I first wrote about fighting illegal immigration last year. With Congress thinking of tackling the issue, I have some further thoughts on the matter.
For starters, take a look at the stupidity that has been passed out of the US Senate’s Judiciary Committee:
For starters, take a look at the stupidity that has been passed out of the US Senate’s Judiciary Committee:
Allows illegal immigrants who were in the United States before 2004 to continuing working legally for six years if they pay a $1,000 fine and clear a criminal background check. They would become eligible for permanent residence upon paying another $1,000 fine, any back taxes and having learned English.
This sounds like amnesty to me. But wait, this will only apply to those who were here prior to 1 January 2004. So if this was to become law, it will not make anyone who has come to this country in the last two years and three months legal. That probably totals over a million illegal aliens. What will the Senate do about them? According to this bill, nothing. Of course word is probably spreading across the world that the US is getting ready to accept the illegal aliens already in the country, making this problem worse. After all, how many have heard that this applies only to those here in 2003 and before? How many know that this is not going to happen? NOBODY IS GOING TO HEAR THIS!!! Anyway it doesn’t matter. Since they are here illegally, there is no real authentic documentation of when they did arrive here, unless they were caught and released, so they can always lie about when they arrived. “I was here but I just can’t prove it.” Better yet, just generate some fake documents to document that you were here. Multiply that by hundreds of thousands of similar forgeries and the numbers themselves will give them credibility.
Of course the only reason anyone is talking about accepting illegal aliens here is because the other option is to send them back. Over ten million of them.
One common excuse against deporting the illegal aliens here already is that it would be impossible to round up and deport 12 million illegal aliens. So the solution is to let them stay, but require them to undergo a background check. Do these people have any clue how much work that is and just who the hell is going to do that? Immigration? They can’t handle all the legitimate applications they are receiving as it is.
Which sounds harder, deporting or conducting background checks? Are these people going to be required to get a physical? My wife needed one before the US would let her immigrate. You know, a physical, to make sure that they are not letting anyone in who is sick. She is from Europe and the physical alone cost over $300. It cost us over $1,000 in fees and three years waiting time to get her Greencard. This brings me to the $2,000 in fines. What kind of penalty is that? That is what many immigrants pay (and more) to immigrate legally. What happens to those who decide that they don’t want to pay the fine? This bill, if turned into a law, invites illegal aliens to commit yet another crime by lying about their past income when they are asked to pay their back taxes.
Making illegal aliens legal residents brings about another question; Are all these illegal aliens going to continue to work for the same low wages once they have to pay taxes? This is in addition to their employer taking federal deductions out of their pay. Some of them would be due for a pay increase if they were not paying at least minimum wage. This brings about a problem; Illegal aliens are not going to be so inexpensive if they are no longer illegal. This in itself might bring about a new wave of illegal aliens to fill the jobs that will only pay very little.
A Massive Roundup is Required:
Turning illegal aliens into Legal Residents just won’t work. Even if they are all offered Legal Residency, many will not comply will the conditions imposed, instead remaining as an illegal aliens, (starting with the criminal element) which means that we are still going to have to expend a huge effort to find, and deport these people. With that in mind, the US should step up efforts to deport all illegal aliens, including those from Mexico.
Of course the only reason anyone is talking about accepting illegal aliens here is because the other option is to send them back. Over ten million of them.
One common excuse against deporting the illegal aliens here already is that it would be impossible to round up and deport 12 million illegal aliens. So the solution is to let them stay, but require them to undergo a background check. Do these people have any clue how much work that is and just who the hell is going to do that? Immigration? They can’t handle all the legitimate applications they are receiving as it is.
Which sounds harder, deporting or conducting background checks? Are these people going to be required to get a physical? My wife needed one before the US would let her immigrate. You know, a physical, to make sure that they are not letting anyone in who is sick. She is from Europe and the physical alone cost over $300. It cost us over $1,000 in fees and three years waiting time to get her Greencard. This brings me to the $2,000 in fines. What kind of penalty is that? That is what many immigrants pay (and more) to immigrate legally. What happens to those who decide that they don’t want to pay the fine? This bill, if turned into a law, invites illegal aliens to commit yet another crime by lying about their past income when they are asked to pay their back taxes.
