A Better Solution than Citizenship for Illegal Aliens

Here we go again. The President wants to restart the process of turning illegal aliens into US Citizens:

In the session, Obama and members of his Domestic Policy Council outlined ways to resuscitate the effort in a White House meeting with two senators -- Democrat Charles E. Schumer of New York and Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina -- who have spent months trying to craft a bill.

According to a person familiar with the meeting, the White House may ask Schumer and Graham to at least produce a blueprint that could be turned into legislative language.

The basis of a bill would include a path toward citizenship for the 10.8 million people living in the U.S. illegally. Citizenship would not be granted lightly, the White House said. Undocumented workers would need to register, pay taxes and pay a penalty for violating the law. Failure to comply might result in deportation. - LA Times

I find the conversation that our politicians have concerning how to deal with America's illegal alien problem pretty simple and disappointing.

They all seem to paint this as an either/or issue

• Either they remain illegal aliens or we offer them Full Citizenship.

I can see discussing whether or not to grant illegal aliens legal residence. That is one thing. It is a completely different issue whether or not to permit them a path to citizenship.

If Citizenship is what illegal aliens are coming to this country for, then it makes no sense to give it to them. It will only bring more illegal aliens to this country. In fact, as we all know, any concession given to the illegal aliens is going to bring more illegal aliens. The only two things that seem to deter people from being in the US illegally are a lack of jobs and constant efforts to capture and deport those who are already here, including job site raids. This would be my preference, stepping up efforts to catch those here illegally.

However, let's say that the only real practical solution to the current problem is to legalize those already here. Fine, if that is what has to be done, then how about taking the middle road and give them Green Cards but deny them the right to Citizenship as punishment for breaking US Immigration rules.

Personally, I think most all of the 10 million plus illegal aliens would be very happy with such a solution. They can enter society and end hiding. They can find legitimate work and make their lives more stable. They can travel and be able to visit relatives back home with the ability to legitimately cross the US Border.

The one thing they would not be able to do under this solution call themselves Americans or vote. My guess is that they will be happy to do without that right. This however causes a problem with those most interested in legalizing them. After all, the payoff for the Democrats in legalizing illegal aliens with Citizenship is the windfall in votes for Democrats these newly-minted Americans will deliver. This is why they only talk about a path to citizenship for illegal aliens and not a path to residency.

If the Republicans were smart, they would present such a solution. I have doubts that it would pass, but it would certainly kill off any competing ideas of giving away citizenship to people who do not deserve it. the illegals would push for the Republican plan, putting Democrats into the position of having to defend why they want to give them more than what is needed to 'solve' the problem.

Note: Click on the Illegal Aliens tag for related posts.

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