the contrarian - THE IMMIGRATION KOPS

Many of you have seen this photo, taken several months ago, representing a flagrant case of disrespect for the American flag at Montebello High School in the Los Angeles area. As you can see, the flag of Mexico is flying above the flag of the United States, which is upside down. The picture has been widely used by special interest groups to promote anti-immigration measures.

While the incident itself is inexcusable, very little of the related literature contains all of the facts.

Reportedly, a group of 800 to 1,000 students were organized for a peaceful march protesting the immigration legislation under consideration at that time. The students were primarily, if not completely, from schools other than Montebello High.

What has usually not been said is that the surrounding community of Pico Rivera has stepped forward vigorously to say it was outraged over what was done, as were the students who organized the march. Also, generally left out, was the fact that the student who was primarily responsible for hoisting the flags, which flew only briefly, was disciplined.

On the other hand, other photos taken of the event show that a number of the participants were celebrating this act of defiance, suggesting that if, indeed, it was the work of one person, he had more than a little support.

If nothing else, the incident demonstrates the degree to which the issue of immigration has escalated into a highly charged crisis. And part of the reason is that Washington’s handling of the problem has represented the most bungled collection of misreads, misplays and misjudgments since the days of the Keystone Kops.

For those who don’t know these characters, and they predate me, even, the Keystone Kops were an insanely incompetent police force that were hilariously depicted in Mack Sennett’s slapstick, silent film farces from 1914 to the early 1920’s.

While our immigration folks at the federal level may not be insane, there’s every reason to call their competence into question. And that goes for the administration and Congress as well, who, together, have created a leadership vacuum of epic proportions.

Because of the resulting inaction, states are now increasingly taking matters into their own hands. An LA Times article cites a new report by the National Conference of State Legislatures, indicating that 171 immigration bills were enacted at the state level in the first six months of 2007, compared with 84 for the same period in 2006.

The government report goes on to say, “In the continued absence of a comprehensive federal reform…states have displayed an unprecedented level of activity and have developed a variety of their own approaches and solutions.”

The problem, in the eyes of some experts such as Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, is that these laws probably won’t work, and may only serve to make life miserable for a lot of people.

While most of the new laws impose restrictions in the areas of employment, education and healthcare, a few actually address the poor living and working conditions of the immigrants.

A Texas measure is aimed at protecting immigrants against human trafficking and a new California law extends benefits - including housing and income support - to immigrant workers.

For the most part, however, the states are getting involved because of the burden being imposed on them by the added costs of services to the illegals, according to Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization that favors restrictions on immigrants.

The problem is even being addressed, although not always successfully, at the community level as well. Hazleton, Pennsylvania is a good example. In that city, the mayor had repeatedly cited a May, 2006 murder as the impetus for one of the country’s strongest measures against illegal immigrants. As a result, the city council approved an act that would penalize landlords that rent to illegal immigrants and employers who hire them.

Then, lo and behold, the situation became even more emotional when the murder charges against the two illegal immigrants that started the whole thing, were dropped in July. This prompted one ACLU official to say “This dismissal of charges adds to the long list of discredited claims (the mayor) has made in demonizing undocumented immigrants.”

And, as a final note on this matter, seemingly appropriate for such a tangled subject, a federal court, in late July, struck down the city’s new law, entirely.

Meanwhile, aside from the $3 billion it allocated for more fencing and other enforcement measures, the federal government has failed in its efforts to pass comprehensive immigration legislation.

Furthermore, its bureaucratic handling of the situation has been severely flawed.

Recently, there was the fiasco with the new travel requirements, which was so poorly planned, it had to be scrapped after it was put into effect.

And now it looks like another train wreck may be approaching. Last week, federal officials announced a new crackdown that would impose stiff penalties on businesses that did not fire their illegal workers.

The Department of Homeland Security says it will shortly issue a rule describing how businesses will be expected to act when there are discrepancies in a worker’s tax records.

The intended targets of this effort are those who have taken on bogus social security numbers. Under the new rules, when discrepancies arise, employees would have a limited time to contact the Social Security Administration, or face termination of their jobs.

However, while this might seem reasonable on its face, it may well result in an avalanche of unintended problems. According to last week’s press reports, many of the discrepancies that are embedded in the social security information are benign, involving misspellings and incorrect birthdates.

An article in last Friday’s LA Times reported that there are an estimated 12.7 million perfectly legal U.S. citizens, alone, who have errors in their records. The crush of people trying to correct the mistakes could well overwhelm the Social Security offices in much the same way that the new travel regulations swamped the passport offices earlier this year.

Overall, there were 25 million wage reports received last year by the Social Security Administration, where the names did not match the SS numbers, according to a Homeland Security spokesman. A substantial number are thought to involve native born citizens.

Beyond the chaos that could occur as people attempt to correct the records, some experts fear that the new regulations may also have the effect of leaving farmers without workers to pick the crops, restaurants without cooks and dishwashers, and small businesses without a ready source of casual labor.

A similar concern has also been expressed for the construction, janitorial and landscaping industries.

Furthermore, businesses are concerned that they may be caught between the pressure to fire someone over a mistaken record, and the possibility of a wrongful termination suit.

However, despite the potential problems, and the possible lack of planning as to the handling of them, the process is moving forward, and, at this point it seems inevitable that it will at least be implemented.

We can only hope that it doesn’t turn out to be another incompetent chapter in the saga of the Immigration Kops.

As for the overall problem, there appears to be no easy solution. The final law, if it is ever passed, may well end up being a compromise that won’t please many.

The one certainty, however, is that the longer it takes to develop a new comprehensive legislative package, the more chaotic the situation will become.

Dave McGill, News Correspondent……………….

Dave’s column, “The Contrarian,” published every Wednesday to Gather Essentials: News will occasionally present a contrary view to various aspects of the news, or an alternate take on the conventional wisdom of the day………….

Dave has been a senior officer of a large eastern insurance company, involved in economic projections and investment strategy, president of a Midwestern mortgage banking company, and a financial consultant in Southern California, serving clients in the field of commercial real estate development…………….

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