Posted on 11/10/2012 6:17:05 AM PST by grumpa
Yesterday I posted a concept for immigration reform. The idea was vehemently castigated with language usually found only among liberals. I suspect that those whose objections are the loudest do not live in a southern border state, do not personally interact with undocumented workers, and have no solution to offer themselves. In this post I give other details of the plan. It is not a liberal or a moderate plan, but does deal with reality. Here is the expanded plan.
We have illegal immigrants living among us here in Texas. We like them and greatly appreciate their contribution. We want to provide an assimilation process for qualified people, and must somehow face the realities of the situation. But illegality must be punished appropriately. And, we should make a practical distinction between those who are here only to work, and those who are here to work and to integrate into American society.
Non U.S. citizens could apply for a Work Visa whether they reside in a foreign country or are already in America illegally—no distinction. (Realistically, why should place of residence be an impediment to application?) Aliens residing in the U.S. have no priority over applicants from outside the U.S. However, they can be penalized.
To be receive the Work Visa they must meet certain basic criteria of literacy and a clean record. Those who apply for the Work Visa as illegal aliens residing in the U.S. and are accepted would pay a tax penalty over several years, probably as an income tax penalty. So they do not get off scott free as in an amnesty program. It would be to their benefit to file the application from outside of the U.S. Further, they would be paying into the system rather than merely sucking benefits from the system. All those who have a Work Visa will also have a long term path to citizenship if they work toward that goal.
This is not amnesty and enforcement would be rigorous. Employers who hire people who do not have the Work Visa are fined. Those workers caught here who have not at least filed the application for the Work Visa can be deported and perhaps become subject to penalties in other ways more harshly than now. Those people caught here without having filed an application for the Work Visa are no longer eligible to apply.
Undocumented workers who have filed the paperwork to get into the system would then be documented and trackable to be sure that they are virtuous. To file the application no requirement of literacy is necessary, but to receive the Work Visa they must have a minimum level of English proficiency. If they do not have an adequate education and English skills, they would be required to go to night school at their own expense. (Private institutions might fund this education.) This system therefore moves these people along into our society or discriminates against them if they do not participate in the path to integrate fully.
Other important aspects of the plan:
--Citizenship is no longer automatically conferred upon children born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents.
--Illegal aliens do not qualify for taxpayer funded social services.
--Hospitals are not required to give care to non-citizens.
--A fence along the southern U.S. border should be built.
--Applicants would be accepted only from approved countries that provide us necessary information about the candidates.
Let me give you an example of a man I know. He was brought here by his parents when he was 9 years old. He graduated from high school with good marks. He married an American girl and they have 3 kids. He would like to go into the dental field but because of his undocumented status his tuition would be higher than he can afford. He would like to become a citizen but he is stuck in no-man’s land. This is the kind of person we want here. But the current system has shut him off.
He has a couple of brothers who have not progressed as my friend has. They really do not want to assimilate into American society. Under my plan, they would either have to get on the path that takes them into the system or be deported to Mexico.
My plan may not satisfy everybody. Details would have to be worked out. But it comes to grip with reality. It honors the law. It is faithful to our founding concepts and our natural instincts of compassion.
did Reagan say the same thing?
1. Go home.
2. Apply for visa
3. Wait on line like everyone else.
4. After American jobs are filled, we’ll call you if we need you.
Then you may as well vote democrat because if the GOP is dumb enough to go with your “reasonable” plan, Mitt Romney will be remembered as one of the last “successful” Republicans and that’s the reality you need to face.
Thank you. I appreciate that you’re thinking up conservative-minded solutions to these problems that are a departure from the usual rhetoric.
It occurred to me yesterday that this is the sort of thing the GOP is going to have to begin aggressively pursuing. There are ways to respond flexibly and creatively to common problems people want to see addressed, without forsaking principle.
Some sort of amnesty plan is inevitable, and something similar to some parts of this plan are likely to be a part of it.
Coupling it to the birthright citizenship issue is a deal-killer however, as that has to be done by constitutional amendment.
Not very realistic. These illegals are not going back on their own and we are not going to have mass deportations. Work visas are not citizenship. Our immigration system hasn’t functioned for decades.
And telling these illegals “just go home and apply” is also very hypocritical. You can’t ‘allow” illegal immigration ( and amnesty under Reagan ), not secure your border for decades, use the cheap labor and then decades later say “You have to go back now.”
we have to own up to what we did for decades, and move forward.
My additions:
Make it illegal to rent or sell housing to an illegal.
Make it illegal to issue driver’s licenses to illegals.
Make it illegal to open bank accounts for illegals.
Confiscate vehicles stopped and driven by an illegal (no license).
Stop ALL ferderal funding to “Sanctuary Cities”.
We would never have to deport another illegal alien again.
This would require a constitutional amendment, or at least a Supreme Court reinterpretation of the 14th. First is quite impossible, the second is unlikely, IMO.
--Illegal aliens do not qualify for taxpayer funded social services.
Are you classifying those who have applied for work permits as illegal aliens?
--Hospitals are not required to give care to non-citizens.
Not gonna happen.
--A fence along the southern U.S. border should be built.
Necessary but not at all sufficient.
--Applicants would be accepted only from approved countries that provide us necessary information about the candidates.
What does this mean, especially for those already here illegally?
Any relaxation in the system will be permanent, any restrictions will not be enforced.
Reagan says that amnesty would fix our immigration problem.
To think that republicans and Americans will somehow benefit by supporting amnesty is utterly absurd. Illegal aliens are from a hardcore Marxist society; very few of them care to assimilate to American culture, and fewer still would vote republican. Grant them amnesty, and this country is finished forever... PERIOD.
The simplest solution would be: 1)increase the fines for hiring illegals by 500%, and include a mandatory minimum sentence of 2yrs in a federal penitentiary; 2) increase the number of ICE agents by 300% and increase the budget for BP/ICE by 300%; 3) start building the wall.
If you want to pay for it, defund Obamacare (including the dozens of new agencies, their collective staff, and the 16,000 new IRS agents hired to enforce it) and let about 20% of federal employees find work elsewhere.
In any compromise between good and evil, it is evil that can be the only beneficiary.
I bet you actually believed you could sign up yesterday under the name “Tea American Party Patriot”, support amnesty in your single post and no one would notice.
Might I add:
Proof of citizenship for voting, employments, driver licenses, school registration etc.
No public funded services except transportation home and any emergency medical care to get you there.
If the GOP supports anything that involves some hint of amnesty, watch as even more of the base feels alienated and refuses to vote on election day.
“These illegals are not going back on their own”
Of course not, if we keep supplying them work and benefits. It’s like feeding Bears, keep food around the neighborhood and they’ll stick around.
What you describe is amnesty. To be able to pay a fee to become a US citizen after living here illegally is a big, fat, amnesty—and the end of any hope of conservative, constitutional government.
As the Rule of Law evaporates into oblivion in our country, so does our country itself.
Without questioning your good will, that is exactly what so many people do, while thinking they are reasonable and compassionate. The Rule of Law is what has set this country apart from all others. It is that which excludes tyrants and kings from owning our very souls.
We must insist on this or we die as a healthy society.
We need to close the borders as tight as we can and we need
mandatory e-verify and harsh penalties for those who hire people not here legally. Self deporation and standing in line is only fair to those already here or standing in line
We can have exclusions for hard cases only with hearings which can be asked for, but we cannot give up our laws like wimps.
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