Illegal Alienation

How many of you know the name Carl D. Wynn Jr.? If you don't, you haven't been paying attention to a story that may represent a common type of crime in the near future. Wynn posed last fall as a U.S. border agent in an attempt to defame a construction company in Little Rock, AR by falsely accusing them of hiring illegal immigrants. He harassed the same company by placing spike strips outside their place of business. And why, pray tell, did Wynn do these things? One could easily conclude that he did them out of anger, fear, and frustration.

Wynn is but one of millions of American citizens, not all of them natural-born, who hate illegal immigration in all its forms. They hate watching poor, uneducated, disease-ridden people who can not even speak English undermine the sovereignty of a nation capable of killing every human being on the planet several times over. They hate watching illegal immigrants rack up government benefits while legal immigrants and natural-born citizens get nothing. They hate watching pandering politicians lie to placate the increasingly-frustrated masses while they covertly conspire to continue importing illegals to sate their corporate masses, hungry for this century's version of American slave labor. They hate amnesty bills that will rob America of any chance at securing its borders and punishing those who cross them illegally with deportation (or worse). Of course, who can say for sure whether or not their hatred is focused on problems actual or imagined? In the minds of those filled with hatred, clarity of thought is not always guaranteed.

Yet, hate they do. And their numbers are growing. Unlike those who decry hatred against illegal immigrants as racist, immoral fear-mongering, I would encourage a different stance. It is not only your usual mouth-breathing militia member who stands poised to act out against illegal immigrants. Many well-adjusted, normal American citizens are slowly but surely turning against illegals. It might be difficult to understand their frustration until you learn to turn your mind away from the plight of the illegal immigrants themselves and focus upon the forces behind illegal immigration itself. Start with the Reagan amnesty bill in 1986 that prompted illegals to enter the country faster than ever before. Then observe how the Mexican government actually encourages border crossings by issuing false ID cards (matricula consular) supposedly allowing safe border crossings and legal identification in the United States. Observe how the Mexican economy thrives on money wired by illegal immigrants to relatives that remained south of the border. Witness how American corporations callously hire (and abuse) illegal immigrants at rock-bottom wages, forcing said immigrants to drain public coffers by putting pressure on social services, schools, and entitlement programs. Marvel at the increasing crime rates in areas heavily populated by illegal immigrants. Cringe as you see Latino gang graffiti appearing in cities all across America. Fume as illegals march in the streets, greedily demanding rights and privileges they neither earned nor deserve. Then, to top it all off, follow closely the story of two U.S. border patrol agents (Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean) jailed for wounding a Mexican drug dealer at the border during an illegal border crossing incident. Focus your mind on those facts (and they are facts, sadly) long enough and all mercy and love you might have felt for illegals will wither and die. They become enemies, outwardly pathetic and yet protected by the powerful, so numerous and baleful in presence that there would seem to be end to the troubles they might bring.

What is more pervasive about the anti-illegal movement is that most ire born against illegals is provoked by reality rather than fiction. Yes, the plight of the undocumented immigrant is sad. Perhaps some reasonable solution to their woe could have been found years ago. Unfortunately, those who could have affected positive change to U.S. border policy have repeatedly failed to address any of the issues surrounding illegal border crossings. It has become so bad that local governments and private groups have taken the law into their own hand by assisting border patrol agents and passing local laws intended to drive out illegals or punish businesses that hire them. It will not be long before civic action taken against illegals will metamorphose into ugly acts of civil disobedience, crime, and violence. It is not outside the realm of the imagination to expect entire communities of "angry white men" (and angry white women, and angry people of other races) banding together to hound, harass, and drive out illegal immigrants who already suffer from a lack of police protection in the United States. Acts of sabotage against businesses suspected of hiring illegals will flourish. And, if matters are left alone too long, acts of organized violence will follow. Illegals (or even those resembling illegals) will be lynched. No many how many Hispanics there are in this country, the violence will escalate, and the perpetrators will have the upper hand. Anywhere from 12 to 20 million illegals, plus another 20+ legal Hispanic Americans, can not win when faced with hordes of angry, scared, and well-armed American citizens hell bent on enforcing their own brand of vigilante justice. The government has done nothing, so they will do something, even if what they do is morally indefensible.

Make no mistake; I do not encourage this behavior. I only call it like I see it. But, we can not soothe the outrage of the many fearful American citizens whose tolerance for illegals has been pushed to its limits. We are constantly told of how illegal immigration is a reality that we must face due to our border with Mexico, and how we can not reasonably expect to deport any or all of them given our situation. I remind you today that we can not expect normal, everyday American citizens to tolerate such a massive influx of illegal immigrants, including their culture, their foreign language, and the government corruption that keeps them here through deliberate inaction. Pit the inevitable reality of illegal immigration against the growing hatred of lower and middle-class Americans, and hated wins in the end.

It is with a heavy heart that I conclude that a rational response to illegal immigration and the numerous socioeconomic pressures that cause it may no longer be possible. The time for reconciliation is at an end. As the Senate laboriously debates an immigration bill that alienates opponents of immigrant amnesty, faith in our government's ability to reign in border violations plummets. The only possible peaceful solution may come from the undocumented aliens themselves, but only if they are wise enough to see the rising tide of outrage against them and flee from it before it crashes over their heads.