Illegal aliens
Richard L. Hershatter
Contributing Columnist
hershatter@lbknews.com
Never go where you’re not wanted;
If you go there, do not stay;
Break the rules, and you’ll be haunted
By resentment every day;
When you choose to cross a border
On the theory that you’re right,
Chances are you’ll see disorder,
As the locals stand and fight.
Much has been made recently of the sanctity of national borders and problems caused by hordes of illegal immigrants who daily violate this country’s boundaries by sneaking in, mostly under cover of night and usually from Mexico.
Washington has been consumed by the issue, and solutions of varying degrees have been put forth by the president, as well as members of the Congress.
Sen. John McCain strongly urged legalization of immigrants illegally here, but later flipped positions as a candidate for president, when members of the electorate protested that the newcomers were taking scarce jobs away from American citizens.
Vast sums have been poured into augmenting the border patrols, and solutions to the problem have ranged all the way from erecting a miles-long wall to placement of technical motion detectors at strategic intervals to locate and intercept the intruders.
None of these proposed solutions, however, solve the problem of the many thousands of aliens who come here legally on relatively short-term visas, as students or on business, only to become illegal by overstaying the limits of their visas.
Most Americans agree that the problem cries out for solution, and that the ideal resolution would be to send the illegals back to their countries of origin.
So-o-o-o, in the interests of consistency, fairness, honesty and desire to pursue a reversal of a bad situation; let us examine the status of our presence in Iraq.
Whether one agrees with the invasion of that country or not; whether the motivations for going in were real or imagined; and whether the “mission was accomplished” with the rout of the Iraqi army are immaterial: the sad fact is that after six years the coalition forces remain mired in an endless morass of blood and expense.
As to legality, our forces went in under a United Nations mandate. That mandate expires Dec. 31 of this year.
Unless the U.N. authorization is extended, our armed forces are in the same position as the alien who remains in this country after his visa expired. We become “illegal aliens.”
World attitudes have changed in the last six years. It is not likely that Russia or China will withhold the invocation of their veto powers at any attempt at an extension.
Recognizing this, the lame duck Bush administration has been frantically seeking a so-called “Status of Forces Agreement,” whereby the Iraqi government would consent to a continued presence of the coalition armies on their sovereign soil.
If not granted, our armed forces in that benighted country would become “illegal aliens.” In effect, their visas would not have been extended and they would be subject to expulsion.
Unfortunately, the Iraqi government, which by all accounts has learned much from its counterparts in Washington in the ways of corruption and lese majeste, has been concentrating on how best to disburse its annual $79 billion surpluses. It has voted to accommodate Mr. Bush, and United States armed personnel can now stay in Iraq beyond the deadline, subject to certain restrictions and oversight by that government.
No one has ever been able to precisely define what is meant by “victory” in a place overrun by fratricidal sects and suicide bombers, but if our present leaders were truly sincere in seeking an honorable and face-saving method of extricating ourselves from that benighted country, this would have been their chance.
We did our best; we toppled their maniacal dictator; we cleared the air of any presumption of weapons of mass destruction; and we established the framework of a rudimentary democracy where the politicians can steal from each other to their hearts’ content.
It is truly time for us to go.
In a few short weeks, a new president takes the oath of office in Washington, D.C.
President Obama will have inherited enough problems crying for solution when he takes over.
Even ordinary dog lovers are encouraged to clean up after the messes their canine companions leave. It is only fitting that the outgoing administration at least clean up this one before it departs the scene.
Redeploying a significant portion of our contingent in Iraq to Afghanistan, where they are sorely needed, and bringing the rest home would leave the Obama administration free to tackle the economic tsunami washing across the United States.
We have been aliens in a strange land for far too long. Let’s end it now.
Richard L. Hershatter is a retired Connecticut lawyer and novelist who writes a column of interest to Floridians. He can be reached at hershatter@lbknews.com.
