Sunday, July 12, 2009

Is the Recession Resolving the Illegal Alien Problem?

Whenever they want Americans to talk about anything other than what is important in their lives, Republicans will haul out the issue of illegal immigration. But now, according to this MSNBC article the issue just may be resolving itself.

Because of the recession.

“Immigrants jump back and forth across borders all the time, and the recession-driven movement from the United States to points south is not yet registering as a mass exodus. But it is increasingly easy to find workers who have decided that they are better off weathering the downturn in their ancestral homelands.”

“In Washington, the Guatemalan Embassy reports a substantial uptick in the number of nationals walking in to apply for travel documents. At U.S. airports, airline agents and government officials describe increased winking and nodding as illegal immigrants ‘self-deport’ with no hassle from authorities.”

“‘When somebody is already showing that they intend to depart the United States, it doesn't serve any interest for us to serve them a notice to appear before an immigration court,’ said Lloyd Easterling, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. ‘That isn't good stewardship of tax dollars.’”

“At Valdemar Travel in Takoma Park, the proportion of one-way air tickets south has reached unprecedented levels, nearing 60 percent of the firm's business earlier this year, manager Devin Reyes said.”

Wouldn’t that be a shame if Republicans lost the “bloody shirt” that they like to wave about? And it’s ironic that the thing that appears to be resolving this issue is the thing that they rail about in the strongest of terms: that unemployment continues to rise despite the TARP and Stimulus Package.

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