Making illegal aliens legal residents brings about another question; Are all these illegal aliens going to continue to work for the same low wages once they have to pay taxes? This is in addition to their employer taking federal deductions out of their pay. Some of them would be due for a pay increase if they were not paying at least minimum wage. This brings about a problem; Illegal aliens are not going to be so inexpensive if they are no longer illegal. This in itself might bring about a new wave of illegal aliens to fill the jobs that will only pay very little.
A Massive Roundup is Required:
Turning illegal aliens into Legal Residents just won’t work. Even if they are all offered Legal Residency, many will not comply will the conditions imposed, instead remaining as an illegal aliens, (starting with the criminal element) which means that we are still going to have to expend a huge effort to find, and deport these people. With that in mind, the US should step up efforts to deport all illegal aliens, including those from Mexico.
Don’t let the size of the problem be a reason not to solve the problem. Look at law enforcement. The more money to put into it, the more results you get back. The number of illegal aliens caught will go up dramatically by increasing the funds to catch, hold, and deport them. Take running red lights and speeders. There is no way that police can catch them all. Did the police give up? No, they got smarter. Now we have red light and speed cameras to aid enforcement. Same with deporting illegal aliens. We start sending them back, and the word will get out that it is no longer so easy to work and live here. This will have the result of reducing those who even bother to try and cross into the US.
Most people are not even aware that a million illegal aliens WERE CAUGHT in 2005 at the border. If 11,000 border agents can catch a million illegal aliens at the border, then hundreds of thousands of police across the country can manage to catch sizable numbers of illegal aliens. We catch many now, but many are let go with only a notice to appear in court for a hearing which they will never appear for.
Build the Border Fence and extend the Threat of Capture:
To further reduce the amount of illegal aliens coming into the US, there needs to be a border fence as well as enough personnel to catch AND HOLD those who attempt to cross. It is apparently too easy to cross into the country from Mexico. This needs to stop. A fence alone will not be able to stop this flood of people unless the threat of being caught continues once they are inside the US. Currently this is not the case. You will never be able to control people coming in illegally if they think they think the threat of being caught only exists while crossing. The threat needs to be constant and ongoing.
We must continue to hunt down illegal aliens once they are inside the country. Now, if they can make it onto the country, they are home free and have no fear of being caught. Look at the protest in Los Angeles. They were not concerned. The protest did prove one thing though, that it is possible to round up large numbers of illegal immigrants.
The threat also needs to be extended to employers who use these workers, if a business can only supply by using this type of labor, then it is not a viable business. There needs to be massive enforcement and if it causes the business trouble so be it. My company employs many foreign born as we are an international business. The company has a lawyer to ensure that none of the employment records contain fraudulent or doctored documents. This is not hard to do. You probably don't even need a lawyer, only a person who will not accept obviously fake documents and willing to ask the question "Where is your Greencard?"
Increase Legal Immigration:
If we as a country are willing to accept 12 million new residents, they why not open those spots up to people around the world. America is a melting pot. To say yes to millions of Mexicans and no to the rest of the world is a crime of huge proportions. To say yes to these twelve million illegal aliens is to say yes to permit every single person in Central and South America into the country. We do not have room for all of them. To say yes to all of them is to also say yes to everyone in Africa as well as to every inhabitant on this planet living in poverty. We can’t accept everyone, at least not at once. We have to draw the line somewhere, and that is our decision to make, not anyone else’s, especially someone who has already broken our laws. Alternatively, we can always redraw the line, either including Mexico or excluding Southern California.
Concerning Jobs American’s Don’t Want:
If Americans will not do these jobs, then perhaps these are the jobs that should be outsourced from America. Farmers can purchase farmland in Mexico and meatpacking plants can establish plants in Mexico. We are sending jobs out of the country; why not export the jobs ‘we’ as Americans don’t want. As it is, NAFTA has provided many jobs in Mexico. There is even concern that there are not enough Mexicans to fill them all, creating of all things, wage inflation in Mexico.
There are reports that there are millions of Americans with only a high school diploma or less, who are either unemployed or not even looking for work. These people will be most likely to benefit, as employers would need to turn to them to fill the demand for workers. It does not matter that they do not want these jobs, with their education level, these are the only jobs available to them.
After watching the TV Show ‘Dirty Jobs’ I doubt that there is such a job that at least some Americans will want. This has been documented. Illegal aliens do work in professions that Americans also work in.
Illegal Alien Labor Creates an Imbalanced Playing Field:
When an employer uses illegal labor, his costs are now lower than his competitors, giving him an unfair advantage. This now forces the others to adopt the same practices, legal or not, just to survive. The wage levels for those jobs is reduced, driving out the Americans that were doing the work, increasing the demand for the illegal workers.
