A Self-Made Mess - Mark Krikorian
May 02, 2009
This sure isn't the family I'd have picked to make a case for the "Dream Act" amnesty. A middle-class family back in Ecuador, the father an engineer, the mother a computer systems analyst, relatives who "beseech them to come back, even promising jobs to sweeten the offer" - it's hard not to conclude that the father's pride and self-regard were the source of this family's troubles.
In exchange for "rewarding work as a draftsman" and "the chance to showcase his skills and get around the city, into well-appointed offices and high rises," he has wrecked his marriage, torpedoed his wife's career, consigned his smart, industrious daughter who was a few years from graduation in Ecuador to a life of illegality, and raised a son who clearly prefers his parents' homeland. Is it really Congress's responsibility to clean up this man's mess?
But the policy implications are clear: Track foreign students (like the father) to ensure departure; prevent illegal employment to dissuade illegal immigration (in this case, serial illegal immigration); and end family chain migration. Only after all that's done would it be appropriate to even broach the subject of amnesty for young people like the daughter in this story.
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