The Problem Is Numbers, Not Colors

Due to the recent immigration law passed in Arizona, the long-standing debate over immigrant documentation is coming to a head. Although we can all argue until we are blue in the face about different issues such as racial profiling, an “us versus them” mentality, and the face of an American, it does not appear that anything is going to be settled soon. What I am proposing is that race is not the issue, numbers are.
 
Since when did humans need papers to roam the Earth freely? Since when did these papers hold so much weight? Well, a part of it is accounting for numbers. Number of Americans, number of people living in America, whatever you want to call it, that number is extremely important. It affects our taxes and subsequently our health care, how much money is allotted into our public schools, etc. Many would be much less inclined to attack the idea of “illegal immigrants” if they knew it would not affect their wallet.
 
Perhaps immigration reform should take on a new direction. Instead of finding illegal immigrants becoming this sort of witch-hunt, why don’t we instead find a way to deal with this inevitable situation on our hands? Would it not be easier to start coping with the influx of new people rather than try to slowly kick them out.
 
This plan of course, has its own set of flaws. But the truth is, we cannot treat America the same way other countries treat immigration. Our government has been trying to jam a square peg into a round hole for a long time now. America was based on the idea of newcomers and perhaps we should all put our heads together and find a constructive way to deal with a situation that we cannot control. If there were not consequences to registering as a resident, why wouldn’t someone? If it meant having a mailing address and having a place to receive letters and put on a job application? The only reason we lack accountability for illegal immigrants is because people are living in fear.
 
Of course there is the ignorant perspective that illegal immigrants are ruining the economy for “real Americans.” Horse feathers. Sorry, but if you are worried about someone stealing a job from you that grew up in a violence-ridden country struggling to make ends meet, then maybe you should consider upping your game a little bit. Nothing wrong with a little healthy competition.
 
Lastly, the United States is the last country to be scared of the “new” or “unknown,” yet we are notorious for race crimes and shunning any culture we do not understand. Remember the racial profiling of “Arabs”? Oh, wait, did that ever end? If Arizona thinks that a couple posters and patrolling cops is going to rid the state of illegal immigrants, then clearly they have not spent much time in their own borders. Instead, let’s take a solution based approach that asks the question, “So, you’re here, now what?”
 
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frank_z/ / CC BY 2.0