Say Anything Blog

Sigh...

L.A. Times - Each week, Pedro Morlet knocks on doors in the Bay Area, looking for illegal immigrants.

Morlet isn't an immigration agent. He's a real estate agent, and he's scouting for business.

"Do you want a house, work and pay taxes but don't have a Social Security number?" reads his flier, written in Spanish and tailored to his potential customers. "We can help you LEGALLY!"

Across the country, particularly in Texas and parts of the Midwest, hundreds of illegal immigrants have bought homes using special lending programs that bypass the need for a Social Security number. Now, with backing from some of the country's largest financial institutions, this newest effort to tap customers for the real estate market is moving to the nation's largest concentration of illegal immigrants — California.

In short, these lending companies are adding more incentive for border jumpers to commit a crime and cross into this country illegally. We spend tax dollars on border security so that we can keep tabs on the people who come into this country. This is primarily for security reasons, but its also so that we can make sure the people who enter this country fulfill the proper requirements of a) becoming a citizen and b) fulfilling the obligations (like taxes, etc.) that come with being a citizen.

When we tell these illegals that they can come into our country and live like openly as defacto citizens without fulfilling the requirements or obligations of becoming a citizen why shouldn't they cross our border illegally? And, further, if we're not going to take border security seriously then why bother paying taxes to guard it at all?

If our politicians were taking border security seriously, if our law enforcement agencies would simply enforce the laws already on the books, these companies will be charged with aiding and abetting fugitives.

Sadly, nobody seems interested in that sort of thing.