I'm not arguing that these solutions arent perfect. I am arguing they arent workable at all. A wall will keep no one out. The other solutions will be worse than the problem they are supposed to address. How will employers know? And do you really think the rest of us will be unaffected by this government intrusion in the workplace?
And all of your arguments could be applied to guns as well, with equally dubious results.
And lo and behold, Nashville comes to prove my point. Fresh off the wires today:
Metro Councilman introduces unenforceable immigration proposals
By LEE ANN O'NEAL
Staff Writer
Two Metro Council measures aimed at curbing illegal immigration to Nashville seek to punish people who hire or rent to those immigrants.
But if approved by the Metro Council, the proposals could not be enforced unless the state legislature changed current state law, an attorney for the Metro Council said.
Councilman Jim Gotto of Hermitage is the sponsor of the two Metro Council bills, which were filed Monday and will be up for the first of three required votes on Oct. 17.
One aims to bar landlords from collecting rent from illegal immigrants - and would bar landlords from renting at all in Davidson County after the first offense.
A second would suspend the business licenses of employers who hire illegal immigrants.
Neither proposal would have enforcement power unless the state legislature passed measures to permit them, Metro Council attorney Jon Cooper said.
"The council could pass it. It just couldn't be enforced," Cooper said of the landlord bill.
Of the employment bill, he said, "There's no authority under state law to do this."
Gotto acknowledged these limitations but said he hoped the measures would still spark dialogue and put public pressure on the state legislature.
Illegal immigrants "are getting benefits and services, they are working at jobs," Gotto said. "They're not paying their fair share of the tax burden, more than likely."
Gotto said he patterned his legislation after a measure passed in Hazleton, Pa. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund have filed suit against the city, according to The Record of Bergen County, N.J.
"When the public gets excited about something, and it's obvious they're all excited, our state legislature will finally do something," Gotto said. He said he had not yet talked with any state legislators about the proposal. ²
As a landlord I would do whatever I could to block this proposal, which essentially turns me into a law enforcement officer for the state.