Protest in your own damn country:
You’re here illegally and your complaining that you don’t have the rights that you think you are entitled too? Maybe the situation is not as you wish it to be because you are not where you should be in the first place. Sure there are plenty of things to protest about. Too bad you should have started protesting back home about the lack of opportunity there.
This is not the Path to Citizenship:
People wanting to become American Citizens carry American Flags, not Mexican ones. It makes you wonder, do they want America to be more like Mexico or do they want Mexico to be more like America? If Mexico is so damn great, they why are hundreds of thousands of Mexicans willing to risk their lives to get to America? If you looking to reclaim the southwestern US for Mexico then you should have come here with a gun, not looking for a job.
Before you can apply to become a citizen, you need to first apply to be a legal resident. This application is received by our embassy and consulates in your country. If you are rejected, take heart that you are not the only one. Many more people want in than there are spaces. Yes, I agree, there should be more spaces, bt only for those following the right process.
You Have made life much more difficult for all those following the rules
Many people would love to immigrate to the US but sit in their own country waiting for a visa or green card approval. There are not enough spaces for those who wish to come. You have decided to cut in front of everyone and stake your own claim here. Worse yet, every Mexican who has come here legally is now treated as if they are just another illegal alien, because there are more of you than there is of them.
The Mexican Government is part of the Problem.
Mexico is doing nothing to stem the flow of people crossing out of their country. In fact there have been some suspicious incidents that Mexican Border Officials are actually aiding illegal immigrants across the border as well as moving drugs too.
Every Mexican that makes it into the US is one more person sending money back into Mexico. So it is in their best interest to do nothing. The President needs to get tough on Mexico and find a way to make it in their best interest to stop people from walking out of the country. How about imposing a fine totaling a certain amount for each Mexican national caught crossing the border. The funds can be collected in the form of tariffs. We must have something that we can hold over their heads. It is time to use it, especially considering that President Fox just rejected the idea of doing anything to prevent Mexicans from crossing into the US.
Mexican President Fox is pressuring US President Bush to accept millions of illegal Mexicans while at the same time refusing to stop the flow of ever more illegal aliens. That takes balls. Bush should tell Fox to forget any the guest worker plan as long as he refuses to be part of the solution. In addition, he should tell Fox that he’s going to send every last illegal Mexican alien back and every person we catch crossing the border is going to be sent back and we are going to bill Mexico for the expense. (I can imagine Bush explaining in the private meeting with Fox how he sees a huge slide being erected over the fence to return illegals with)
Illegal aliens from Mexico should not be treated differently from non-Mexicans. The largest flood of illegal immigrants is coming from Mexico, so it makes sense to concentrate our efforts in catching them. This way word spreads in Mexico that it is more likely that you’ll be caught and sent back. Currently, many Mexicans that are caught within the US are released due to storage constraints. That needs to stop.
At a minimum, can we at least ask Mexico to teach it’s citizens English? that would increase their usefulness, and get them on their way to Us Citizenship.
Assets should be seized:
Don’t pay your taxes and the IRS will be out to get your stuff. This should also apply to illegal immigrants. How’s that for a threat.
Deny Services to Illegal Aliens:
States need to deny illegal immigrant documents. The Mexican “Matricular Consular” is used as an excuse to permit service to illegal aliens, such as opening bank accounts, even though it is well known that these documents are completely unreliable according to the FBI, and Congress.
Illegal Aliens who are criminals should do their Prison Time Here:
Illegal immigrants who are arrested for crimes, other than immigration crimes, should do their prison time here. We should not be exporting real criminals back to their home countries, especially if they are going to be immediately released onto the streets once they get there.
The only amnesty offered should be time to leave the country without penalty:
Illegal aliens should be given time to leave the country without facing a criminal record. This should only apply if they do so willingly. Enforcement should start immediately. This way it becomes immediately clear that the threat is real.
This is not about Racism:
I have seen the charges. All of us calling to crack down on illegal aliens are racists. That is simply not true. Some are but most are not. This has nothing to do with racism. This has to do with control or more appropriate, regaining control of our country's immigration. Would the country be complaining if there were 12 million blonde Swedish Women here illegally? No, but that has nothing to do with racism, that is just sexist. (As well as pure fantasy.)
It is not our fault that things suck in your country. Fleeing your country will not make things better there.
