PATCHWORK POLICY ON BORDER ISSUE

The immigration reform debate is heating up again -- if it ever
really cooled down.

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are lobbying for
legislation that would force a crackdown on illegal entry,
essentially by tightening screws at the border.

They are asking for more fencing, enhanced sensor placement at key
crossing points, airborne drones and a bigger army of Border Patrol agents.

House Republicans say they are only reflecting the will of Americans,
a majority of whom they say insist on an illegal-immigration crackdown.

We could argue the majority-will assertion, because so many U.S.
businesses and consumers are dependent on the labor pool drawn from
the illegal entrant population. That's especially true here on the
Central Coast of California, whose fields are worked by a force
estimated to be 60-70 percent illegal.

Instead of arguing ideological points -- because, truly, there is
little debate about whether laws should be enforced -- the better
approach might be cost and utility. And a question -- will the war on
illegal immigration be another war on drugs?

Hundreds of billions of tax dollars have been spent in an effort to
stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States over the past
several decades, yet the percentage of the U.S. population using
those drugs has not been significantly reduced.

The war on illegal immigrants could be just as costly, with a similar result.

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, this country
has spent nearly $5 billion on beefed-up border security -- yet, as
of last October, the Border Patrol claimed control over just 873
miles of the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, our principal source of
illegal immigrants.

Securing the remaining 56 percent of the border could cost
exponentially more, and still not have a material effect on illegal crossings.

That's because people striving to extricate themselves from poverty
and live a better life always have, and will continue to find ways to
enter a country in which jobs are plentiful.

Last year, seven GOP senators asked the Homeland Security Department
how much it might cost to round up and deport all 11 million illegal
entrants in this country. Homeland officials apparently are still
working on the math, because they haven't offered even a guesstimate.

Six years ago, a report by a private think tank concluded the
full-deportation costs would exceed $200 billion over a five-year
period. The cost figure is so enormous, so daunting that Homeland's
folks may be deliberately dragging their feet -- because they see the
potential for another "war on ..." debacle.

In fact, many smart people assert that legalizing and controlling
drugs in this country would resolve much of the illegal immigration
problem, but even smarter people steer clear of that solution, for
ideological reasons.

Another fact is that there probably is no way to have a fully secure
border between the United States and Mexico. Not as long as there is
such a pronounced imbalance between the two nations' economies.

So, this rekindled debate on immigration reform is, almost certainly,
a political strategy being employed by Republicans to force President
Obama and Democrats to take a position -- one way or another -- on
illegal immigration, the goal being the White House in 2012.

Whatever the objective, the battle has been joined, and ways to deal
with this issue need to be discussed. The way things are now, illegal
crossers are breaking the law, as are employers who hire them on this
side of the border -- creating criminals when there really shouldn't be any.