Although it’s not always obvious, the general purpose of the laws of any nation is to serve the best interests of the nation in question. In the case of the United States, it is becoming more widely understood and accepted that our nation’s current policies regarding immigration don’t work for us, but are actually working against us. This fact has created a political environment that is increasingly demanding solutions from those in positions of leadership in our country.
Currently gaining the most attention are several competing plans that could be grouped together as the “guest worker / amnesty” plans. They vary in terms of their levels of new border enforcement efforts, (one provides for use of military style electronic surveillance, another calls for ten thousand new border guards), but the common thread is a temporary guest worker program which allows those already here illegally to stay here and work for a while, then requires them to return home.
That last little detail is the primary reason these plans will never work. If we can’t (or won’t) enforce our laws now, how would we enforce this new requirement? I am sure that guest workers will be lining up by the thousands at the border to head back home when their allotted time here runs up. I am also sure that oceanfront property in Arizona is a good place to invest your money.
The advocates of these plans claim that they are misunderstood as giving amnesty to illegal aliens. While that may be technically correct in terms of the immediate effects and in the strict definition sense, it does however represent what average Americans would equate with amnesty, as it allows people to stay who came here illegally.
What annoys most conservatives in this debate is the abundance of attention paid to making it easier for those who are here illegally to stay as opposed to enforcing our laws as they currently exist and take substantial measures to stem the tide of those still entering the country illegally.
The most comprehensive and common sense ideas on the subject that I have seen thus far have come from the GOP’s former idea factory, Newt Gingrich, who in a recent interview offered his own suggestions. They would involve:
• Creation of a Blue Card Guest Worker Program, which would include an iris scan and thumbprint, as well as a signed contract agreeing to 48 hour deportation in the event of illegal activity.
• Those currently here illegally would first have to return to their home countries and apply for the Blue Card in order to work here.
Article comments
1 - blatz
Some good ideas here, but don't you think that making those already here return to their home countries and apply will adversely affect their current employers to the extent that this provision would be unworkable?
2 - G. Oren
Current employers of non-green card workers are already breaking the law, its just that no one is enforcing the law.
Good post Drew, right on with the fence and controlling the border.
3 - alpha
I commented on Part I that you had some good points and Ellis Island-styled entrance and processing points would help a difficult situation with or without the Bush Wall.
Part II, however, is way over the wall. Now only people born here can ever be citizens. For an American who, I assume, might have been born here; have you heard of the Bill of Rights, the American Revolution (were colonists who rebelled "undocumented aliens") and the contributions of all those who came to this country looking for freedom and opportunity, investing their work and hope and becoming Americans? Only those who are in the lifeboat are allowed?
Where did your family come from? If they were not ALL born in the New World; you must prepare for your eventual deportation to the land of your ancestors. Ciao.
My grandfather came to the US after WWI and his children did well and are 110% American. Another uncle is Mexican-American and spent 20 years in the USAF. I was born in Florida and lived 50 years in the US. You don't believe any of us should consider ourselves Americans.
I have left partly because the country is going in bad directions; but I am still an American and will not return to Europe merely because some people are afraid to face new faces that aren't as white as they would like; their accents strange.
When the Bush Wall is built to isolate the southern border; who will pay for the one on the northern border let alone the wall along the Pacific Coast to keep those Asian immigrants away?
Like Mexico we are a revolutionary country started by criminals (if you asked King George) and made up of immigrants. Mexico has its share of violence and corruption and poverty; but what about Chicago under Mayor Daley or Washington under Richard Nixon? What about internal spying and Patriotic Acts of terrorism against American freedoms? Where is the difference?
4 - G. Oren
This country has gone through several waves of immigration, then barriers to prevent immigration, assimilation, then reopening to admit further immigration. Since 1965, immigration has been nearly unrestrained - we see the fruits of that all over the Southwest.
Alpha makes a good point, but the problem is we are no longer assimilating aliens. They are increasingly uncooked lumps in the cultural stew. At some point, commonsense tells us that America is more than a propositional nation, that our culture is a heritage of traditional western values, that english and english common law form the basis for discourse and law.
5 - Anthony Grande
Immigration is great. What is not great is "illegal immigration". A wall on the border will do nothing but reduce "illegal immigration", so what is wrong with a wall?