Immigration reform worth backing

Hallelujah. I finally got someone in the illegal immigration movement to answer the one question I have been posing for weeks. It was a good answer too.

Yesterday the Los Angeles Times ran a story about the status of the movement featuring Diana Hull, president of Californians for Population Stabilization.

Hull lives in Santa Barbara and is quick to point out what she believes are the perils of allowing so many illegal immigrants into this country, mostly overcrowding in schools, hospitals and roads.

When I spoke to her yesterday, Hull was in the middle of a very busy media day. Mine was one of many interview requests she’s had since the Times story ran. Her opinion of the media appeared to have been dropping steadily with each contact.

I told Hull that I once worked for someone very famous who said some things that caused a media firestorm. From my vantage point, what my boss said became secondary to the media treatment of the comments.

“They’re lazy,” said Hull. “They don’t want to think.”

She was referring to the lack of preparation she had encountered by some of the people who want to talk to her. Me? I made darn sure I went to her website before picking up the phone.

But it was the border issue that took up the bulk of our time. Hull saw some light at the end of the tunnel.

“Certain things we have been talking about for a long time are finally being conceded. One of them is our porous borders.”

No argument here, and her timing is very good. While her Times story was being written, President Bush announced a plan involving 6,000 National Guard troops to help patrol our borders.

I told Hull that in my opinion, no matter which side of the immigration issue one takes, we should all vigorously support much stronger enforcement at our borders. To allow the illegal immigration to occur unchecked is madness.

So, we agreed on that. We also agreed on the media’s voracious appetite and how it will sometimes turn up the volume on an issue in order to drive response. Not that I would do any of that, of course.

Then we turned to the subject of the illegal immigrants who are already here.

“The numbers have crept up,” Hull said. “There is less enforcement and more encouragement to come over. An amnesty or guest worker program will only increase the influx. We know that the former amnesty supports that [point].”

So here was my question: We agree that the borders must be enforced. But what do we do about the illegal immigrants who are already here?

“Border security and internal enforcement must be in place before we talk about those who are here,” Hull said.

So, just when I thought I was finally going to get an answer to my question, Hull took a step back, and it seemed as though we wouldn’t be addressing this very important point.

Then she outlined the domestic agenda for reducing the number of illegal immigrants who are living here.

“We have to minimize a lot of the attractions to illegal immigrants,” Hull said. “We have to eliminate birth citizenship and chain immigration. We have to stop all benefits and have rigorous enforcement of existing laws. We have to have employer sanctions,” fines or jail for those who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

Hull also supported deportation for illegal immigrants who commit any type of crime, whether it is a felony or a misdemeanor.

“The ties [that keep illegal immigrants here] have not been cut,” Hull said. “We need to start clamping down at the border, reduce the ‘carrots’ we are handing out, enforce employer sanctions and reduce our aiding and abetting.”

I asked Hull if she favored raids on factories that are suspected of hiring illegal immigrants.

“Yes,” she replied.

I asked if she were in favor of wholesale sweeps of suspected illegal immigrants in their homes.

“No,” she said. “The proper sequence of these things will reduce the numbers through attrition.”

So there you have it. No home raids, no street sweeps. Cut off schooling, access to hospitals and all forms of government aid. The number of illegal immigrants will go down.

This plan may not sit well with those who can’t wait a year or more to begin to rid the country of illegal immigrants. Hull’s plan takes time, and for some, their 15 minutes of fame will be gone.