Feds to file lawsuit over Arizona immigration law

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by Kevin

This assumes that these "properly implemented and accounted for immigration process[es]" are able to experience any greater degree of success at solving whatever problems exist in the immigrant community that they set out to fix.

Yep, which is the point of including the word "properly."

From my vantage point [yes, anecdotally], government solutions to community problems are not typically successful. For every successful program, e.g., Rural Electrification, we have boondoggles like NCLB.

Subjective (and often self-serving) definitions of "success" aside, this isn't a free-market problem - the government will be involved one way or another. Obviously the government does not have a great track record, but it is the only option, so doing the right thing (in theory) then hoping for the best is not misplaced faith on any level.

Your proposal is to essentially solve the problem with newer/better bureaucrats. Wouldn't money be more effectively spent at actually eliminating the problem of illegal immigration altogether (border enforcement), and THEN focusing on meeting our country's need for immigrant labor rather than focusing on meeting the immigrant labor's need for our country?

Why do you expect the government to correctly secure a border in a more effective/efficient manner than they can perform "bureaucracy"? There's literally no track record of effective border security to the south - at least some bureaucratic programs have worked.

This isn't medieval times - there's too much money and too much desire for anything resembling efficient processes to work on the border . . . unless you can draw a modern parallel among Khan's hordes?

Isn't the first step to climbing out of a hole you've dug yourself into to stop digging?

Well, you've answered this question yourself already:

The people demand first that the border be secure, then after that, we can worry about making sure immigrant labor stays on the up and up--and let's face it, that's doubtful no matter what. Companies use illegal immigrant labor to avoid having to pay wages, worry about workers' compensation, etc., not necessarily because those are jobs Americans won't do.

First - "the people" is stupid, and the point of representative democracy is to give them what they need, not what they want on current whim.

Second and most importantly - you even identify the problem with your hole analogy! The first step to climbing out of a hole is to find the most effective path out of the hole - start from the beginning, not the end. You are essentially arguing for doing what we've always done (digging), but doing it faster and with more shovels, with the same people (corporations, INS) overseeing the effort.

I'm proposing we get rid of the shovels, and introduce tools specifically designed for creating steps out of a hole, while removing the foremen who have proven so corrupt over time.