Ah… if only I had been Dictator of California a few days ago. Just imagine. Half a million illegal immigrants in one place. Had things been left to me, there’d have been INS, police and National Guard blocking every street and store front once the so-called protestors assembled.

I’d have used tear gas and rubber bullets, and maybe even the trusty old water cannon to subdue the masses. I’d have had military transport planes standing by to receive the human cargo from the prison buses delivering the illegals to the nearest airport.

Then, the transports would have flown under fighter escort – uninvited, by the way – about 1000 miles into Mexico. No resistance from the Mexican government would be tolerated. They’d have landed at whatever airport was most convenient. And, they’d have booted the law-breaking, drug-dealing, job-stealing illegals onto the tarmac, then flown back to the USA to await another protest.

Okay, so I’m daydreaming. Admit it – you like the idea.

Nowadays, people can get in more trouble for speeding than for violating American sovereignty. Our borders are meaningless. Our immigration laws are a source of ridicule. And, conflict between the House and Senate will likely result in more toothless legislation that does nothing to secure our borders.

A wall along our border will accomplish nothing except to flush more taxpayer dollars down the federal toilet. A guest worker program will raise unemployment and allow Mexico to continue to export poverty to the USA.

There is only one solution to the problem of illegal immigration. We must take away their reason for coming here. To do this, we must punish those who hire them. Federal immigration laws must be vigorously enforced, with fines, imprisonment, and confiscation of assets of all who intentionally aid and abet the criminals who stream across our borders.

Once the illegals realize they have nothing to gain by sneaking across the border, they’ll stop coming. That’ll still leave us with the cross-border drug trade, but when the illegal immigration problem is under control, the drug trade will be much more easily addressed.

Those illegals who are already here will see their job prospects begin to dry up once potential employers become afraid to hire them. When that happens, they’ll begin going home. And yeah, a few legal immigrants will miss job opportunities in the process because people will be afraid to hire them for fear that they’re actually illegals with fake documents. At this point, I don’t care. Our borders must be secured no matter the cost.

Solving the illegal immigration problem will make our streets and schools safer. Wages for unskilled labor will rise, allowing more Americans to rise above the poverty line. In short, there is no downside for America in solving the crisis caused by millions of illegals slipping over our borders. We have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. The American Dream is for Americans, not criminals who slip across our southern border in the dead of night.

This won’t happen if we sit back and wait for the impotent Republicans or their equally deficient Democratic brethren to get it done. These people must be made to know that their cushy jobs on Capitol Hill are in jeopardy if they don’t act soon. Real reform. Real quick. Like maybe yesterday. That means another flood of phone calls, letters and e-mails to Washington. You know the routine. Time to get busy.


Alan Burkhart is a freelance political writer, cross-country trucker, and proud citizen of the reddest of the Red States - Mississippi. You can reach him via e-mail at: alan@alanburkhart.com or by visiting his website: www.alanburkhart.com.