Councilman Burlison responds
Following is a response to critics of Springfield, MO Councilman, Doug Burlison, over his proposal to deal with illegal aliens in that city.Quite a bit has transpired in the last few days; and quite a bit has been discussed, sometimes accurately, and sometimes not. It is obviously time for some clarification. It is true that I have verbally pledged to propose an ordinance that addresses one small aspect of the current immigration problems we are experiencing in this country. First, let me reiterate the proposal I am currently working on.
I am proposing that we pass an ordinance that requires locally licensed businesses who knowingly employ undocumented workers to: A. Receive a warning, B. Pay a fine of $500 for every undocumented worker in their employ, C. Pay a fine of $1,000 for every undocumented worker still in their employ, and D. Forfeit their license to operate in the city for one year if the previous measures have failed to bring about responsible business behavior.
This came about after being invited to speak to the local chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps about immigration issues. I spoke from the heart (and off the cuff) about my take on the screwed up situation we have found ourselves in. . .
The bill of rights talks about the basic freedoms humans are born with, not just Americans, but all humans.
I would like to see our border with Mexico as normalized as our border with Canada sometime in my lifetime.
Legal immigration needs to be streamlined and expedited.
Welfare needs to be majorly reformed and reduced.
Social Security needs to be protected by a transformation to individually owned accounts, rather than collectively squandered political funds.
The War on Drugs needs to end. The black market we’ve created finances thousands of passages through our southern border.
Federal policies have made a mess of this issue, which are now having an obvious effect in our local community. Local law enforcement has at least an informal “catch and release” policy because of the confusion and lack of federal support in regards to undocumented, Spanish-speaking suspects. This has created the situation where domestic citizens are held to a higher standard of the law, while alleged illegal aliens get a pass.
This country was born because of the involvement of its citizens, and that tradition needs to continue if we are ever going to see the light of day on our persistent public-policy problems.
During a question and answer session, the subject came up of local businesses that exploit cheap undocumented labor to pad their own bank accounts, while legitimate businesses suffer loss of contracts and layoffs of personnel (a.k.a. our friends, neighbors, relatives, etc.) It was at this time that I made my proposal about punitive measures towards knowingly irresponsible business practices.
Since that moment, my, how the winds of controversy have howled.
Much criticism has come my way as a result, and if I may, let me address some of the finer points that have been made.
It has been said that as a municipality, we should not deal with federal issues. Historically, this is what is communicated when we do not have the will to tackle touchy subjects. The last time this city council used that excuse was when they were confronted with a citizen petition for our city to reject the more draconian measures of the Patriot Act. If we, as a city, do not involve ourselves with federal issues, why do we have a D.A.R.E. program? Why do we have “Sister Cities” when involvement with international communities is clearly a federal responsibility? The truth of the matter is that illegal immigration has not been purely a federal issue for years, now. Local communities have been affected in a big way, and to turn a blind eye to that would be shirking the duty that as a city councilman, I have been elected to serve.
It has also been said that we already have laws on the books that address these issues. If that is the case, then the problem we have is the lack of any will to enforce said laws. Citizens of this community have tried over and over again to have officials respond to allegations, yet the only response they get is a litany of excuses as to why they can do nothing. My proposal is designed to be more specific so that local law enforcement has a clearer mandate from it’s citizenry to act on violations of this ordinance.
It has also been said that local law enforcement does not have enough resources to deal with new arenas of enforcement measures. Since these laws were allegedly already on the books, I wonder if we, the people, could be given a list of which laws we already have, but cannot afford to enforce? It has also been alluded to that this is not a widespread problem in Springfield. If that is the case, then the costs of enforcement should be pretty minimal. The truth is that this is a problem, but it is not a prevailing one in Springfield at this point. Illegal immigration is widespread in the cities of some of our southwest Missouri neighbors, so now is the time for this ordinance to pass in Springfield, not just as a punitive action against existing situations, but just as much as a preventative measure against future problems.
As a libertarian, this has been a difficult decision for me to arrive at. Philosophically speaking, this has been a tough bullet to bite. Do I believe that we should have a totally documented society where periodic guards detain us and ask, “May I see your papers, please?” Definitely not. Do I seek to punish the illegal immigrant with imprisonment or deportation? Not on Springfield’s buck. Do I seek protection for my fellow citizens from unscrupulous businesses that exploit cheap undocumented labor? You bet. Some may call this type of activity pure capitalism, kids on the playground call that sort of thing cheating. Finally, can I wait until the federal government gets it’s act together on immigration while good companies are losing business, good people are losing jobs, and good families are suffering? I don’t think so.
If this belief requires me to step outside of partisan boundaries to stand up for what’s right, then so be it. It’s not like I haven’t had any practice over the years.
Springfield City Councilman Doug Burlison, General Seat C
Labels: immigration, Libertarian, liberty, Missouri, politics
posted by The Libertarian Guy @ 10:44 PM
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