Sep 20, 2016
Toward Intelligent Progress, Part 5
Immigration Control
The question here in the United States is how to solve the immigration problem.
Bill O’Reilly was one of the few to present a concrete solution which was this:.
“Require all illegal aliens in the country right now to register at the post office with Homeland Security. After registering, they would be given a tamper proof ID card, designating their status and their right to work temporarily in the USA. If the illegal aliens do not register, it’s a criminal felony. Right now sneaking across the border is a civil action. Remember that. Subjecting the person to immediate deportation or jail time. The criminal penalty goes way up.
“Any business that hires an illegal worker who doesn’t have a tamper proof ID card faces draconian fines and possible prison time for the executives.
“Each illegal alien would have his case reviewed by federal authorities. And they would decide who would receive a Z-visa to stay and who would not. That takes the blanket amnesty, something many American hate, off the table. It also allows the feds to make rational decisions about who’s helping America and who isn’t.”
This is a little better than the last immigration bill but it would create about the same degree of virtual amnesty. It would cause of lot of them to register, but that alone wouldn’t change much.
What else can we do? Most do admit it is impractical to round up over 11 million people and send them home. Should we just accept the fact that they are here and make the best of it and concentrate on sealing the borders?
The only other alternative I have heard is to just work with current laws and deport illegals as they are caught by authorities. This wouldn’t round up a large number at one time but a handful here and there until a difference is made. Then we create a liberal work program for those who come across the border legally.
Then perhaps, most important of all, is to control the border itself.
Comment:
“So I think you are quite wrong in this case in saying that “it wouldn’t change much.” This would change quite a bit, and for the better in my opinion.”
Actually, what I said was “that alone wouldn’t change much.”
By “that alone” I meant his plan for granting Z visas, but as far as the whole package goes I think it would make a difference. It is probably the most effective plan out there that has gotten national attention. He said that 87 percent of those responding to an online survey approved of it.
On the other hand, I do not think it would ever get through Congress. There are too many people courting the Spanish American vote that see future voters in the illegals.
The sad thing is that this wouldn’t be a major problem now if immigration had been dealt with intelligently in the past. We have waited too long to deal with it but better late than never.
One of the problems we have with border security is there are many who advocate open (or near open) borders.
Their argument goes something like this.
“We are a nation of immigrants. Some of the early immigrants created problems and were not wanted yet we took them in. We are being hypocritical for not doing the same today.”
This argument is very flawed for two reasons:
In the early days of this country we had a sparse population with a whole country to settle. At that time it was logical to offer an open invitation to all who wanted to come. In addition, the vast majority of those who came wanted to be Americans.
Now that the nation is overpopulated by people demanding many free services from government an influx of unskilled labor is not so desirable. A certain amount is needed and these should be controlled through legal measures.
Another thing we hear is that they are doing work that others we will not do. “Who’s going to mow your lawn?” they ask.
Well, duh, a lot of people mow their own lawns and do their own gardens. We’ve had three different companies mow our lawn over the past ten years and they’ve all been white guys and they’ve all been at a reasonable cost. I wouldn’t know who to call to get an illegal to mow my lawn.
“But how about the fields and the orchards? Who is going to pick our fruit?”
The answer is that we have done this ourselves in the past and could do it again. I worked for six years picking fruit side by side with Mexicans from age 12 to 18. Back in those days about half the workers were white and half were Mexican. I got pretty good at it and was generally the fastest guy in the orchard. Usually the only time I got out-picked was by a seasoned Hispanic who had been at it for many years.
I made more money picking fruit than most of my friends with salaried jobs. We got paid by the pound and the more we picked the more we made. As a teenager, I bought all my own clothes, schoolbooks, hunting, fishing gear and other hobbies, a car, and some of my own food. If you figure inflation in I probably made around twenty dollars (USD) an hour. I was motivated though for my sister and I lived with our mom who worked for minimum wage, or picked fruit herself, and received no welfare or child support. If I didn’t make money myself then I had none.
