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ANALYSIS/OPINION:

This is a conversation on comprehensive immigration reform in which columnist Armstrong Williams asks questions of Mike Cutler, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and an adviser to the American Council for Immigration Reform on issues concerning immigration issues that relate to national security.

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Q. Many people at the highest levels of government and industry have taken a cynical and duplicitous approach to illegal immigration. In a way, its symbolic of the approach most average Americans have taken. We rely on immigrant labor to fill jobs that Americans wont do as a result of the meager wages and perhaps undesirable working conditions, while complaining about the side effects over-exhausted social services, ever-multiplying crime rates, and a grave cultural dilution in the Border States. Do you believe that Comprehensive Immigration Reform would solve these problems or make them worse?

A. There are several components to your question, so lets get started by dispelling the notion that the U.S. has just four border states. Whenever the immigration issue is discussed, the focus of the conversation usually turns to the border that is supposed to separate the U.S. and Mexico. Make no mistake about it, that border is an important component to the immigration system, but it is only one component. Whenever I am asked about the need to build a fence on the border, I respond by saying that the fence on that border is comparable to a wing on an airplane. Without the wing, the airplane will not fly, however, a wing by itself goes nowhere. In my view, there are actually 50 border states. Any state that has an international airport or access to Americas coastline has to be considered as much a border state as are those states that lie along Americas northern and southern borders.

The southwest border has to be secured. That border is very unique and is the only place on our planet where the First World collides with the Third World. That border poses a threat to national security and all of the challenges that illegal immigration creates for America and Americans, but fixing the immigration system will require far more than a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border.

In point of fact, an estimated 40 percent of the illegal aliens in the U.S. did not run over our borders and enter the country without inspection. Rather, they were lawfully admitted into the U.S., and then in one way or another, violated the terms of their admission by remaining after their authorized period expired, accepting illegal employment, failing to attend schools for which they were admitted to attend, or otherwise failing to abide their terms of admission.

You are absolutely right that illegal aliens are hired because they work for substandard wages and under substandard conditions. As an agent, I was outraged and often sickened by the conditions I found illegal aliens living and working in. Exploitation is disgusting. But it is vital to understand that the often-cited phrase, Illegal aliens do the work Americans wont do is not about the lack of American workers to do the work and do it well. It is about slashing wages, and in many instances, ignoring health and safety regulations.

Q. Do you agree with the premise that its not a challenge identifying the illegal immigrants in any number of neighborhoods, as they essentially stick out like that of a sore thumb. These aliens are the only people who will gladly and cost-effectively tend to your lawn, babysit your children, and run some of your favorite quick-stop restaurants. Illegal immigration in many ways is the simplest form of outsourcing for certain nonexportable jobs.

Up until now, the focus has been on curbing the supply. The approaches have ranged from the purely illogical like trying to erect a Great Wall of America along the Mexican border to the downright diabolical like private citizens forming vigilante groups and terrorizing brown people who may or may not be illegal immigrants. The recent Arizona law that revokes the business licenses of employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants is the first real measure focused on the demand side.

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WILLIAMS: A conversation on comprehensive immigration reform