Immigration

The United States of America is a success. We have the largest economy in the world and are among the largest in terms of both population and land area. Over the past 402 years we have successfully integrated millions of people of every race, creed and color. Each who came contributed to our success and became an “American.”

It is important that people want to come here. It is, in fact, essential. We need them to grow, remain dynamic and young; Europe discourages immigration and is increasingly becoming older.

We need immigration, but we also need an honest dialog about immigration that addresses current realities and challenges without falling back on charges of racism and xenophobia.

The last major piece of legislation that dealt with immigration, 1986’s Simpson-Mizzoli bill, promised three things:

1. Government would control the borders;
2. An effective employer verification program would ensure that only legal workers were hired; and,
3. A one-time amnesty would be granted for people illegally in the United States.

Once passed and amnesty granted, however, the government broke its promise to the American people and failed to follow-through on the first two provisions of the bill.

We need legal immigration and we need to address the realities brought about by the failure of the federal government to follow the Simpson-Mizzoli law. According to recent polling data, the American people agree broadly on a number of things that specifically address immigration and which should be incorporated into the solution:

•Americans support the expansion of the H-1B and H-2B visa programs (63-29), which make it easier for those immigrants with sought-after skills and knowledge to emigrate easily. We need educated immigrants to continue to innovate and grow economically.
•By 83 to 16 Americans support a worker visa program.
•Americans support a system by which immigration centers in foreign countries help people find jobs in the United States and to allow people to apply for worker visas (84-14).
•By a margin of 89-11, Americans support tamper-proof identification cards with biometric identifiers, such as photos and fingerprints, to track foreign workers. However, by 73-20, they wisely don’t believe that the federal government can administer such a program. Instead, this should be outsourced to Visa, Master Card or American Express, so that employers would have the benefit of 24/7 real-time verification so that forged or stolen cards can be immediately detected.
•Americans believe (93-6) that foreign workers who have made their way through the process should take an oath to obey the laws of the United States while here, and that they be immediately deported if they break the law.
•By 78-20, Americans believe that there should be heavy fines levied against businesses that knowingly hire illegals, and, by 83-15, support Internal Revenue Service audits of companies caught hiring illegals to make certain that taxes have been paid.

We all know, however, that there are millions of illegal workers already in the United States. What should we do about them? First, follow the current law and absolutely control the borders of the United States. This is a national security issue as much as an immigration issue.

Recognizing the fact that there are millions here illegally, we need to follow the advice of the American people, reflected above, and ask each illegal worker to come forward and answer one simple question: Do you wish to become a guest worker or a citizen? Failure to come forward will result in immediate deportation once caught.

If the individual wishes to remain a guest worker, he or she will have to obtain the worker visa mentioned above as well as pay a fine. If after one year he or she has not obtained a card, then he or she will be deported, along with any family also here illegally. Children of illegals born in the United States will be stripped of citizenship and also deported. I know this is harsh, but to be effective, this needs to have teeth.

For those who wish to become citizens, they will need to obtain the paperwork for permanent residents, begin the citizenship process and also pay a fine. However, we need to ensure not only that they become citizens, but that they become Americans. They must be mandated to attend citizenship classes that teach American history and they must learn English. It would be best if vouchers to pay for these classes are provided to the individuals so that they could take the classes offered, for money, by local schools. This will tie them and their families into the broader community.

Finally, it will also mean that English should become the official language of government. This is not to say that all other languages will be outlawed but that English only will be used in official government documents. Proficiency in the English language is a requirement of citizenship.

If politicians and elites had the good sense of the American people and implemented the ideas above, the issue of illegal immigration will soon be resolved and we can concentrate on growing our economy.