Social Justice and Illegal Immigration
Social Justice is a very broad term and covers a wide range of issues and topics. In my book, What is Wrong with Social Justice, I primarily focused on economic issues, or so-called Economic Justice. Here I want to expand on an area I only briefly mention: Illegal immigration, or as it is sometimes called Immigrant Justice, or Immigration Justice.
One of the many problems of Social Justice is the way it conflates things, and it is no different here. While speaking of Immigrant Justice, the majority of the effort is focused primarily on those who are here illegally. Yet many supporters of Immigration Justice do not even accept the concept of illegal immigration. In fact for some, there is not even a concept of immigration. They call on us to “be the people who break down the arbitrary barriers that divide us from them.”
It is more than just a source of confusion, where one side is focused on illegal immigration, and the other sees all immigration as the same. It feeds into another error with so much of Social Justice. Supporters do not believe in the arbitrary barriers called borders because “We are one, and love and hope will guide us.” This might sound nice, and may even be a worthy goal, but as is so often the case, supporters of Immigrant Justice often not only disregard their opponents’ desire for law & order and national sovereignty, they instead cast them into the worse possible light. Efforts to control illegal immigration are, in their eyes, “encouraging hatred and bigotry.”
However desirable the goal of one world where people are able to move about freely in peace and harmony might be, the simple fact is that we are not there yet. It probably will not be for quite some time. While supporters focus solely on those here illegally, pointing to how much better their lives would be if they could stay, that is not the entire picture. The simple fact is that there is a great deal of harm being done.
A country’s first duty is to its citizens, and illegal immigration negatively impacts US citizens in several ways. First let me be clear: It is not all negative. Illegal immigration has some positives as well as negatives. For example, by providing a cheap source of labor they keep prices down (a positive), but they also keep wages down and take jobs that otherwise could go to US Citizens.
Some argue that US Citizens will not do these jobs, but that is hardly true. Perhaps they will not do them at the wages offered. But that is an argument that the wages should go up. At best it would be an argument for increased legal immigration, or perhaps a guest worker program in the case of seasonal work.
There is also the cost to the taxpayer. Again it is true that illegal immigrants pay taxes, but they get some benefits as well. According to a study by the Heritage Foundation, when you take the taxes they pay in and subtract the total benefits and serviced received you “have an aggregate annual deficit of around $54.5 billion.”
Another factor is crime. Again, let me be clear most people here illegally, except for their immigration status, are law abiding. Yet the cover and protection given to illegal immigration also provides cover for illegals who are criminals. In addition criminal elements play a strong role in the process of illegal immigration. According to the Justice Department, the majority of violent crimes and drugs come from gangs, most of whose members are here illegally.
The border has become so dangerous that the government has posted signs in some places warning that travel is not recommend because of the proximity to the border.
Then there is the harm to the illegal immigrants themselves. The openness of the border and our lax enforcement of immigration laws encourage people to try and cross the border. But this frequently involves placing oneself into the hands of criminals, and while often they just smuggle their human cargo across the border, this is not always the case. Thus in 2010, a drug gang captured people and forced them to work for the gang. Seventy-two refused and were executed. Others are held for ransom once they reach the US, and others are forced into sex trafficking. Even without the criminal element, crossing the desert on the southern border is dangerous, and hundreds die each year in the attempt, and those are only the ones whose bodies were found. Even once here illegal immigrants are largely outside of the normal protections and much more subject to exploitation and abuse.
Finally there is one more group harmed by illegal immigration: those who are trying to immigrate here legally. To be against illegal immigration is not to be against all immigration. But when the country is straining under the burden of illegal immigration it is difficult to get any movement on legal immigration.
Now supporters of illegal immigration will agree with part of this critique, particularly the part concerning the hardships faced by illegal Immigrants. This is why they want all borders abolished. Unfortunately, that is politically impossible, and even if it did happen would put such a burden on an already exploding federal budget as to bring about fiscal collapse. Simply refusing to enforce the law encourages a breakdown of the law; after all if you can just ignore immigration law, why not just ignore other laws? It also perpetuates the current system with all its problems. Allowing all of this harm, while holding out for the impossible, is not compassion. Neither is Immigrant Justice, Justice for Immigrants.
