Qué What Now?

Today is scheduled to be a day of protest for those calling for Congressional action on the issue of immigration. As this article explains, protesters are upset with the slow pace of immigration reform and with what many see as the current, and future proposed, harsh treatment of illegal immigrants.

I agree with what much/all of the article presents as the protesters' views, especially that there needs to be a realistic and viable path to citizenship for the many illegal immigrants working in the US, and any guest-worker program can't include fines so large that few will participate. Above all we need to increase the amount of people that we allow to become legal immigrants.

My only criticism of the protests is that I have seen that many fliers annoucing the protests, and many of the signs and things said in the protests are in Spanish. Now I love speaking and hearing Spanish just as much as the next guy, but something tells me that if you are trying to protest and convince a bunch of people about something, you should probably do it in the language of those people that you are trying to convince. Anyone who can understand a sign or a slogan that's in Spanish probably already has their mind up on the issue. Immigrant supporters should present an image of immigrants that want to live in this country and take part in the American experience and part of that should mean learning English, even though you don't have to speak it all the time. But they should use English other than Spanish in the protests, because that sends a more friendly and less hostile message. The Spanish on the other hand is probably counterproductive and probably frightens a lot of Americans who are either uncomfortable about or not sure how they feel about immigration. Maybe through more use of English during their protests they will have a better chance of convincing more Americans and thus have a better chance of convincing more politicians

That said, one interesting piece that I read on the immigration issue in general was by Richard Posner, who comes at the issue from an economist's perspective. According to Posner, the only solution to the immigration problem "is for Mexico and the other poor countries from which illegal immigrants come to become rich... The more one worries about illegal immigrants, the more one should favor policies designed to bring about greater global income equality."

Now if that doesn't convince you that raids, incarceration, fines and deportation are not going to fix things, maybe Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts can convince you with their delightful romantic comedy set in the great country of Mexico.