58 I CHRONICLESnones who will produce SDL Manynother examples could be cited.n—Reinhold StallmannSt. Louis, MOnThis country already has the mostngenerous immigration policy in thenworld, yet there are millions who willnnot wait to enter legally but sneaknacross our southern border in the deadnof night. It happens, but to a lessernextent, along our northern border.nOther thousands come into the country,nat other ports, on legitimatenvisas—business, student, tourist—nand somehow just forget to go homenwhen the visa expires. Estimates of thentotal number of illegals range fromnabout three million to 20 million.nPerhaps between 12 and 15 million isnmore accurate.nWhat difference does it make? Whynnot absorb as many as want to come?nThe consequences can be devastating.nNo illegal can be checked for health orncharacter background. Ergo, we arenbeginning to see disease in this countrynthat we either never had before ornwhich had been under control. Leprosynand tuberculosis spring to mind.nLeprosy is not a contagion problem.nTB is. We also cannot know if thosenwho come in without documents arenterrorists, career criminals, candidatesnfor eternal welfare, or just plain hardworkingnpeople out to better themselves.nWhen one crosses the bordernfrom Tijuana to San Diego at 2 A.M.nand is not intercepted by the BordernPatrol (as at least half of them are not),nthere is no way to know if there hasnbeen an invasion by someone, ornmany someones, who would do usngreat harm.nLast year, along the San Diego sectornalone, agents picked up illegalsnfrom 67 countries. That’s impressive.nWe here in the San Diego area arenfinding that increasing numbers comenacross specifically to commit crimes,nranging from home burglaries to autontheft. During 1986, we had a 17 percentnrise in our crime rate, mostlynattributed to drugs and illegals. Theynoverlap. We are seeing a great increasenin the number of big rigs stolen, fromnmoving vans to semis, for smugglers tonuse to transport huge numbers of illegalsnfurther north and west. The livingncondition inside these vehicles is ap­npalling. They are often stuffed to thenpoint where there is no room to sitndown. The big rigs pick up illegalsnfrom drop houses, where illegals maynhave been living, 100 to a room, forndays, awaiting transport. Not all windnup in San Diego or Los Angeles counties.nThey spread all over the country.nWe find that many young illegalnmen congregate in certain areas, waitingnto be hired for day work (paid inncash, no taxes or other deductions),nperhaps in an agricultural field, perhapsnon construction sites, maybe forngardening. While they are waiting,nsome of them have been harassingnchildren on their way to school, sometimesnto steal their lunch money,nsometimes to make sexual overtures.nParents, in self-defense, have begun tondrive to school children who formerlynwalked.nIllegals we are familiar with in thisnarea are mostly unskilled laborers,nwilling to do almost any kind ofnwork—cheap. Whatever wage theynare paid is higher than they couldnpossibly make in Mexico — if theyncould find work at all. Here, and innmany other parts of the country, thenconstruction industry is hard hit.nUnion members and nonunion workersnare shoved out of employmentnbecause an illegal will do the same jobn(whether as well, we don’t know) fornhalf the wage. That’s good for thosenwho hire them? Maybe, but it is removingnfrom the possibility of enteringnthe middle class enormous numbers ofncitizens and legal aliens who had hadnhopes of an upward thrust throughntheir labors. Is that good?nIllegals who overstay visas tend to benprofessionals who wind up taking jobsnfrom citizens and legal immigrants.nIt’s hard to measure what percentage ofnunemployment figures can be attributednto this source. But it’s white-collarnwork.nOther issues aside, it offends me thatnmy fellow citizens and those aliensnwho have done all the right things,nwaiting for years for legal entry, arenbeing cut out of jobs by those whonhave such contempt for U.S. law thatnthey bypass all the rules. By U.S.ncode, the first illegal entry is a misdemeanor,nthe second and succeedingnones a felony.nSend them all home, you say? Not anbad idea, but there are a few practicalnnnconsiderations. Last year, in its infinitenlack of wisdom. Congress passed thennew immigration bill and is ready tonlegitimize millions of law-breakers.nWhen this amnesty period expires,nthere is little doubt that another willntake its place. Some pressure groupnwill see to that, and Congress willnagain wimp out.nIf we were to go after those illegalsnwho have not been amnestied, hownwould we find them? Illegals tend tonmelt into ethnic communities, whethernIrani or Asian or European or Mexican,nand nothing but a door-to-doornsearch would find them. I daresay thatnwould be offensive to most Americans.nIn addition, there aren’t enoughnfederal agents in the country to do thenjob, nor will there ever be. Localnpolice are severely restricted in theirnability to deal with federal issues, exceptnoccasionally to act as backup for anraid.nSo how do you pick up severalnmillion law-breakers? How do you getnthem back to their countries of origin?nCan you visualize the cost of sendingnthem back by bus, let alone by air?nHow do you arrest 12 million people?nACLU types have seen to it, withnthe active participation of part of thenjudiciary, that INS and Border Patrolnagents can no longer raid an open fieldnor a manufacturing plant, even thoughn99 percent of the employees are illegals,nfor all practical purposes. Theynhave always approached these sitesnwith a warrant. Now, the warrant mustncontain the name, or at least a physicalndescription, of every wanted person.nThis has effectively handcuffed thenagents. Such raids in the past havenpicked up hundreds on one site. Nonlonger. They are home free.nInstitute rigid immigration control?nOf course, but how? We do indeed, asna sovereign nation, have every right tondecide who may enter and who maynnot. We, along with our federal employees,nare handcuffed.nThe federal government has failednus badly, though I daresay they havenwallowed in a self-congratulatory orgynof “How wonderful I am.” Theynaren’t; we will suffer the consequencesnall over the country, whether withnlanguage problems, employmentnproblems, crime and drug problems,nor just growing resentment and divisiveness.nEmployer sanctions are justn