Posted on 03/14/2018 4:36:43 AM PDT by asinclair
Much hay has been made over DACA by the Democrats: how Trump is heartless; how Congress absolutely positively must pass legislation extending DACA; not to mention how Congress must reform immigration generally. If someone doesn't reinstate DACA, so say the activists, all those children could be deported, in time. Their DREAM of becoming naturalized citizens will die. Immigration reform, the whole package, is stalled in gridlock, so the clock is against them. (Even as the Federal Courts have temporarily put up a blockade against completely terminating the DACA program
I see another answer, one that doesn't open the floodgates. It's a matter of making a two-word modification to the naturalization laws.
There are those (and some of you are here on Free Republic) who think that expelling children who grew up here from infancy, who were educated in US schools, and who have jobs, is a Good ThingTM. I disagree: when the children were brought into this country by their parents, the parents were being the bad actors. Why blame the kids? In other contexts, many of you here feel that the sins of the parents should not be visited on the children. Once you accept that axiom in this case, it follows we should not forcibly deport children to an environment they don't know, they can't handle, and where they would be at risk through no fault of their own.
Point: we the taxpayers, with or without our approval, have made an investment in these DACA people. It would be nice to be able to see a return on that investment HERE, not in another country.
Point: The people who registered with DACA proved their desire to "get right" with the law. The registrants came out in the open willingly. (Or they took advantage of The System to infiltrate -- more on that later.) The United States is a country based on law, but the US also is strong on equity. The two need to balance.
If you look at the complete process of becoming a naturalized citizen, all the requirements and conditions can be done relatively quickly, except one. It's not instant, but you are talking weeks and months, not years. Remove the block, and the registered DACA applicants can be processed and become citizens.
What is the exception? The prospective citizen must have a green card for at least five years before they can file Form N-400. (https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/educators/naturalization-information) This is the stumbling block.
Obama's Executive Order on DACA may be on arguably questionable legal ground, but the Federal Courts have told the Executive that renewal DACA applications must be processed, even after the 5 March 2018 deadline. That ruling gives DACA some legitimacy. That Court-recognized legitimacy provides Congress a simple way to open a path for DACA registrants to submit that all-important Form N-400.
"Be a permanent resident (have a “Green Card”) for at least 5 years." -- change to: "Be a permanent resident (have a “Green Card” or equivalent) for at least 5 years." One of the equivalent documents would be a valid up-to-date DACA registration.
For those people eligible originally for DACA but who didn't register, for whatever reason, they wouldn't have that exception available to them. It was their choice. If I understand the current state of things, the Executive can block initial applications for DACA; the Court ruling is only for renewals.
"But what about MS13 and terrorists -- aren't you opening the door?" Good question. The answer is "no", based on the rest of the requirements. Here is a summary:
Make this relatively simple two-word change, and DACA no longer is an issue, because existing DACA recipients can get on the path NOW to citizenship. Note this is not a "gimme", they have to work for the privilege of becoming a citizen. As for other illegal immigrants, they need to turn to Congress for relief. That's how you avoid having three million new citizens in one go without them working for it.
This is NOT the type of amnesty Reagan singed 6 Nov 1986. This is a fair and impartial way to allow the kids who are trying to follow the law to do so.
You mistake us for people incapable of piercing the legacy press smokescreen.
Border security, not amnesty is the winning position.
My goal is to eliminate DACA as a talking point during the campaigns, and thus limit the damage that DACA could do in “image” campaigns, because the action would eliminate that particular image. DACA acts as a filter for less undesirable people — we can use that.
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All it would take to eliminate the exposure is to have a program to take care of them like I said. Pay a fine, get a green card for 5 years and then qualify for citizenship. That is what legals do, why should the illegals do any less?
All you need is a solution, what the solution is isn’t the important thing, just that there is a solution.
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My goal is to eliminate DACA as a talking point during the campaigns, and thus limit the damage that DACA could do in “image” campaigns, because the action would eliminate that particular image. DACA acts as a filter for less undesirable people — we can use that.
________________________________________________________
All it would take to eliminate the exposure is to have a program to take care of them like I said. Pay a fine, get a green card for 5 years and then qualify for citizenship. That is what legals do, why should the illegals do any less?
All you need is a solution, what the solution is isn’t the important thing, just that there is a solution.
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WHY would, nay SHOULD, said illegals even be granted the OPTION?
They chose, from the START, to *NOT* follow the rule(s)\Law. Need We import MORE criminals to this nation?? We’re not talking ‘jay-walking’ or even ONCE, but multiple times/day. Just to become a DRAIN on an already illegal/red-ink welfare system.
Hint: 20yrs ‘here’ and STILL hasn’t bothered to even TRY to learn English, they weren’t willing to become an *immigrant*.
Even the ‘back of the line’ is a slap at the immigrants (past\today\future) whom spent “ages” (time, $$, tears) doing the right thing to come here.
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