Center for Immigration Studies - "Dropping out" Study
Build the Border Fence and extend the Threat of Capture:
To further reduce the amount of illegal aliens coming into the US, there needs to be a border fence as well as enough personnel to catch AND HOLD those who attempt to cross. It is apparently too easy to cross into the country from Mexico. This needs to stop. A fence alone will not be able to stop this flood of people unless the threat of being caught continues once they are inside the US. Currently this is not the case. You will never be able to control people coming in illegally if they think they think the threat of being caught only exists while crossing. The threat needs to be constant and ongoing.
We must continue to hunt down illegal aliens once they are inside the country. Now, if they can make it onto the country, they are home free and have no fear of being caught. Look at the protest in Los Angeles. They were not concerned. The protest did prove one thing though, that it is possible to round up large numbers of illegal immigrants.
The threat also needs to be extended to employers who use these workers, if a business can only supply by using this type of labor, then it is not a viable business. There needs to be massive enforcement and if it causes the business trouble so be it. My company employs many foreign born as we are an international business. The company has a lawyer to ensure that none of the employment records contain fraudulent or doctored documents. This is not hard to do. You probably don't even need a lawyer, only a person who will not accept obviously fake documents and willing to ask the question "Where is your Greencard?"
Increase Legal Immigration:
If we as a country are willing to accept 12 million new residents, they why not open those spots up to people around the world. America is a melting pot. To say yes to millions of Mexicans and no to the rest of the world is a crime of huge proportions. To say yes to these twelve million illegal aliens is to say yes to permit every single person in Central and South America into the country. We do not have room for all of them. To say yes to all of them is to also say yes to everyone in Africa as well as to every inhabitant on this planet living in poverty. We can’t accept everyone, at least not at once. We have to draw the line somewhere, and that is our decision to make, not anyone else’s, especially someone who has already broken our laws. Alternatively, we can always redraw the line, either including Mexico or excluding Southern California.
Concerning Jobs American’s Don’t Want:
If Americans will not do these jobs, then perhaps these are the jobs that should be outsourced from America. Farmers can purchase farmland in Mexico and meatpacking plants can establish plants in Mexico. We are sending jobs out of the country; why not export the jobs ‘we’ as Americans don’t want. As it is, NAFTA has provided many jobs in Mexico. There is even concern that there are not enough Mexicans to fill them all, creating of all things, wage inflation in Mexico.
There are reports that there are millions of Americans with only a high school diploma or less, who are either unemployed or not even looking for work. These people will be most likely to benefit, as employers would need to turn to them to fill the demand for workers. It does not matter that they do not want these jobs, with their education level, these are the only jobs available to them.
After watching the TV Show ‘Dirty Jobs’ I doubt that there is such a job that at least some Americans will want. This has been documented. Illegal aliens do work in professions that Americans also work in.
Illegal Alien Labor Creates an Imbalanced Playing Field:
When an employer uses illegal labor, his costs are now lower than his competitors, giving him an unfair advantage. This now forces the others to adopt the same practices, legal or not, just to survive. The wage levels for those jobs is reduced, driving out the Americans that were doing the work, increasing the demand for the illegal workers.
Protest in your own damn country:
You’re here illegally and your complaining that you don’t have the rights that you think you are entitled too? Maybe the situation is not as you wish it to be because you are not where you should be in the first place. Sure there are plenty of things to protest about. Too bad you should have started protesting back home about the lack of opportunity there.
This is not the Path to Citizenship:
People wanting to become American Citizens carry American Flags, not Mexican ones. It makes you wonder, do they want America to be more like Mexico or do they want Mexico to be more like America? If Mexico is so damn great, they why are hundreds of thousands of Mexicans willing to risk their lives to get to America? If you looking to reclaim the southwestern US for Mexico then you should have come here with a gun, not looking for a job.
Before you can apply to become a citizen, you need to first apply to be a legal resident. This application is received by our embassy and consulates in your country. If you are rejected, take heart that you are not the only one. Many more people want in than there are spaces. Yes, I agree, there should be more spaces, bt only for those following the right process.
You Have made life much more difficult for all those following the rules
Many people would love to immigrate to the US but sit in their own country waiting for a visa or green card approval. There are not enough spaces for those who wish to come. You have decided to cut in front of everyone and stake your own claim here. Worse yet, every Mexican who has come here legally is now treated as if they are just another illegal alien, because there are more of you than there is of them.
The Mexican Government is part of the Problem.
