(Reagan signing the Simpson-Mazzoli Immigration Reform Bill - 1986 - smiling faces . . .mostly)

Passing by a comfortable margin in the House and passed with ease by the Senate, in what was referred to as the first piece of sweeping legislation in the area of Immigration was signed into law on November 1986. The bill, known as the Simpson-Mazzoli Act of 1986, penalized employers for hiring illegal aliens and offering amnesty to aliens who illegally entered the country before 1982 was an attempt to offer some solution to a broken system in need of fixing since the last piece of legislation authored by Peter Rodino in the early 1970's.

Of course, it had its detractors, including the Mexican government. Seems in the area of Immigration, you just can't please everybody - or in some cases, most anybody.

The news throughout most of the world this week was focused on the Gaza Flotilla incident, with repercussions going on for days, and in fact continuing with the latest on-going story on the Irish relief ship Rachel Corrie heading towards Gaza and no doubt another confrontation of one kind or another. But the world had other news. In Japan, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama stepped down, Australian immigration laws were coming under fire (sounds familiar), and the world continued its reaction to the Oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

(Stepping down amid the Okinawa question)

Amid allegations that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama stepped down as the result of an indecisive stance on the Okinawa question. It was still a surprise when NHK broke in with a bulletin on June 1st informing of the Prime Ministers decision.

(Developing story, even as we speak)

RTE in Ireland reported that 6 Irish nationals had been taken prisoner during the first confrontation with the Israelis during the Gaza Aid run. It was now turning into a diplomatic skirmish as the Irish government was now asking the Israelis for repatriation of the six workers.

(so close, yet so far away for a lot of people)

From ABC Radio National Australia's news program National Interest, news on the immigration problem currently going on in New South Wales, and what is being proposed to be done about it.

(brush up on your French right here)

And finally, for our French friends or people who just want to brush up on their French skills, here's a June 4th broadcast of Journal Francais which discusses the Gaza situation, the Gulf disaster and numerous domestic issues on this 8:00 pm (in France) newscast.

That's the week as it looks from this Friday night. I'm sure in 24 hours everything will change just as it will again by Monday.

If you can't keep up, don't feel bad - nobody else can either.

(Sen. Leverett Saltonstall - big believer in immigration - and a Republican, no less)

In 1953 the big question was to allow 240,000 immigrants, many of whom were from Iron Curtain countries, passage to the U.S. The McCarran Walter Act was already the established law that allowed over 100,000 immigrants to settle in the U.S. The new bill would increase that amount to over 340,000 and the resistance came, from all people Rep. Francis E. Walter, who co-authored the original bill. Walter felt it would open the floodgates for "undesirables and communists" and put a burden on an already overflowing work force.

The American Forum program of July 12, 1953 staged a debate between Rep. Walter and Sen. Leverett Saltonstall.

Sen. Leverett Saltonstall: “If we here in the United States haven’t put into our people who have come over from other countries either in the first generation or the second generation the feeling that we’ve got something here for them in the cause of freedom and in cause of advancement for themselves, then we’ve failed in our effort if we let these people who come in convince them that everything in this country is wrong. If that’s so they wouldn’t want to come in anyway it seems to me.”

Certainly a far cry from the current debate on Immigration, at least there's no Red Scare. But it's interesting to note that the argument over immigration is an old one and will probably continue for generations.

(Rarely invited - barely a guest)

With talk of Immigration reform looming before Congress, I thought it would be a good idea to start looking at the Illegal Immigration question as its been posed for easily past 50 or so years. Today's particular installment puts us in 1973, a little less than a year after Congressman Peter Rodino introduced a bill to address the illegal immigration issue. It wasn't terribly popular and it ultimately did nothing to stem the tide of illegal immigration into the U.S. Here is a documentary produced as part of All Things Considered from NPR on July 16-21, 1973.

Peter Rodino (discussing The Rodino Immigration Bill): “This law is intended to provide some kind of a red flag and penalties for the employer who knowingly employs illegal aliens. It’s a fair bill, it’s designed to provide for an orderly flow of immigration, to eliminate the incentive of the illegal alien who comes into this country believing that here is his only opportunity and I sympathize with him because I know a good many of these people are unable to get jobs which will give them the kind of existence they could find here. But on the other hand, it disrupts the orderly flow of immigration in this country. It swells our welfare rolls, it prejudices the working conditions of those people who are on regular labor standards, it also serves really as a vehicle to exploit the very illegal alien.”

At the moment, it would seem the tidal wave of illegal aliens has subsided simply because there is little or no work to be had. But I suspect the reason there hasn't been an effective piece of legislation dealing with the issue of illegal immigration is that it effectively cuts off a source of cheap and exploitable labor which, lets face it, is a bargaining chip held over many states in lieu of companies packing up and heading overseas. Although, to be fair, most immigrant workers have been field labor in the area of agriculture - and that's something you can't export overseas.

It will be interesting to see which direction this all takes in the coming months/years. Like Health Care, Immigration reform has been something talked about but rarely acted upon since World War 2.

Stay tuned for more examples.