Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Immigration
As the country becomes more and more polarized, there are stronger, deeper arguments at both ends of the spectrum on most issues. It is always good for fresh debate but as the gap widens, sensible, reasonable solutions to problems seem to be disappearing into the crevasse.
Take Immigration...
On one side, we have millions of illegal immigrants weighing on the system while not contributing through tax to paying for anything. And while these millions live within our borders, you have millions of others who have gone through the proper channels and now sit in an endless holding pattern hoping for citizenship. At the same time, our soft border policy creates all sorts of security issues and unfortunately someday we will probably experience a domestic terrorist event perpetrated by someone who entered the country illegally.
On the other side, you have a country that was founded by immigrants, and you have a substantial population who come here, work hard and who would like nothing more to be legitimized but would never put their hand up for fear of being deported. At the same time, you have the pure logistical impossibility of rounding up 12 million people and removing them from the country anyway.
Combining these two perspectives, we are in need of an Immigration policy that secures our borders, brings illegal immigrants out of the shadows and taxes them and ensures fairness for those vying legally for citizenship. To add complexities, there are also political overtones that have to be considered as each individual represents a vote (a democratic vote) which adds additional resistance to perspective solutions.
With this in mind, here is my 4 point Immigration Plan:
1) Registration Amnesty: Linked in to the other points to follow, all illegals should have 1 year in which to register. For those crying for personal liberties, every legitimate US Citizen is registered through Social Security, DMV, Birth Certificates. If you want to be in this country, you have to be registered and accounted for. After December 31, 2011 if you have not registered, you will need to leave the country.
2) Temporary Residency and Bridging Visas: All immigrants who register before the deadline will be given a 5 year temporary residency status. Under this residency, they will be required to pay taxes, get drivers licenses, and maintain a clean criminal record, (I would even go so far as to say they would be subject to random drug testing). During this time, they will not be eligible to vote, they will be on a legal probationary period and will not be eligible for social services such as welfare. As soon as they register, they will join the back of the line for the legitimate citizenship process. (for additional motivation to register, the order they register will be the order that they join the line). If, at the end of 5 years, their citizenship process is pending, they will be offered a Bridging Visa that will allow them to remain under the same terms of the Temporary Residence status until the process is wound up.
3) Daily, Weekly and Monthly Work Visas: An ongoing argument by pro-immigration advocates is that there are industries supported by illegal immigrants in the Southern border states and without people running across the border, these industries would collapse as US citizens do not want to do this type of work. As part of the program, make available Daily, Weekly or monthly work visas which allow workers to cross into America for part time work. A daily visa fee equal to a minimum employment tax to be paid by worker. The number of visas to be determined by companies that post the number of positions needed on a specific day. Each sponsoring company would be required to provide work to qualifying US citizens first. Part time workers to be issued cards where daily visa can be bar coded in allowing border patrol and law enforcement to check the status of workers.
4) Border Enforcement: Using additional tax revenue collected from 12 million immigrants who are currently unregistered and not paying taxes, create a secure border. In addition, by providing a viable, olive branch solution to every illegal immigrant currently within our borders, we are well well within our collective rights to have a no tolerance policy to people who are in the country illegally. No one likes the idea of rounding people up and shipping them out but through an open accommodating policy, we would legitimize the ones who want to be legitimate and the others can take a hike.
2) Temporary Residency and Bridging Visas: All immigrants who register before the deadline will be given a 5 year temporary residency status. Under this residency, they will be required to pay taxes, get drivers licenses, and maintain a clean criminal record, (I would even go so far as to say they would be subject to random drug testing). During this time, they will not be eligible to vote, they will be on a legal probationary period and will not be eligible for social services such as welfare. As soon as they register, they will join the back of the line for the legitimate citizenship process. (for additional motivation to register, the order they register will be the order that they join the line). If, at the end of 5 years, their citizenship process is pending, they will be offered a Bridging Visa that will allow them to remain under the same terms of the Temporary Residence status until the process is wound up.
3) Daily, Weekly and Monthly Work Visas: An ongoing argument by pro-immigration advocates is that there are industries supported by illegal immigrants in the Southern border states and without people running across the border, these industries would collapse as US citizens do not want to do this type of work. As part of the program, make available Daily, Weekly or monthly work visas which allow workers to cross into America for part time work. A daily visa fee equal to a minimum employment tax to be paid by worker. The number of visas to be determined by companies that post the number of positions needed on a specific day. Each sponsoring company would be required to provide work to qualifying US citizens first. Part time workers to be issued cards where daily visa can be bar coded in allowing border patrol and law enforcement to check the status of workers.
4) Border Enforcement: Using additional tax revenue collected from 12 million immigrants who are currently unregistered and not paying taxes, create a secure border. In addition, by providing a viable, olive branch solution to every illegal immigrant currently within our borders, we are well well within our collective rights to have a no tolerance policy to people who are in the country illegally. No one likes the idea of rounding people up and shipping them out but through an open accommodating policy, we would legitimize the ones who want to be legitimate and the others can take a hike.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)