Mexico is doing nothing to stem the flow of people crossing out of their country. In fact there have been some suspicious incidents that Mexican Border Officials are actually aiding illegal immigrants across the border as well as moving drugs too.
Every Mexican that makes it into the US is one more person sending money back into Mexico. So it is in their best interest to do nothing. The President needs to get tough on Mexico and find a way to make it in their best interest to stop people from walking out of the country. How about imposing a fine totaling a certain amount for each Mexican national caught crossing the border. The funds can be collected in the form of tariffs. We must have something that we can hold over their heads. It is time to use it, especially considering that President Fox just rejected the idea of doing anything to prevent Mexicans from crossing into the US.
Mexican President Fox is pressuring US President Bush to accept millions of illegal Mexicans while at the same time refusing to stop the flow of ever more illegal aliens. That takes balls. Bush should tell Fox to forget any the guest worker plan as long as he refuses to be part of the solution. In addition, he should tell Fox that he’s going to send every last illegal Mexican alien back and every person we catch crossing the border is going to be sent back and we are going to bill Mexico for the expense. (I can imagine Bush explaining in the private meeting with Fox how he sees a huge slide being erected over the fence to return illegals with)
Illegal aliens from Mexico should not be treated differently from non-Mexicans. The largest flood of illegal immigrants is coming from Mexico, so it makes sense to concentrate our efforts in catching them. This way word spreads in Mexico that it is more likely that you’ll be caught and sent back. Currently, many Mexicans that are caught within the US are released due to storage constraints. That needs to stop.
At a minimum, can we at least ask Mexico to teach it’s citizens English? that would increase their usefulness, and get them on their way to Us Citizenship.
Assets should be seized:
Don’t pay your taxes and the IRS will be out to get your stuff. This should also apply to illegal immigrants. How’s that for a threat.
Deny Services to Illegal Aliens:
States need to deny illegal immigrant documents. The Mexican “Matricular Consular” is used as an excuse to permit service to illegal aliens, such as opening bank accounts, even though it is well known that these documents are completely unreliable according to the FBI, and Congress.
Illegal Aliens who are criminals should do their Prison Time Here:
Illegal immigrants who are arrested for crimes, other than immigration crimes, should do their prison time here. We should not be exporting real criminals back to their home countries, especially if they are going to be immediately released onto the streets once they get there.
The only amnesty offered should be time to leave the country without penalty:
Illegal aliens should be given time to leave the country without facing a criminal record. This should only apply if they do so willingly. Enforcement should start immediately. This way it becomes immediately clear that the threat is real.
This is not about Racism:
I have seen the charges. All of us calling to crack down on illegal aliens are racists. That is simply not true. Some are but most are not. This has nothing to do with racism. This has to do with control or more appropriate, regaining control of our country's immigration. Would the country be complaining if there were 12 million blonde Swedish Women here illegally? No, but that has nothing to do with racism, that is just sexist. (As well as pure fantasy.)
It is not our fault that things suck in your country. Fleeing your country will not make things better there.
Center for Immigration Studies - "Dropping out" Study
Illegals To Americans: We Hate America - Captains Quarters
Wells Fargo: Banking Illegals Since 2001 - California Conservative
Look at a map; borders still exist! - Cao's Blog
Answering 13 Frequently Asked Questions About Illegal Immigration - Right Wing News
DOCUMENTS OF THE "UNDOCUMENTED" - Michelle Malkin
-------------------
My Original Post from June 2005 Follows. At the time I advocated a guest worker program. After the recent discussions, I am shying away from this type of program and more in favor of increasing legal immigration. There are more than enough people on this planet who want to move here and work towards becoming Americans. Why not grant more of those wishes instead of creating a second class of worker.
Fighting Illegal Immigration is easier than anyone is willing to admit - 18 June 05
We see it on the news night after night. The country is being overrun with illegal immigrants. There are over ten million illegal immigrants living in the US. Eleven percent of all Mexican Citizens are living in the US, half of them illegally.
This situation is insane. I am not exactly sure how the country got itself into this situation, but you can guess that it is a problem that has been slowly growing for years. Now many admit that our borders are broken. Many are resigned that there is nothing that we can do. There are too many to stop. This is a defeatist attitude and wrong. We all can see that there is a serious problem, and it is a problem that needs to be fixed. Are our borders broken? I want to think that they are more leaky and that a couple changes in policy and tactics will do a good deal to stem much of the leaking, and allow the US to control the problem, as it should be doing.
