YETMO

”Immigration Legislation Emerges from Senate (Week of May 22 – 26, 2006)"

Again, this week is marked by the immigration debate. The end is near. Or, has it just begun?

It’s not that I’m tired of all the heat and light surrounding this issue. It’s just that I’m tired of all the heat and light surrounding this issue.

When can we citizens get straight, clear, and comprehensive information about the actual depth and breadth of this issue? Until then, how can this country devise – and execute – appropriate immigration policies and procedures?

Whatever emerges from Congress must be administered by executive branch employees at the national, state, and local levels. Can the country provide clear direction for them to follow?

I say not. Sure, some are very confident in their positions. But do they have the complete picture? I think not.

This issue reminds me of two things, both conceptually related to one another. First, I think about the story of three blind men (or women) feeling and investigating an elephant. One is examining, through the sense of touch only, the trunk. Another, the legs. The last, the animal’s tail. Each paints a materially different picture. Each believes three different objects are being described. Each is right; each is wrong.

Second, the hammer and nail analogy. If you are a “hammer,” the world looks like a nail. I’m experiencing that through my neurologist. I’m dealing with chronic back and neck pain. His solution is surgery. He’s the hammer; surgery is his nail.

How does immigration fit? What’s the hammer? What’s the nail? Are we sensing the elephant’s trunk, or tail?

Readers of “The Forum” know that yours truly is asking journalists and the Department of Homeland Security to provide us with a clear, comprehensive “problem statement” or description of the immigration issue.

As an example, I’d like something this simple:

Volumes of illegal immigrants into the U.S. are very difficult to calculate, both in terms of numbers and country of origin. An assessment of the likely overall magnitude of entrants can only be made by inferring from those intercepted, the number of others who entered undetected.
A total of seven Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offices administer laws addressing this problem and, through their actions, apprehend, detain, adjudicate, incarcerate, and release individuals based on an examination of their specific circumstances.

Metrics collected and analyzed are aggregated and DHS estimates, based on this information, that annually approximately 10 million people enter this country illegally, of which only 10 percent are apprehended. Of those apprehended, 500,000 are returned immediately to their home countries, 300,000 are incarcerated due to their criminal backgrounds, and 200,000 are released on the promise of appearance before an adjudication hearing.

Stop! The above is not true. I made it up. It’s just an example of how relatively easy it seems for someone knowledgeable (in DHS?) to frame the issue in plain English. Someone should be able to fill in the blanks with accurate information.

A similar simple explanation would be helpful regarding the true costs of illegals. An article by E.J. Dionne (“A Debate Beyond The Fence”) addresses this.

Information is what we need to achieve understanding, formulate sensible and balanced policies, and ultimately achieve success in enforcing immigration laws.

Until a clear picture is painted, I fear we’ll keep going around in circles despite whatever House and Senate conferees can agreed upon.