Silly politicians, troops are for war

In their cultural battle hymn, "Somos Mas Americanos," an undocumented immigrant stands up to Americans who mistake workers for invaders and assume a war footing.

"Soy extranjero en mi tierra. Y no vengo a darles guerra. Soy hombre trabajador."

(I'm a stranger in my own land. And I didn't come to make war. I'm a working man.)

America is confused. We take in refugees from war-ravaged Syria -- albeit a small number of them -- but we won't even give refugees from war-ravaged Central America an asylum hearing. We make a big show about keeping out illegal immigrants; and the party that is doing much of the chest-thumping -- the GOP -- is hooked on contributions from businesses that use illegal immigrant labor. We portray illegal immigrants as dangerous criminals, then we hand them our children and the digits to our home security code so they can make our lives more comfortable.

Does this make sense to anyone who isn't binge watching Fox News and following the rants of dimwits in New York and Washington who don't know the border from a burrito?

If tough-talking Trump and all the other anti-immigrant bullies are serious about stopping illegal immigration, they don't have to send soldiers and build a wall. All they have to do is find the courage to bite the hand that feeds them. Start locking up employers, and the illegal immigrants they hire will skedaddle.

But beware. This isn't as easy as picking on poorly educated non-citizens who don't speak English and can't defend themselves. Employers will fight back. And they know how to strike fear into the hearts of politicians with just six words: "I'm stopping payment on the check!"

Americans love to complain about illegal immigration, but they'll never accept responsibility for it. Hire illegal immigrants? Who -- us?

When Trump followed the lead of the last two presidents -- one Democrat, one Republican -- and ordered troops to the border, he let U.S. employers off the hook. He also told the world that it's time to take up arms because the United States is being invaded. Truth is, a lot of the folks who come looking for work were pretty much invited.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.