Knight of Pan: How Many Jobs Do Illegals Take?

My good friend Knight of Pan likes to complain about how many jobs illegal immigrants steal from Americans. I'll usually take the opposite side of the issue when he posts because I like playing devil's advocate. I also like calling myself devil's advocate. Satan's Sponsor? I like that as well. But my esteemed running mate beat me to it today. Which is good. It allows me to be a bit more serious about this issue.

As a coworker loves to point out, we used to call them illegal aliens because they didn't belong here. Now we call them illegal immigrants. How long until we stop calling them illegal? That's the xenophobic point of view and it is extremely valid. This is a country made up of laws. These laws only work when everybody follows them. A person who violates the law is gaining some sort of unfair advantage over other people. Exceed the speed limit and you can get to your destination faster than others. J-walking will get you across the street faster than someone who uses only the designated crossing areas. Tax evasion allows you to keep more money than your honest neighbor. Robbing someone gives you the things that person has accumulated without having to acquire them through labor, inheritance, or luck. Hire illegal aliens and you can avoid paying top dollar and benefits. As Mr. Burns once said, cheating is the gift man gives himself. The rule of law is there to keep people from acquiring an unfair advantage. They say all men are equal in the eyes of the law and that is the implied theory. We won't get into how far removed from the truth that is, but the theory is sound.

Now imagine you live in Vietnam. You earn about $100 a month. You hate it there. After your taxes, rent, and food you are left with about $5 each month as spending/savings money. Everyone in your family, rather than spending that $5 each month, saves it. It comes to about $20 a month. You know that in order to enter the United States as a student, get a place to live, and to apply for a student work visa, you'll need at least $1,500. That means it will take you over six years just to get yourself into the US. In order to maintain that visa, you have to stay in school. In order to afford school and a place to live you must keep working full time. By the time you are done paying for school, food, and rent, you've got about $20 a month to spend and you send it all back to your family in Vietnam so they can come to America as well. Meanwhile you apply for citizenship and wait, hoping they will keep granting you work visas because you sure as hell don't want to go back to Vietnam. And your whole extended family is counting on you. They want out of a country where they don't agree with the politics. All the while you are paying taxes and social security into a system that you may never see a single benefit out of if next year they decide to kick you out. Knowing that this is exactly what a coworker of mine has been going through for several years now, I can see the appeal of crossing illegally. If you're pretty and clever, you'll hook up with a citizen and get married. Quick and easy immigration. You can't blame people for wanting to improve their lives. If you were in a similar situation you would curse the country that tried to prevent you from escaping your plight.

Yep, immigration is a really fucked up issue with only one real solution that will more than likely never happen. Get rid of all borders and all governments and you no longer have to deal with legal and illegal immigrants/aliens. That is just a utopian pipe dream. One can only hope that people will achieve a level of sophistication where they perceive each other as true equals and no longer require imperfect laws that try to enforce equality.

Stupid people unable to perceive each other as equals. Glad I'm smarter than them.