Changes to the system:
First, we will need more immigration agents.
This is the most obvious needed resource and steps have been in the works to address this need. Now there are experts who claim that added reinforcements at the border will not stop the flood of illegal aliens flowing over the border. I agree it probably won’t so this is not the goal of these changes. The goal of these changes is to create a border secure enough to discourage enough people from even trying to cross into the US illegally. Right now there is no deterrent. The following changes in policy would change that.
End 'catch and release' both at the border and anywhere inside the US.
As I just mentioned, there is no deterrent against trying to cross the border. If you get caught the worst that will happen is that you get a free ride home to your home in Mexico. Many who are caught are simply given an appearance ticket to appear in court and are quickly let loose onto the streets of the US. We all know what happens next, they disappear. This needs to stop. These people have committed immigration crimes and need to be put in front of a judge. Every single one of them is a flight risk and should not be let out on bail. Worse yet, none of those who are caught are asked to put up any bail, they are simply let go. They should all be held until a judge decides what to do with them. If we as a nation are not willing to do this, then we need to be ready to deport every illegal alien we catch. This will probably take as big an effort as detaining them until their trial.
Right now at our airports people arriving by plane are put in chains and deported for overstaying their visa limits during a previous visit. In some cases the overstay was only one day. From where are these people coming from? Countries with Visa-waiver status. Countries like Finland, and the United Kingdom. This is overkill. How many immigration agents does it take to deport these isolated cases? The manpower requirements far outweigh the results. Shouldn’t some of these assets be reassigned where they can stop hundreds and even thousands trying to enter the country illegally.
Utilize Local Law Enforcement
Just because you manage to get past the border guards does not give you a free pass to stay in the country. Every day illegal aliens are caught by local police, only to be let go because the police are not in the business of enforcing immigration law. Police in California were being harassed by pro-immigration forces to stop setting up drivers license and DUI checkpoints. In addition to catching drunk drivers they had the added bonus of catching illegal aliens since they are unable to obtain drivers licenses and insurance. The pro-immigration forces defend these people who “otherwise obey the law.” Yes, other than immigration and motorist law. Better yet, the pro-immigration forces attack the check points because they “discriminate against those without licenses.” If that is the case, we will have to disband the police since they discriminate against those who break the law. At least in this case sanity prevailed and the checkpoints were resumed and now unlicensed drivers cars are towed away. The only thing missing now is the need to take the illegal alien who was driving the car away too.
So where do we put all of the illegal aliens that we catch? Well the US has experience in handling hundreds of thousands of prisoners. During WWII many prisoners of war were shipped from Europe back to the US for internment. This mass detaining has been done successfully before and it can be done again. Some of these new border agents the government has been promising can be used for this purpose.
At first, a huge number will be caught, but then it should slow down. Perhaps even suddenly. Some decrease can be expected, simply because those who are caught cannot try again immediately like they do now. Secondly, many others would be deterred from even trying to cross into the US because they are not interested in sitting in an internment camp for six months.
Prosecute all who are caught
Now we would not just intern them, they would be interned awaiting trial. Of course they would have the option of pleading guilty and then being deported with a warning. Penalties for those caught a second time should be harsher. Perhaps they would be incarcerated for a year. Perhaps just another six months to work their way through the system would be enough. The second time you would not be able to simply plead guilty to get out. How many Mexicans would cross the border if they knew there was a reasonable chance that they would be caught and denied income for a half-year? Truly something to think about before deciding to go north.
Families of mixed immigration status should not be exempt
Illegal alien parents of American born should not be exempt from immigration law. Many illegals living here have American-born children. It is not fair to punish the baby and I doubt that it is possible to deport and American-born child. Nor would I want to. But the parents do need to be punished. There are two ways I can think of doing this. One way would be to deport the parents when the child reaches 18 years of age. The other is to give the parents a suspended sentence to be served when the child is no longer a minor.
End the 'We cannot get by without them' Myth
One defense against going against all the illegal aliens is that we cannot get by without them. This is a load of bull. There is room here for a formal guest worker program and one should be instituted. Notice the word ‘formal.’ What we have now is a free for all and all of these workers are outside of our legal economy. How many illegal aliens are unemployed? How many are underemployed? How many pay taxes? All of their employers are contributing nothing to the Social Security and Medicare programs. We are all being cheated by this activity as our contributions (tax and otherwise) then get used to support them.
