In Connecticut, one mayor is thinking about identification cards to help
illegal immigrants, while another mayor is trying to arrest day workers on
street corners. In Burbank, Calif., local officials have required Home Depot to
build a shelter for the large numbers of immigrant laborers waiting outside the
store for work.
In bits and pieces, communities all over the country are trying desperately
to deal with what is really an immense national problem. Only Washington can
untangle an immigration mess that draws a growing number of illegal immigrants
across the nation's borders every year. Labeled criminals or even "invaders" by
a few in President Bush's own party, many of these immigrants are actually
risking their lives to take on the jobs that many Americans have chosen to
avoid. One contractor recently told The Los Angeles Times that if officials
began cracking down on illegal immigrants, "who will rebuild New Orleans?"
Only a comprehensive plan, a bipartisan one with many of the ideas outlined
earlier by President Bush, can address this national issue. Yes, such a plan
needs to secure the borders, but it must also establish a guest worker program
that serves industry, American workers and immigrants. And it needs to deal
humanely and fairly with the 11 million immigrants who are already here
illegally.
So far, a bill by Senators John McCain, the Arizona Republican, and Edward
Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat, has the most workable solution. Their bill
tries to lure people out of the shadows by offering a lengthy route to legal
status. Immigrants working here illegally would pay a fine of at least $2,000,
and go to the end of the long line of those trying to get legitimate working
papers. Sending them home first to apply for permission to immigrate simply
won't work.
Washington is still circling these ideas too slowly, forcing too many people
and politicians to take matters into their own hands. It's time for Congress and
the president to do their job. The local communities, in coming up with
haphazard or dangerous solutions, like vigilantes in New Mexico and makeshift
arrests for overcrowded housing on Long Island, are really crying out for a
national cure.
