The current bill even with the Corker-Hoeven amendment (which adds a lot of umph to border security) is nothing more than amnesty wrapped in Linus’ blanket to make Republicans think that they are winning the hearts and minds of Latinos. Ronald Reagan already tried this. He granted outright amnesty in 1986
How did that work out for Republicans? Two years before the 1986 law 62% of Hispanics voted for the Democrat running for president. In 1988, because they were so appreciative, 69% voted Democrat. Last year it was about 70%.
The answer of winning Hispanics to vote Republican obviously isn’t in granting amnesty for more people who will be net tax receivers. A person who receivers more in free schooling, Medicaid, food stamps, and all the other “entitlement” programs, than he pays for in payroll and income taxes is going to vote for the party that keeps promising to write those checks. The problem is America is broke. We can’t pay for a high standard of living for every person in Mexico, Latin America, and every other third world nation on earth. We can’t pay for what we have promised to the people who live here now. The flow of people, who are a drain to the system, has to stop.
To that end; here is my Comprehensive Immigration Reform Plan
#1) Make E-Verify mandatory. E-Verify is an internet based verification system that checks, via Homeland Security and Social Security to see if a person is eligible to work in the United States. Said eligible person would either be a citizen or would have a work visa issued by the federal government. Someone not eligible, (read illegal immigrant), would not be able to get a job. The J-O-B is what is driving the flood of illegal immigrants. Without that incentive those in this country illegally will self-deport and those not yet here won’t come.
#2) Secure the f-ing border! How stupid do you have to be to not understand this? If a pipe bursts in your basement, what do you do? Do you debate with your wife about what to do with the water in the basement? Do you stick your finger in the hole and try to slow the flood? NO, you shut the damn water off. Then you deal with the water that is already there, operating on the perfectly reasonable assumption that it now won’t get worse. Do you lock your door at night? Do you regulate who comes into your house and how long they stay? Of course, because you are concerned about your safety and your ability to feed anyone that would show up and stay. Not only has an unprotected border allowed millions of people in who are and will be a net drain on society, but those who want to do harm to this country have an easy path in as well.
I think it was a good idea to stop basing immigration mostly on the country of origin. Especially since it banned certain countries, but allowed many more spots than there were immigrants in several European countries. But, we have enough low skilled labors now. This is not the 1920s when we needed to man the steel mills and other labor hungry industries.
What we need now are doctors, engineers, IT specialist, and so on. Let those with high demand skills, like doctors which are forecasted to be in very short supply, come in as fast as we can check their backgrounds.
4) Make English the official language of the US. This is not a racist idea. It annoys the hell out of me that I even have to say that. Spanish is the official language in over 20 different countries, and is the de facto official language in a few more, like Mexico. Having an official language brings a nation together. It lets people discover that they have much more in common with each other, than they have differences. It also sets a standard. It says if you want to be a Mexican, you better speak Spanish. If you want to be an American, you need to speak English.
A nation with two common languages is constantly in a cultural war with one another. Think of Quebec, in Canada. French and English are the official languages, and they often talk of breaking off from Canada to form a whole new country.
Having a common language includes being able to read it, if you are a citizen. I know that is already supposed to be the case. But if that is really the case, why are ballots offered in so many foreign languages? If your command of English is so poor that you can’t read a ballot, you are too ill-informed to vote.
5) Reform our Guest Worker Program. Until the day when non-work alternatives (two years of unemployment checks, food stamps, ect) don’t out weigh the wages made by actually working for a living, there are going to be jobs that will have constant labor shortages. These are chiefly in agriculture. We have to have not only a better system of getting workers from countries like Mexico who want to work, but also to track them, so they can be sent back home when their contract expires.
These workers should also be given preferential treatment towards becoming citizens, should they desire it. They need to be governed by minimum wage laws, and covered by an employer paid health care plan. Will this raise the cost of food? Yeah, it probably will. But, it will also make these jobs more attractive to Americans and make it more economical to develop mechanized methods of harvest, to actually eliminate these back breaking jobs.
6) Fix the birthright citizen loophole. Flash it is not in the constitution that someone born in the United States of foreign parents is actually an American citizen. Ann Coulter explains this very well here. But, the idea that a woman, 8 ½ months pregnant can come in to America illegally, give birth, and then use that baby to first gain her own legal status, then that of her extended family is ludicrous. It’s like saying because a criminal breaks into your home, he has the right to sit on your couch and decide what you watch on TV, and then he can invite friends to watch, too.
7) Deport all illegal aliens caught committing a crime. Sounds simple , but it doesn’t happen. Most cities will not even check immigration status. Arizona tried to pass a law requiring it, if the circumstances looked suspicious. But, the Obama administration came down on them like a ton of bricks. It ended up in the Supreme Court. Arizona basically lost, meaning that Arizona can ask about their immigration status, but only the federal government gets to say which illegal alien stays and which one goes back to their country of origin. Let’s be compassionate here. If it’s anything more serious than a traffic ticket, like drunk driving or assault, they are deported. If they have a family, we can pay for their transport back home as well. If the family is here legally, they, of course, stay.
8) Five years after the implementation of the above, conditional amnesty can be granted to those persons here illegally. If they have managed to find work, stay out of trouble, they are obviously the kind of people you want around. But, they have to read and speak English, and pass the same citizenship test that other immigrants have to, before becoming a citizen.
There you have it. A comprehensive plan that fixes our illegal immigration problem, reduces our national debt, and add jobs to the economy. The only thing standing in the way, are the Democrats in Congress. And only you can fix that.