Illegal immigration issue needs a humane approach

With all of the attention, local and national, being focused on the heated issue of illegal immigration, perhaps something will finally be done to humanely manage the flow of people across our borders.

California has been in the middle of this issue for generations. Migrant workers are the mainstay of the agricultural industry, and so the “importing” of cheap and temporary labor has gone on for generations here.

All of us rely on these cheap laborers to bring food to our tables, and many others who need domestic help rely on them to tend to their families. Restaurants need them to provide service, and builders use them for myriad hard-labor jobs.

People from other countries that are not as fortunate as ours have learned that, without many skills, they can find work, sustain themselves and even send money back home.

Political realities in many countries have added to the economic reasons that so many see the United States as a haven. And our own policies have created confusion and conflict over how to handle people who want to come here without going through formal immigration processes.

In Florida, Cuban refugees ? “boat people” ? are given legal sanctuary if they can set foot on our shores, and there is a steady stream of such people who risk their lives crossing the 90-mile stretch between Cuba and Key West seeking to escape communism.

On the Mexican border, people also risk their lives and put themselves in the hands of “coyotes” who charge a great deal for their services and, as we have seen time and time again, have no scruples about the type of transport used. The suffering of some of these migrants is inconceivable ? and yet they keep coming.

They keep coming because of the opportunities and the freedoms we enjoy.

Nor will they stop coming, unless and until there is no reason for them to come here.

As neighboring cities crack down on illegals and close down their job centers, Laguna Beach may become the last resort for these people ? and the city may have to face that fact. All the leading candidates for state and county offices are promising “immigration reform” if elected.

As this issue plays out, the city may find itself having to ask the question: Is it so important to ferret out the illegal immigrants in our midst that we want to sacrifice the basic freedoms we hold dear?