A guest worker program will do not only the US good but it will also benefit Mexico. It will enable Mexicans in the US to travel back and forth between the US and home and permit the spending of more money in Mexico, helping the economy there. This will also help American firms that do not utilize the illegal workforce compete because heir competitors will lose the cheap labor that they had been utilizing to beat their competition.
Proclamations that the US cannot function with this shadow workforce are insulting. At best, this low-cost workforce is preventing the implementation of more efficient machinery and more productive methods.
Conclusion
I know that much of what I have written will be seen as drastic and I will be dismissed as the work of an extremist. I can assure you that I am not an extremist. As a matter of fact I have lived outside the US and my wife is a foreign national. I am familiar with being an immigrant through living and working overseas. I have been detained in another country and deported. (Long story.) My wife has been detained in the US also.
For three years we have been dealing with immigration on a number of matters. Mis-spelling her name on her green card. Losing her green card when it was returned for correction. Being forced to pay for a replacement card which was then never issued. Being told conflicting information concerning the application process and very simply, being lied too.
The process to come to the US sucks. However, this is not a reason to skip the line and the process. Many others are waiting to come here legally. Some will wait for years and it makes sense to have limits, and ours are very generous. An orderly and planned immigration policy allows immigrants to integrate into society.
I know very well that you get punished for doing things legally. It is expensive to go through the green card process. My wife is prohibited from collecting any government assistance. This includes welfare and unemployment. If she attempts to apply for this aid, I can be prosecuted, even if we get divorced. So I am furious to see all of the federal money go to aiding illegal aliens here. Hundreds of millions of dollars are provided by the Federal Government to treat them in hospitals alone. Dollars that can be better spent policing the border and catching (and holding) those who manage to cross it illegally. The question is when do we seriously start to enforce our immigration laws?
This situation is insane. I am not exactly sure how the country got itself into this situation, but you can guess that it is a problem that has been slowly growing for years. Now many admit that our borders are broken. Many are resigned that there is nothing that we can do. There are too many to stop. This is a defeatist attitude and wrong. We all can see that there is a serious problem, and it is a problem that needs to be fixed. Are our borders broken? I want to think that they are more leaky and that a couple changes in policy and tactics will do a good deal to stem much of the leaking, and allow the US to control the problem, as it should be doing.
Changes to the system:
First, we will need more immigration agents.
This is the most obvious needed resource and steps have been in the works to address this need. Now there are experts who claim that added reinforcements at the border will not stop the flood of illegal aliens flowing over the border. I agree it probably won’t so this is not the goal of these changes. The goal of these changes is to create a border secure enough to discourage enough people from even trying to cross into the US illegally. Right now there is no deterrent. The following changes in policy would change that.
End 'catch and release' both at the border and anywhere inside the US.
As I just mentioned, there is no deterrent against trying to cross the border. If you get caught the worst that will happen is that you get a free ride home to your home in Mexico. Many who are caught are simply given an appearance ticket to appear in court and are quickly let loose onto the streets of the US. We all know what happens next, they disappear. This needs to stop. These people have committed immigration crimes and need to be put in front of a judge. Every single one of them is a flight risk and should not be let out on bail. Worse yet, none of those who are caught are asked to put up any bail, they are simply let go. They should all be held until a judge decides what to do with them. If we as a nation are not willing to do this, then we need to be ready to deport every illegal alien we catch. This will probably take as big an effort as detaining them until their trial.
Right now at our airports people arriving by plane are put in chains and deported for overstaying their visa limits during a previous visit. In some cases the overstay was only one day. From where are these people coming from? Countries with Visa-waiver status. Countries like Finland, and the United Kingdom. This is overkill. How many immigration agents does it take to deport these isolated cases? The manpower requirements far outweigh the results. Shouldn’t some of these assets be reassigned where they can stop hundreds and even thousands trying to enter the country illegally.
Utilize Local Law Enforcement
Just because you manage to get past the border guards does not give you a free pass to stay in the country. Every day illegal aliens are caught by local police, only to be let go because the police are not in the business of enforcing immigration law. Police in California were being harassed by pro-immigration forces to stop setting up drivers license and DUI checkpoints. In addition to catching drunk drivers they had the added bonus of catching illegal aliens since they are unable to obtain drivers licenses and insurance. The pro-immigration forces defend these people who “otherwise obey the law.” Yes, other than immigration and motorist law. Better yet, the pro-immigration forces attack the check points because they “discriminate against those without licenses.” If that is the case, we will have to disband the police since they discriminate against those who break the law. At least in this case sanity prevailed and the checkpoints were resumed and now unlicensed drivers cars are towed away. The only thing missing now is the need to take the illegal alien who was driving the car away too.
