The debate over immigration in the U.S. is missing some important points.
The deep Republican super-patriots whose brains are infested with WeAreAlwaysRight bacteria don't seem to understand that we can't have it both ways. We can't have locked-tight borders, but continue to have cheap farm labor, cheap highway labor, cheap gardners and maids, and cheap service staff in fast food restaurants, hotels, and other places of business that use and abuse illegal immigrants. These idiots want their cake and they want to eat it, too, but they are using their wrong-headed arguments to suggest that they want to protect our borders and prevent this country from horrors of unimaginable proportions. What they really mean, of course, is they don't want Spanish spoken in the streets and they don't want politically saavy Mexicans and Columbians and Salvadorans in numbers too great to overwhelm with still large numbers of rich, selfish purchasers of political power.
The deep Democrat super-progressives whose brains are infested with the same bacteria don't seem to understand that we can't reasonably allow progressive political viewpoints to ignore practical considerations. If we simply turn a blind eye to illegal immigration, it will escalate and dramatically increase the drain on our social and economic safety nets. We may want to continue to live the promise of the Statue of Liberty, but we must realize that, practically, something has to change.
Here's a plan I like and it has similarities to other plans I've seen from both the left and the right.
1) Illegal immigrants proven to have been involved in felony crimes should be treated much more harshly than citizens or legal immigrants. The protections afforded citizens should be afforded noncitizens, but the punishments should be far harsher.
2) Illegal immigrants who are working at legitimate jobs should be given the opportunity to stay in the U.S. by passing several tests of merit, namely: prove that the immigrant has paid taxes as expected; prove a reasonable command of the English language (despite the fact that we have no official language); prove that the immigrant follows laws such as: maintaining auto insurance as required of auto owners/drivers, etc.; other tests of merit that might make sense.
3) Illegal immigrants must be willing to pay penalties for being in the U.S. illegally in the form of fines, community service, and in other reasonable ways.
4) Illegal immigrants must be willing to name their employers, who in turn must be willing to pay stiff penalties for employing illegal immigrants...but if the employer dismisses the illegal immigrant for "telling" on the employer, the employer's fines would be far stiffer and possibly include draconian measures (e.g., closing the employer's doors, governmental takeover of the employer company, etc.)
5) After a date certain, institute a significant program to drastically penalize companies or individuals that employ illegal immigrants, including mandatory prison time for ANYONE in a company or ANY individual who knowingly employs one or more illegal immigrants.
6) Identify those countries that represent the most significant sources of illegal immigrants and engage those countries in dialogues that lead to U.S. economic support to help those countries establish mechanisms to boost their economies so that immigration to the U.S. would be far less attractive.
7) Establish reasonable annual limits on legal immigration that is based on rational, reasonable criteria.
Obviously, these are simplistic ideas, but I believe that, fundamentally, they can be made to work. Illegal immigration is a problem, if for no other reason than the fact that illegal immigrants are straining our economic resources. It must be addressed. But it must NOT be addressed in ways that utterly ignore the traditions and values of this country. It must NOT be addressed in ways that ignore our own history, a history of wholesale "illegal immigration" by people who, ultimately, stole the entire country from natives who did not give up their land willingly.
Most people who come to this country illegally came here, I believe, not in an effort to ruin a nation, nor in an attempt to "take over" this country. Most, I believe, came here to try to make a better life for themselves and their families. Coming to the U.S. was probably their last best chance to make a decent life for themselves. Sure, there are rotten bastards among them, just as there are rotten bastards who were born here...just look at the White House. But most are decent human beings. We should treat them with the dignity they deserve and the dignity befitting a country founded upon the principles enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
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