by Kevin Cardin

Created on: February 26, 2009   Last Updated: March 02, 2009

Hold state referendums on immigration

Decades have passed, and the White House, under Democratic and Republican control, has consistently managed to demonstrate efficiency in avoiding the issue of illegal immigration. Congress has also proved equally evasive in regard to providing a firm and solid stance, with a finite number of lawmakers being the sporadic exception. But now, the hot button topic of illegal immigration has hit a boiling point and can no longer be avoided.

Denial has always been the favored and most often employed tactic used by the legislative and the executive branch of our federal government simply ignore the problem. It is tantamount to the denials once made for years by J. Edgar Hoover refusing to concede that an American mafia existed. This practice of denial is no longer acceptable. With the federal government already having proven its inability to deal with this issue, the time has come to look elsewhere for a comprehensive solution to this problem, and to finalize a policy once and for all.

With an estimated number of illegal immigrants hovering around 12 million, the problem often seems too overwhelming to even approach. However, there is a solution that is far less complicated than one might surmise. The first step would be to remove Congress and the White House from the equation, because they only add fuel to the fire with their partisan bickering and back-and-forth potshots. Both branches have proven their impotency one time too many. Well, actually, a multitude of times, but that is far beside the point at this late and critical stage.

The answer is this: bring the problem and the solution to the citizens of the United States. Turn this issue into a national election. Have every state pose the question of what to do with illegal immigrants on the next election ballot, and leave the decision to those people who bear the brunt of this burden anyway. Each state should allow its citizens to have their voices heard in this controversy. The legal citizens of this country are the ones who compensate for the tax burden when it come to virtually every issue dealing with illegal immigrants, from education to health care to incarcerating those who have entered this country illegally and are now serving prison sentences for crimes committed during their unauthorized foray into the U.S.

Each state should hold its own election, much like a presidential election. The appropriate number of electoral votes will be tallied and ultimately decide the issue of whether or not to deport or to maintain the status quo for all illegal immigrants residing in this country. But let the legal citizens be responsible for the consequences or benifits thereof.

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