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• Saturday, September 9, 2006 10:02 PM

  Floodgates and Border Control

  This story summarizes the current immigration debate neatly. Rules versus Heartstring Logic. And the story is all about the latter, with at least the salient facts presented as a balance. But in the end, if you were an immigration official that had to actually judge cases, you would be hard pressed to reach another decision as to the Kesbeh family. That is not racism or prejudice or spitefulness - just cold logic.

  Facts: the Kesbeh family came to the US on a tourist visa in 1990 or 91, applied for refugee status, and stayed legally in the country until 1998 on work visas. He worked (or took over) a family business in Houston. He lost his renewal rights in 1998, because his green card application was rejected. He ignored a deportation order and stayed illegally until he was deported in 2002.

  The question that is not raised in the story is this - why was he rejected in 1998 for a green card? Maybe because a flag business is not something that requires a unique talent (unique or valuable skill)? Or maybe because additionally he had 6 (un-naturalized) kids that made his application less desirable? or something else - that is the big hole in this story - why the original rejection?

  So when the consequence of his actions - ignoring the deportation order and not trying to purse a legal appeal for the green card - come down on his head and he gets deported in 2002, we get the rest of the story about what a burden this has been to his family, and how his new life is a struggle. And most ironically, how in Jordan that "certain social codes" are enforced on behavior whose consequences can be a deportation order straight into a grave. A bit more harsh than the INS?.

  The simple fact here is that many more people want to come and live in the US than we can absorb and so we have rules. Many people these days seem to think the rules can be ignored - so we are having a debate on immigration. The Kesbeh family got their chance at the gold ring and missed - but still want a second chance. Good - I hope the language skills and attitudes that they learned in their stay in Houston makes their path for a second chance easier. But they deserve nothing more than that - others with more talents and potential are waiting at the door for their place. And that is the lesson here - do you run a system by rules, or do you just make them up as you go along so no one ever gets rejected?

  —Ironclad Read Ironclad's other letters
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