So where do we put all of the illegal aliens that we catch? Well the US has experience in handling hundreds of thousands of prisoners. During WWII many prisoners of war were shipped from Europe back to the US for internment. This mass detaining has been done successfully before and it can be done again. Some of these new border agents the government has been promising can be used for this purpose.
At first, a huge number will be caught, but then it should slow down. Perhaps even suddenly. Some decrease can be expected, simply because those who are caught cannot try again immediately like they do now. Secondly, many others would be deterred from even trying to cross into the US because they are not interested in sitting in an internment camp for six months.
Prosecute all who are caught
Now we would not just intern them, they would be interned awaiting trial. Of course they would have the option of pleading guilty and then being deported with a warning. Penalties for those caught a second time should be harsher. Perhaps they would be incarcerated for a year. Perhaps just another six months to work their way through the system would be enough. The second time you would not be able to simply plead guilty to get out. How many Mexicans would cross the border if they knew there was a reasonable chance that they would be caught and denied income for a half-year? Truly something to think about before deciding to go north.
Families of mixed immigration status should not be exempt
Illegal alien parents of American born should not be exempt from immigration law. Many illegals living here have American-born children. It is not fair to punish the baby and I doubt that it is possible to deport and American-born child. Nor would I want to. But the parents do need to be punished. There are two ways I can think of doing this. One way would be to deport the parents when the child reaches 18 years of age. The other is to give the parents a suspended sentence to be served when the child is no longer a minor.
End the 'We cannot get by without them' Myth
One defense against going against all the illegal aliens is that we cannot get by without them. This is a load of bull. There is room here for a formal guest worker program and one should be instituted. Notice the word ‘formal.’ What we have now is a free for all and all of these workers are outside of our legal economy. How many illegal aliens are unemployed? How many are underemployed? How many pay taxes? All of their employers are contributing nothing to the Social Security and Medicare programs. We are all being cheated by this activity as our contributions (tax and otherwise) then get used to support them.
A guest worker program will do not only the US good but it will also benefit Mexico. It will enable Mexicans in the US to travel back and forth between the US and home and permit the spending of more money in Mexico, helping the economy there. This will also help American firms that do not utilize the illegal workforce compete because heir competitors will lose the cheap labor that they had been utilizing to beat their competition.
Proclamations that the US cannot function with this shadow workforce are insulting. At best, this low-cost workforce is preventing the implementation of more efficient machinery and more productive methods.
Conclusion
I know that much of what I have written will be seen as drastic and I will be dismissed as the work of an extremist. I can assure you that I am not an extremist. As a matter of fact I have lived outside the US and my wife is a foreign national. I am familiar with being an immigrant through living and working overseas. I have been detained in another country and deported. (Long story.) My wife has been detained in the US also.
For three years we have been dealing with immigration on a number of matters. Mis-spelling her name on her green card. Losing her green card when it was returned for correction. Being forced to pay for a replacement card which was then never issued. Being told conflicting information concerning the application process and very simply, being lied too.
The process to come to the US sucks. However, this is not a reason to skip the line and the process. Many others are waiting to come here legally. Some will wait for years and it makes sense to have limits, and ours are very generous. An orderly and planned immigration policy allows immigrants to integrate into society.
I know very well that you get punished for doing things legally. It is expensive to go through the green card process. My wife is prohibited from collecting any government assistance. This includes welfare and unemployment. If she attempts to apply for this aid, I can be prosecuted, even if we get divorced. So I am furious to see all of the federal money go to aiding illegal aliens here. Hundreds of millions of dollars are provided by the Federal Government to treat them in hospitals alone. Dollars that can be better spent policing the border and catching (and holding) those who manage to cross it illegally. The question is when do we seriously start to enforce our immigration laws?
2 comments:
ok, your comments were great but you should have included how you go about becoming legal. maybe some illegals would like to do this legally but don't know how to go about this.
Good point. I will look into how people can come here legally.
As far as I know, there is no path currently to make yourself legal if you are here illegally. Therein lies the problem. I believe that there should not any change in the law to open a way for people here illegally to become legal. It will only encourage that many more to come.
Also unfortunately, the greencard lottery is not open to Mexicans as they are overrepresented in the country.
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