Papers Please

In "Hunt for Red October" the captain has a conversation with his XO about how America will be. Specifically they discuss the right to travel from place to place:

Capt. Vasili Borodin: I will live in Montana. And I will marry a round American woman and raise rabbits, and she will cook them for me. And I will have a pickup truck... maybe even a "recreational vehicle." And drive from state to state. Do they let you do that?
Captain Ramius: I suppose.
Capt. Vasili Borodin: No papers?
Captain Ramius: No papers, state to state.
Capt. Vasili Borodin: Well then, in winter I will live in... Arizona. Actually, I think I will need two wives.
Captain Ramius: Oh, at least."

In Arizona they have just passed a law that will make it illegal for a citizen to be in public without his papers, even if he is doing nothing that would otherwise be illegal. Opponents of the bill argue that this restricts the rights of the people to travel, while supporters trot out the tired old canard "if you aren't doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about."

If you can't guess, I am in opposition to this bill because I am in the camp that says that it will end up restricting the rights of a free people to come and go unhindered. This is actually kind of funny, because I had a similar conversation with a co-worker on this very subject not long ago, and if that conversation had not taken place I might not be thinking about the subject in this way.

The co-worker in question was born and raised in Maryland. He served honorably for 20+ years in the US Marine Corps and retired as a Gunnery Sergeant. He is of Hispanic descent, has an Hispanic surname and has the slight olive skin tone to match that surname. He is an American, from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

In Arizona he had better not walk the streets without his wallet. The simple act of being in public without ID has now become a crime.

In all honesty I had not given it a second thought before then, because I had never had to deal with the possibility that I would be mistaken for any other nationality than American. We're talking PASTY white boy here. Does my USMC friend have any less right to walk down the streets as I? In Arizona it appears as if he does, and that's simply not right. He is as much an American as I am, with all the rights an American has as his birthright.

Yes, there is a real problem with illegal immigration here. Is the answer to seal the borders up tight? A difficult proposition at best, and one that history shows is prone to fail.

The real problem seems to be that people who are here illegally are a drain on public resources without paying taxes. The answer I have is to deny them public assistance beyond basic services (emergency rooms, etc) unless citizenship can be proven. So far as I know, this is one of the major sticking points - that the children of illegals that were born here are "anchor babies" and qualify for public assistance. Key the nationality of the child to the mother and that problem goes away.

(Note that I am sidestepping the question of our very own home-grown worthless that likewise clog the welfare roles. I'm not denying their existence, but they are not the subject here.)

I am not in opposition to a safety net, I am in opposition to a hammock. You should have to establish citizenship in order to qualify for the public dole, that assistance should be for a set amount of time, and there should be a work or school qualifier. If no jobs are to be had in the private sector, surely there is trash alongside the road that needs to be picked up. Take Caesar's coin, pay Caesar's price.

Simple supply and demand, if you supply need you will have no shortage of needy. Would this work, or at least be a part of the solution? I don't know. "Workfare" that was passed by the Republican Revolution Congress and signed by President Clinton seemed to work pretty well, so that could be a good guide.

This goes rather far afield, I did not intend to discuss welfare. There are other problems with illegals, but they all seem to revolve around public assistance of one sort or another. I don't have all the answers, and I suspect any answers would have to be field evaluated for effectiveness. What I do know is that any power will eventually be abused. This is why the powers of Government are supposed to be enumerated and limited.

"Papers please" is not a good way to go.

Thanks for opening my eyes, Mike.

(Yes, I realize that this puts me on the same side of the issue as most Democrats. They can't be wrong all the time, even if it is for the wrong reasons.)

UPDATE: Another idea. All business with government agencies will be conducted in English. We still haven't gotten around to that one.