Brown supports a 2,000-mile long southern border fence

Except for Native Americans, we are a nation of immigrants as noted in the title of the 1958 book by that name written by John F, Kennedy.

In 1960, an estimated 97 percent of all Americans spoke English and non-Hispanic whites made up 82 percent of the population of Los Angeles County.

According to 2000 census figures, they now account for only 31 percent of Los Angeles' resident population. Today, the Mexican population of Los Angeles is second only to that of Mexico City, and 54 percent of the population speaks Spanish as its primary language.

A human wave is rolling over the border and is expanding into the Intermountain West. In fact, Montana is now conspicuous as the Western state least affected by the Hispanic transformation.

A few decades ago the demography of the rest of the West was more like Montana is today. In decades to come, Montana will be more like what the rest of the West has become.

The Mexicans are coming here to escape to a better life. Half of Mexico's population exists in dire poverty. Sadly and ironically Mexico is rich in resources and capable of supporting a far higher standard of living for its people. Its poverty is rooted in an economic system that allows no competition to government-protected monopolies.

With no opportunity for new, more innovative businesses enterprises, the economy plods at near stagnant levels. Job creation is not sufficient to employ willing workers. Only about 12 percent of the revenue generated from an unfair and corruptly administered system of taxation is allocated to health care and education.

The powers that be in Mexico are perfectly happy to export their needy people. The existing system keeps the rich rich and shielded from social responsibility and taxes. Destitute Mexicans illegally enter our country where opportunities for jobs and social welfare benefits are waiting for them. Many send money home. On our side of the border, some in corporate America are cashing in on an endless supply of cheap labor.

New York Times syndicated columnist Paul Krugman noted, "Poorly educated Mexican immigrants increase the supply of less-skilled labor, driving down the wages of less-skilled Americans."

Ranking 45th among the states in per capita income, low-income Montanans need to realize that they could soon be competing for their jobs with undocumented immigrants. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, undocumented immigrants currently make up 27 percent of the national workforce of drywall/ceiling tile installers, 21 percent of roofers, 17 percent of building cleaning and maintenance workers, and 11 percent of food preparation and service workers.

The costs to our country of coping with this great escape are overwhelming. A minimum of 12 million, and perhaps as many as 20 million, Hispanics are in our country illegally. Court decisions and the selective enforcement of our laws have allowed many to remain here and receive the benefits of U.S. citizens. These include cash payments, food stamps, free medical care and all other tax-supported public services.

The crime rate among undocumented Mexican immigrants is three-to-four times the national average. The cost of schooling, health care, welfare, Social Security and prisons — plus the additional pressure on land, water and power resources — greatly exceeds the taxes undocumented immigrants pay.

A Rice University study recently calculated that in 2006, the net annual cost of legal and illegal immigration will add up to $108 billion. The late Nobel economist Milton Friedman observed, "It's just obvious that you can't have free immigration and the welfare state." But as our national debt mounts, and future Americans face a crushing burden, we continue to try to defy the obvious.

We should secure our Mexican border with a 2,000-mile fence, not a 700-mile one. Automatic citizenship should not be granted to babies born to immigrants who are here illegally. Hefty fines should be imposed for every instance of hiring an illegal. Repeated hiring should bring jail terms.

Theses things, however, will not happen because our current President and newly elected Congress don't agree with them.

What the state of Montana can do is what Arizona did recently when the people enacted Proposition 200, which requires that to qualify for welfare benefits, citizens must provide proof of citizenship or proof that they are in the United States legally. In addition, Montana law should restrict drivers licenses to legal residents of our state.

If Montanans enact such laws now, we can avoid the angst experienced in Arizona when benefits were removed from those who had already been receiving them. Montana will not be immune from the wave of undocumented immigrants. We can, however, be better prepared for it than our southern neighbors have been.

Bob Brown, former Montana State Senate President and Secretary of State, is a senior fellow at the University of Montana's Center for the Rocky Mountain West.