Question: What do conservatives think about Obama's immigration initiatives?
Answer: Barack Obama's immigration plans have been a cause of consternation for conservatives ever since he's proposed them. The very first item on his 2008 presidential campaign web site, under the heading "IMMIGRATION" were the words, "Barack Obama will secure our borders".
To do this, Obama claims it is necessary to increase the number of legal immigrants to "meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill."
There is a fundamental disconnect between these two priorities. First, illegal immigrants in America fill jobs that no one else will do because those jobs are unattractive and low-paying. They work these jobs because living in America for next to nothing is better than living in their country for nothing at all.
Ironically, Obama also believes that raising the minimum wage to $9.50 will help decrease poverty in America. Seeing immigration and poverty as two separate issues is part of the problem. Illegal immigration will never decrease until Obama and Congress address its root causes: opportunity for illegal immigrants and disincentives for them to become US citizens.
American employers who hire illegal immigrants don't have to worry about the minimum wage, they don't have to extend benefits, they don't have to spend valuable time calculating tax withdrawals and payments and they don't have to worry about employee rights.
For illegal immigrants, the path to US citizenship is an additional hurdle that dominates time and energy that could be better served earning money. Why bother? The US provides its unemployed residents (not just its citizens) with access to social services (soup kitchens, homeless shelters, etc.) whereas unemployed residents in the countries from which they're emigrating are often left to die. In America, illegal immigrants are often paid in cash, they can stay with relatives who are in America legally, they don't have to worry about paying taxes and they don't have to worry about paying for insurance because US hospitals cannot turn them away.
America's politically correct culture is responsible for creating the economic incentives for employers to hire illegal immigrants as well as the economic incentives that attract illegals. For example, we don't call them "illegal" immigrants even though they're here in America illegally. We call them "undocumented" because it sounds better. It's much easier to deal with "undocumented" workers than it is to deal with "illegal" workers. One requires paperwork to be filed, the other requires arrests to be made.
On his site, Obama claims that "raids" on immigrants don't work because they only resulted in 3,600 arrests in 2007. What he doesn't say, however, is that rather than clogging up the legal system with millions of new cases (as well as feeding, clothing and housing the prisoners), most "raids" result in deportment instead. In this sense, raids work.
Each year, more than half a million people enter the US illegally. Less than half of them are ever deported because the illegals are immediately given rights.
To receive support from conservatives, any proposal put forward by an Obama administration would need to ensure that tough border security and work-site enforcement standards are met and that illegal immigrants eligible for citizenship leave the country and return legally. Democrats proposed such a plan in March 2007, but it failed to pass after becoming bogged down with amendments. It is doubtful that Obama would approve such a plan anyway, since his record has consistently come down on the side of illegals.
FAQ Index to Conservatives & Barack Obama's Policies
To do this, Obama claims it is necessary to increase the number of legal immigrants to "meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill."
There is a fundamental disconnect between these two priorities. First, illegal immigrants in America fill jobs that no one else will do because those jobs are unattractive and low-paying. They work these jobs because living in America for next to nothing is better than living in their country for nothing at all.
Ironically, Obama also believes that raising the minimum wage to $9.50 will help decrease poverty in America. Seeing immigration and poverty as two separate issues is part of the problem. Illegal immigration will never decrease until Obama and Congress address its root causes: opportunity for illegal immigrants and disincentives for them to become US citizens.
American employers who hire illegal immigrants don't have to worry about the minimum wage, they don't have to extend benefits, they don't have to spend valuable time calculating tax withdrawals and payments and they don't have to worry about employee rights.
For illegal immigrants, the path to US citizenship is an additional hurdle that dominates time and energy that could be better served earning money. Why bother? The US provides its unemployed residents (not just its citizens) with access to social services (soup kitchens, homeless shelters, etc.) whereas unemployed residents in the countries from which they're emigrating are often left to die. In America, illegal immigrants are often paid in cash, they can stay with relatives who are in America legally, they don't have to worry about paying taxes and they don't have to worry about paying for insurance because US hospitals cannot turn them away.
America's politically correct culture is responsible for creating the economic incentives for employers to hire illegal immigrants as well as the economic incentives that attract illegals. For example, we don't call them "illegal" immigrants even though they're here in America illegally. We call them "undocumented" because it sounds better. It's much easier to deal with "undocumented" workers than it is to deal with "illegal" workers. One requires paperwork to be filed, the other requires arrests to be made.
On his site, Obama claims that "raids" on immigrants don't work because they only resulted in 3,600 arrests in 2007. What he doesn't say, however, is that rather than clogging up the legal system with millions of new cases (as well as feeding, clothing and housing the prisoners), most "raids" result in deportment instead. In this sense, raids work.
Each year, more than half a million people enter the US illegally. Less than half of them are ever deported because the illegals are immediately given rights.
To receive support from conservatives, any proposal put forward by an Obama administration would need to ensure that tough border security and work-site enforcement standards are met and that illegal immigrants eligible for citizenship leave the country and return legally. Democrats proposed such a plan in March 2007, but it failed to pass after becoming bogged down with amendments. It is doubtful that Obama would approve such a plan anyway, since his record has consistently come down on the side of illegals.
- He voted to extend welfare and Medicaid to immigrants
- He voted in support of establishing a Guest Worker program
- He voted in support of allowing undocumented immigrants to participate in Social Security.
- He voted to support including a path to legalization and/or citizenship for Guest Workers as long as they meet some established criteria
FAQ Index to Conservatives & Barack Obama's Policies
- Conservatives & Obama's Economic Initiatives
- Conservatives & Obama's Health Care Initiatives
- Conservatives & Obama's Immigration Initiatives
- Conservatives & Obama's Education Initiatives
- Conservatives & Obama's National Security Initiatives