The only reason we do not see teenagers out in the fields today is that we have gotten soft and there are so many illegals that we just let them do it and give the kids an allowance for taking out the trash.
Some cite the inscription on the Statue of Liberty as a reason for open immigration. The inscription reads:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Notice the key phrase here is “yearning to breathe free.” In the early days this country was an oasis of freedom in the world and we wanted immigrants who would support democracy, even if they were poor and downtrodden. We were building a nation out of wide open spaces and the desire to have and maintain freedom was the character trait most cherished.
Today the nation is built and many immigrants are loyal to their home country and culture. We thus have to take another look at what we want in immigrants. The desire to breathe free always stands, but we need to continue to seek out immigrants with talent whether they be from Mexico, or other nations. Bill Gates tells us that the importing of talent is one of the main reasons for our current standard of living and if we do not continue to pursue it we could see a great decline. The poor and unskilled also can offer a great service but the number allowed in should be controlled to match the need for labor as well as considering national security.
There is a huge controversy brewing as to whether we should build a fence on our border with Mexico. It’s too bad circumstances have led to this possible solution but concerns over terrorists crossing the border as well as an overflow of aliens is such that it is now considered by many rank and file citizens.
Ironically few politicians support the idea. Never has there been such a divide between what the politicians think we should have and what the public thinks. The 2007 immigration bill was supported by most politicians, but not the public. It was only when politicians received a drove of angry letters from constituents that some backed off and the bill was defeated.
It was largely defeated because to the public’s ears it sounded too much like the last one that did not work. We were promised in the past that our borders would be made secure and they were not. This time the promise was not believed because there the bill had no teeth. The thinking of many is this. First secure the borders and then we can start thinking more liberally toward those who are here.
Congress approved a couple billion dollars to build a 700 mile fence and little has moved forward on the project. Citizens feel politicians are dragging their feet and have no intention on building a fence. Now Trump wanting to build a fence is accused of being mean spirited and racist.
The fact is we have a 2000 mile border with Mexico. We need to either build a fence across the entire border or none at all. Taking half measures will not protect us from either terrorists or too much illegal immigration.
Israel resisted building a fence for decades, but now that they have constructed one there has been a dramatic decrease of illegals and suicide bombers. The people near the fences are now able to live in much greater peace and security than before the fence.
The problem we have with a fence is that even if the public wants it the politicians are afraid to support building it. Why? Because both Democrats and Republicans see the Spanish Americans as the new largest minority in the country and want to cater to their votes. They seem to forget about other voters.
On the other hand, if we have another 9/11 and it is linked to smuggling WMDs across the border then there will be a lot of foot dragging politicians voted out and new ones put in.
If we do not build a fence then we need to increase border security and possibly bring in the national guard to secure the borders. Advanced technology could also be employed.
In addition to regular security measure we need to do all in our power to use our influence to change the Mexican system to a more democratic government with free enterprise and individual initiative encouraged. If the people have good employment there the illegal immigration problem will go away. We have made many loans and done numerous favors for Mexico without asking anything in return. We ought to ask for some reform.
Most illegals are hard working honest people but they have their share of the criminal element. Right now when an illegal is caught committing a crime he is usually sent to jail in a U.S. prison which often gives him a better life than he had in Mexico and costs us 30-40,000 USD a year.
What we ought to do with these guys is send them back to Mexico and pay the Mexican government to take care of them in their own prison system. That would make an illegal think twice about committing a crime here.
In addition we also have the Canadian border to worry about. It is true that we do not have a large influx of Canadians wanting to come here because they have a reasonable economy but a terrorist could make it across that border with way too much ease. Securing this border also needs serious investigation.
Securing our borders and way of life is a major problem at present and there is no easy solution. In addition, politicians do not have the will to impose anything but a feel-good solution. That could change in a heartbeat, however, by means of a WMD being smuggled across the border.
Copyright by J J Dewey
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