Freedonia Part 1 - Immigration

While visiting Edonia and marveling at the wonderful republic these people had created your beloved Emperor could not help hearing about the problems of neighboring Freedonia. Your Highness was resolved to visit the nation to see if the reports were true.

Getting into Freedonia was difficult. Visitors must apply for a visa through the consulate in Edonia. The consulate was poorly staffed. Not that there weren't a lot of people employed there, it was just that none of them did any work. The Freedonia government did not hire people based on merit, but rather on a system of quotas based on ethnic background, gender, sexuality, age, race, and religion. If any one of the groups was not represented in the Freedonian Department of Immigration, then no one could be hired until that quota was filled. People from a specific category who were hard to find were guaranteed continued employment no matter how poorly they performed. As a result, the people who were talented soon moved on to private industry or emigrated abroad. That meant that most of those who worked in the consulate were completely incompetent and usually corrupt.

It took your Emperor three weeks to get a tourist visa through the Freedonian consulate. Your Highness endured an interview process at the consulate in which his Lordship was asked if he had a criminal background, was financially solvent, had an relatives in Freedonia, had any medical problems, and whether he bore any animosity toward the Freedonia government. He was also required to state where he was planning to stay in Freedonia and show that he had tickets to return to Edonia within 90 days. Despite answering all the questions to the satisfaction of the consulate employee, he was still denied a visa until an Edonian acquaintance suggested he provide a small monetary donation along with the visa application. Once this final step was taken, your frustrated Emperor was finally given a visa.

Once through the Freedonian port of entry, your Emperor was astounded to see a thriving emigration business in the border towns. It turns out that Freedonia derives a significant amount of its gross national product from its citizens working in Edonia. Freedonian unemployment was high and many workers tried to get jobs in neighboring Edonia to support their families. However, Edonia has certain standards for guest workers before granting a work visa. The Edonian government required guest workers to not have a criminal background, nor have any health problems, and to be legally sponsored by an Edonian employer. However, there were many citizens of Freedonia who did not meet these criteria and who also could not get any economic assistance from their own government. Thus, large numbers of diseased, criminal, and unskilled laborers were constantly trying to sneak into Edonia to get jobs.

To capitalize on this migration phenomenon, there existed along the border a massive illegal immigration smuggling industry. Because those Freedonians who successfully got into Edonia and got a job would send their paychecks back home to their families, the Freedonian government did everything it could to assist the illegal immigration industry. The government provided information on how best to penetrate the Edonian border and provided a network of support from within Edonia to help migrants get to their final destinations. The illegal immigration industry was the second largest source of income for the Freedonian government right after the illegal drug industry.

In the past, the Edonian government suffered greatly from the influx of illegal Freedonian immigrants. The arrival of millions of illegal aliens overburdened all the government services provided to the public including education, health, economic assistance, employment assistance, law enforcement, and penal institutions. The border provinces were especially hit hard as crime and damage to private property became an epidemic. Fortunately, the wise Edonian government decided to take decisive action.

The Edonian government implemented a phased approach to the illegal immigration problem. First, they sealed the border with a 20 foot wall the entire length of the 2,000 mile frontier. To prevent Freedonians from climbing over or tunneling under the wall, the Edonians increased the size of their border protection agency to completely man the entire length of it. There was no section of the wall that was not under continuous surveillance. Second, the Freedonian government established clear and unequivocal laws concerning immigration and actively punished those who violated their laws or assisted those who did. Captured illegal immigrants were fined and put into prison camps and sentenced to hard labor for one year on the first offense before being deported. A second offense resulted in a heavier fine and five years of hard labor. Hard labor usually consisted of cleaning up and repairing the damage caused by illegal immigration. A third offense resulted in no fine but did result in permanent incarceration. There were few of these cases. Employers who knowingly hired an illegal immigrant or who failed to take the necessary steps to determine their immigration status, were fined heavily on the first offense. The second offense resulted in the loss of the business to the government. The government would sell off the business assets and use the money to pay for border enforcement, deportation costs,and to assist citizens who had suffered loss at the hands of illegal immigrants. The third phase of the immigration plan was to establish a simple and fair guest worker program so that Freedonian citizens could legally work in Edonia in those sectors of the economy where there were not enough native workers to fill the employment need. Although their was initially a public outcry from the millions of illegal Freedonian immigrants and their supporters, the new emphasis on border security was paying off. Within three years of completely implementing the first two phases, illegal immigration had dropped 50% and was expected to drop further.

Unfortunately, the Freedonian government failed to take the required steps to solve internal employment problem so the slow sealing of the Edonian border was causing increased pressure as more and more of their citizens were not able to get jobs. With no legitimate employment available in their own country, more and more Freedonians were turning to criminal organizations for employment. The Freedonian government was under siege by its own people.

Audacity

Your beloved Emperor apologizes for not writing for so long. His Highness has crossed the border into Fredonia from Edonia and the Internet connection is not so good on the other side. However, we have noticed the recent comments of the Dictator of Mexico who had the unbelievable audacity to comment on Arizona's attempts to enforce the law of the Realm. The Mextator is obviously proud enough of the long history of corruption and human rights violations of his own realm to feel he has a right to comment on the efforts of the righteous citizens of Arizona to prevent the murderers, thieves, and child molesters from his realm from spoiling their own. In your beloved Emperor's eyes that takes unbelievable self delusion or perhaps just the encouragement of the Obamanites.