THE SOLUTION FOR SO-CALLED "SANCTUARY CITIES"

Right now Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and other major U.S. cities have two things in common: booming economies and high numbers of illegal immigrants. The problem is, many people living in these cities and doing business in these cites have a problem with the "sanctuary city" policies. They continue to do their part to contribute to the economies, despite their objections to their cities' policies.

In the meantime, the federal and local governments can butt heads and tie up the courts trying to prove each other's side wrong. It's all election year posturing and campaign rhetoric, and nothing actually gets accomplished. They use the issue to get people angry enough to vote against one side, and after the election peoples' tempers cool and the issue is largely forgotten until the next election.

I've confessed in a previous post to being a Craig's List addict, and in the past few days the topic of "sanctuary cities" has become THE hot topic. In my browsing the conservative talk radio rants, it seems the hosts on these programs all but froth at the mouth over it. They attack the mayors, the city councils, even the police for not hunting down every last illegal immigrant and deporting them. As I listen to the radio hosts and read the Craig's List posts, I wonder - do these people actually LIVE in a "sanctuary city"? It seems most of them do. Which begs the question: why do they stay? I mean if they're really that fed up, and if there are other cities that don't have these policies, what's stopping these people from going there?

You might think it heartless of me to suggest they pack up and go, but I would remind you, Gentle Reader, of the Conservatives' own slogan: "America - love it or leave it". We've been told on countless occasions that if we latte-swilling liberals hate our country so much, then we should just leave. Go to France, we're told, go to Canada, go somewhere else if you can't appreciate your country. I'm not suggesting anyone expatriate. I am suggesting that while living within the borders of America, a person has the choice of thousands of towns and cities, all with a variety of policies towards immigrants. You can find a town or city whose policies more clearly match your own convictions, and head there.

So with all that in mind, I say it's time for an experiment. Moreover, it's time for people to put some action behind their words and live out their convictions. But most of all, it's time to settle the question: are we, as a society, suffering or benefiting from the presence of illegal immigrants, and from policies that systematically tolerate their presence? It has been show time and time again that one of the most effective ways of getting policies changed is to cut off all financial support from the offending parties until they amend their practices. In other words, a boycott.

So here's how this works - everyone who is opposed to sanctuary cities leaves those cities. They move out, they relocate their families, their businesses, their lives to places with no sanctuary city policies. Then they stay gone for five years. Those of you that have no problem with living in a so-called sanctuary city can stay put.Those that leave, don't do business with anyone who works or lives in a sanctuary city, or anyone who does. Boycott all products and services based in sanctuary cities. Don't send your kids to college in any sanctuary cities. They live their lives, they get their goods and services elsewhere, they do their best to isolate these cities and let them fend for themselves economically, and in all other ways.

After five years, we'll compare the economic state of the sanctuary city residents' economic situation to those living elsewhere. We'll compare average incomes, crime rates, tax rates, education, health, pollution, suicide rates, infant mortality rates, unemployment rates, welfare statistics, and general quality of life. We'll do a side-by-side comparison between sanctuary cities and non-sanctuary cities, in every way that quality of life can be measured. If the quality of life measures out to be overall better in the sanctuary cities, then we will resolve no laws be made to interfere with those policies, as they would clearly be shown to be in the city's best interests. If the quality of life in sanctuary cities is worse, that can use that as a basis for outlawing sanctuary city policies and ridding it of all illegals by any means necessary.

The bottom line is this: if you want to do away with sanctuary city policies, you must first establish that it's in the public's best interest. You must prove beyond a doubt that people's lives would be better without the existence of sanctuary city policies. Because as long as there are people who believe that we as a society benefit from these policies, they will never go away. If you want to PROVE beyond any shadow of doubt that sanctuary cities are a bad idea, in my opinion this is the best way to do it.

You'll notice that I'm not taking a side here. I'm only interested in what's best. And until we can conclusively prove one side right and other side wrong, all we have is a difference of opinion - different conclusions drawn from the same set of facts. Whether you support sanctuary city policies or not, you want to see your point of view validated, proven true, and used as the basis for legislation. I respectfully submit that there is no other way I can think of to prove the point.

Of course, I am a confessed liberal, and I think that the anti-illegal mentality largely fomented by our friends on the right wing speak to their need to vilify a group and focus their hatred into xenophobia. I think they hate Mexicans, and they want it to be not only legal to stick it to all Spanish-speaking people, but they want it deemed patriotic. Hence, all the chest-thumping over these sanctuary cities.

For my part, I live in a sanctuary city and it doesn't bother me one bit. I know most of the people in this city are from somewhere else. Heck, I'm from somewhere else - it just happens that my "somewhere else" is here in the United States. But I came here to this city for the economy and a chance at a better life, at least financially, and I got my wish. So I can't bring myself to begrudge those people who have done the same, even if their "somewhere else" wasn't in this country.

And in my dealings with government, and after witnessing the colossally inept bureaucracy with which they address their affairs, I have to wonder: how many of these so-called "illegal immigrants" are only illegal because our government accepts mediocre work from its own employees? If the policies handed down from Congress addressed the issue of immigration with the same enthusiasm the immigrants demonstrate in their high-risk border crossings, how many "illegals" would we have? If the people responsible for processing the paperwork from these would-be citizens worked as hard as the Mexicans busing tables and washing cars in this city, I have to wonder: would we have fewer illegals?