I figure that it's been a while since I thoroughly pissed EVERYONE off, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
This country is in the middle of an immigration crisis. This crisis is problematic for a multitude of reasons, but mostly because we HAVE to face the hypocrisy of closing our borders to immigrants. The fact is, that unless we are 100% american indian, we are descendents of immigrants.
Still, there has to be some kind of regulation; some kind of workable balance that allows for immigration to be done legally and quickly. Now, for anyone who read my last post, I will take this moment to make my personal plug for the best way to make immigration, both legal AND illegal, beneficial to the country instead of a detriment to it: get rid of income taxes and move all taxation to sales taxes. Once that happens, a person's legal status matters a whole lot less because they are consumers, either way. But even beyond that, there really are some common sense ideas to bridge this volatile gap:
1. first, and most oppressive, start treating this like a legal issue instead of a political issue. Illegal=Criminal. If someone is breaking the law, we generally have a suitable punishment. STOP treating this like a political issue. They are not "undocumented workers," they are "fugitive criminals." Treat them as such, and coming across the border won't be as much fun. As long as the benefits from being here illegally outweigh the consequences of being caught, it will continue to be an issue.
2. stop the practice of making anyone born within our borders an automatic citizen. Citizenship requires responsibility. Two "fugitve criminal" parents should not be given refuge (and welfare) by our country because she managed to sneak across the border before her water broke! This is stupidity at its finest.
3. institute large fines to businesses that knowingly hire "fugitive criminals." I'd say 2X the cumulative total of all of the fugitive criminal's past wages should suffice. If there is not enough documentation to know how much that is, then, a) make the fine an automatic $10,000 per worker, and b) revoke their business license and charge them with fraud IMMEDIATELY.
4. impose large fines for individual citizens who knowingly house a fugitive criminal. $10,000 and a year in jail should do it.
5. immediately deport any fugitive criminal, confiscating everything they have, save the clothes on their backs. Yes, even from Emergency Rooms. Stabilize them and ship them back.
6. make a law (the ONLY new law we need...why make new ones when we don't enforce the onces we have) that states any fugitive criminal found here without a green card can NEVER become a citizen.
7. Issue green cards abundantly, but monitor them in 1 year increments. Taxes collected by greencard workers become property of the US...no 'tax returns.'
8. Citizenship is available to anyone who:
a. can pass a constitution test.
b. can pass a high-school level english test. (and as a sidenote, no 'american' should be able to graduate without 4 years of a foreign language. Drop the 'engilsh arrogance' and start being as smart as the rest of the world)
c. has had 5 years of gainful employment on their green card OR enlists to serve 3 years in the military. Citizenship is dependent upon an honorable discharge.
9. No federal benefits are available to anyone who has not been a citizen for 3 years, gainfully employed the entire time.
10. Yes, I'm a jerk.
11. Get over it.
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For those out there whom aren't sure what to think about the immigration battle, you offer some insight and resolution to this topic. Others (and the vast majority of bleeding hearted Dems and Libs) may not agree, however, it's pretty darn scary how much you and I think alike, Justin.
ReplyDeleteI challenge that the current immigration flow is so skewed toward those with few skills that it reduces wages for low-skilled Americans and delivers fewer economic benefits than the arrival of college graduates would. Perhaps, and this may be a long shot, U.S. quotas for skill and implementing an "employment related immigration" is necessary, which allow only the best and brightest minds.
UNFORTUNATELY, the U.S. happens to share a 2,000+ mile border with a country that is home to millions of poor, ill-educated people desperate for a better life.
Sure, we could put more resources into patrolling that border, and maybe we should.
Policing the border, while having a certain degree of necessity, is really only a band-aid fix. People want to come here for a reason: prosperity. We need to either fix the problem (illegals becoming prosperous) or we need to aid them in their efforts by making them prosperous AND legal...thereby helping the country as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThe problem that we have right now, in 2010, is the lack of jobs for people who are already citizens. While the increased consumerism would boost the economy, it is not enough to justify 'opening the flood gates' at the border.
There really does come a time in life when decisions seem to be 'wrong' or 'wronger.' When that happens I believe that the common good of our own country has to come before the common good of others....