Filibustin' with Willie D - A DREAM Act Deferred

A complicated issue like immigration in the United States deserves an evenhanded, well-thought-out solution. Unfortunately, it seems like most people just want to draw a line in the sand. To me, it’s not so simple.

Ignoring the problems of illegal immigration would be just plain dumb. Try crossing the borders of China, Iran, or Russia illegally and see what happens. You’ll be arrested on the spot—that’s if they don’t knock a patch of meat out of your head first with an AK-47. Other countries don’t care about your vote or your cheap labor and they could give a damn about your feelings.

On the other hand, nobody said anything about illegal immigrants when the economy was thriving and Mexicans were building highways, bridges, and skyscrapers. But now that work is hard to find and money is tight, people want to get rid of them. I got better shit to do than to try to stop a man from working. I don’t care where you are from or what you look like when I’ve got a job that needs to be done and you are talking the right numbers. I only need to know when can you start?

But as much work as immigrants do in this country, I’m not convinced the US economy would crash without them. They said the same thing back in 1861 to justify slavery. Whatever we do to solve this problem, the first step is to drop the hypocrisy. On one hand, Americans say, “Send them all back to Mexico on the first thing smoking.” But many of the same people will hire an undocumented Mexican off the side of the road to do manual labor for pennies on the dollar.

Back in June, in an effort to try and deal with the gift and curse of illegal immigration, Obama initiated an executive action that attempts to curb the deportation of the young, hardworking, and educated immigrants who could contribute positively to our country. It is estimated that the action could benefit more than 800,000 young people by no longer deporting illegals under the age of 30 with clean records who came to the US before they turned 16, have lived here a minimum of five years, and are enrolled in school (or completed high school) or are veterans of the armed services. Many of these immigrants are the same people who would be helped by the proposed DREAM Act legislation, which was blocked by the Republicans in the Senate in 2010 but is still being pushed by the Democrats and the president today.

Supporters of Obama’s executive action argue that undocumented young adults shouldn’t have to suffer because of their parents' choice to bring them to “the land of the free.” They believe that many illegal immigrants are hard-working, law-abiding people who simply want to live out the American dream for themselves and their children. Opponents of this action say it creates an amnesty program and would reward illegal immigration. They also stress that it would grant criminals protection from deportation and cause a financial burden on schools, Medicare, and Welfare programs.

I think any sane person will agree that we have a big problem with people crossing our borders illegally and strong measures must be implemented to secure the safety of the American people. If you support a less aggressive approach to deportation, that’s fine with me, but if I hear one more person say, “Mexicans take the jobs Americans don’t want” I swear to God I’m going to puke on their silly ass. The truth is, illegal immigrants do jobs that Americans won’t do for meager wages.

Obama’s executive action is only a stop-gap solution to the bigger problem of immigration, which is why he keeps pushing for the DREAM Act. I think the proposed DREAM Act is full of bright ideas that make a good start towards immigration reform, but it needs a little touching up. So I decided to come up with a few additions of my own that they should consider:

WILLIE D’S PLAN

Implement New Labor Laws
We need a law that forbids companies or individuals from hiring anyone for less than a nationally enforced minimum wage. This would create fair competition and prevent workers from being exploited for their labor just because they are afraid of being outted as an illegal. If you try to pay someone below the minimum wage, you will be stripped of all your possessions and forced to subsist on a government dole of dog food and tang.

Offer Bounties
We should pay people for snitching on the bad illegal immigrants who have criminal records or are involved in sex and drug trafficking and terrorism. This snitching business would work just like Crime Stoppers. I am sure it would be a big hit, even though I wouldn’t snitch on anyone myself, because snitching is not gangster.

Once we know who the bad illegals are, we'll put bounties on their heads and profile them on a new TV show called America's Most Wanted Illegals. The offending illegals will either be deported immediately or forced to serve time for their crimes and then subsequently deported.

Enforce Border Laws
What’s the use in having borders if we’re not going to secure them?

Institutionalize the Term “Illegal Immigrants”
I hear some have taken offense to the use of this term. Sorry buddy, but if you are an immigrant (non-American) and came here illegally, then you are an illegal immigrant. When I was convicted of a crime and went to prison, the authorities referred to me as an inmate. When I paid my debt to society and got out they started calling me Mr. Dennis. I didn’t like that cake, but until I completed the necessary requirements to gain my freedom, I had to eat it.

Previously - Politicians Playing Tricks on Me

Willie D is a member of the legendary rap group the Geto Boys.

Follow him on Twitter: @WillieDLIVE