I agree completely. Easing the flow of legal immigration would be the best solution to stemming the flow of illegal immigration. Combined with strengthening border security, identification document reforms, and enforcing penalties on the employers of illegals we could solve the problem.
I'm not sure that kind of solution is politically viable today.
Or do you think a harder border control will be possible without some kind of legal channel, weather it is a temporal system or not?
I think it is possible, but I think it would require a callous mindset from the American public. If hatred can convince people to look away at forced deportation by the trainload, a 20 ft wall with armed storm troopers around "the land of the free and home of the brave," and news accounts of children gunned down in the desert then we can solve the Mexican border problem without doing something about the American labor vacuum.
At that point we would have to turn our attention on the increasing flow of illegals from Canada and our coasts.
Last year America's population rose by only 1%. If we take out illegal immigration our population actually shrinks. I do not know of a country that remained prosperous while it's population and workforce shrunk. Personally I could support removing 12 million illegals as long as the population reduction is offset by legal immigration, either temporary or permanent. I think it is unnecessary and wasteful to remove illegals who have a good work history and no criminal history. By identifying these people we could use our resources to expel criminals, terrorists and welfare leeches.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. Have a blessed Easter.
"Easing the flow of legal immigration would be the best solution to stemming the flow of illegal immigration. Combined with strengthening border security, identification document reforms, and enforcing penalties on the employers of illegals we could solve the problem."
Absolutely
"I'm not sure that kind of solution is politically viable today."
Why not? I do of course know very little about the political situation in the US, but is it not exactly what would become the merger of the two main ideas for solutions in this matter?
It seems that this term of Republican control of both lower and higher chamber of your parliment and the presidency is a term of lost opportunities. Instead of using the opportunity to fix things to the long term, they have only spent without restraints to try to buy themselves support in their constituencies.
They could have fixed many great challenges to the long term, like Social Security, immigration, ever increased health costs (Healt Savings Accounts are though an acceptable gesture) and last and most importantly the budget deficit, but instead they seem to have blew the opportunitie big time.
I am convinced that the party who fixes these things would be popular for long time, but now they are giving the Democrats the opportunitie to do so, but with their left winged twists wich would probably be worse for the long time, even though the people would beliewe othervise.
Its like New Deal, people still beliewe it was a good thing, because it fixed many short time problems facing the nation at the time, or at least seemed to do so. Now New Deal is killing the US, but still people beliewe it was good. The right blew the opportunity to fix these things to the long time with right wing, market solutions it seems.