deal with them? How do we protect the children????
We have expanded the number of beds in our detention facilities, and we will continue to add more.
Okay, so we've closed the border, and built more jails...er, I mean 'detention facilities'...So what else can we do, Meester Prezidunt?
Second, to secure our border, we must create a temporary worker program. The reality is that there are many people on the other side of our border who will do anything to come to America to work and build a better life...And temporary workers must return to their home country at the conclusion of their stay.
Okay, sure. But didn't you just say you couldn't get people to report for deportation already?
For many years, the government did not have enough space in our detention facilities to hold them while the legal process unfolded. So most were released back into our society and asked to return for a court date. When the
date arrived, the vast majority did not show up.
I thought so. But...you're 'temporary worker program' won't have this problem...right? Right?
A key part of that system should be a new identification card for every legal foreign worker. This card should use biometric technology, such as digital fingerprints, to make it tamper-proof.
Puuhhhhhaaaaaappperrrrrsssss, puuuhhhhleasssssse!!!!
And for those illegals now trapped on this side of the border? What do we have for them, Johnny? I mean Mr. Bush?
Basically, illegals would have to pay taxes - for how many years back, remains a mystery. But they would owe, that much is for certain. And if they want their citizenship, they'll have to pay by the rules...er, play by the rules...can anyone say, "indentured servant?"
So let's put it all together. We have a 'non-militarized' border being patrolled by our military. We have more and more detention facilities being built to house the continuing 'flood' of illegals, who will be reduced to a trickle by the new border patrol, but we must build the facilities regardless. We have a captive population of indentured servants. We have biometric national ID cards, using 'guest' workers as a test population and desensitizing element for the rest of us.
Reading all of this in the worst possible way, it sounds to me like we're being led to a real, live Police State. Remember, Bush and his brain Rove are tricky - when they say 'Clear Skies' they mean 'Black Lung Disease For All!' and I believe we discount the possibilities I've outlined at our peril. 'Hope for the best, prepare for the worst,' right? Maybe its time to drag out my collection of Police Academy movies...maybe that will help...