Eighteen Illegal Alien solutions that are better than any Amnesty

Well, today’s the big day, if the leaks and reports coming from the Bush Administration are true. The President is supposed to announce a new direction in America’s immigration policy that would result, among other things, in some sort of legalization for millions of the Illegal Aliens currently in our country, violating our laws. This, of course, would be nothing less than Amnesty by another name.

We’re told by handwringers and the political and media elites that there is really no workable solution to the Illegal Alien problem, so we might as well legalize them so we can get track of them. Thouughtless people on both sides of the debate jawbone about silly ideas like building a wall at the Mexican border, or house to house searches, as though they were viable solutions, or the only alternatives to Amnesty ore the status quo.

It’s disappointing, frankly. There is a great disconnect when people claim that while we can put men on the moon, or win the Cold War and the War on Terror, there is no reasonable or cost effective means of solving the Illegal Alien problem without infringing on the civil liberties of all Americans.

Nonsense, this nation is plenty capable of solving any problem we decide to solve, and poll after poll shows that the American people want the problem of Illegal Aliens solved, and that Amnesty isn’t a solution to us.

Dealing with Illegals doesn't have to be the enormous burden on resources many imagine, not would it have to infringe on civil liberties.

I've posted this on a few threads, but today seems like a good day for a revised reposting of as a stand-alone thread.

This problem is no harder to solve than wanting to solve it. We can get rid of Illegals rather effectively, by rolling up our sleeves and getting the Illegals to get rid of themselves.

The first order of business, of course, is to enforce existing laws on the books against Illegals and those who employ them. Also, politicians must be held to account when they pander otherwise.

The list above is by no means comprehensive, and can be adopted piecemeal or in a single package. That said, incrementalism is probably going to be the way to go, especially politically.

These measures would provide a little carrot and lots of stick for Illegals already here to get themselves out. Some of them will need to be tested in the courts, which is another reason to adopt them piecemeal, so that an injunction against omnibus legislation can't stall the whole effort.

We ought to be looking initially at easy, politically safe legislation, like the new accounting for family reunification, Border Security/IRS cooperation, English speaking citizenship requirements, and a few others. Our politicians are a trembling, timid bunch, and need to gain a little self-confidence before they'll tackle more difficult issues.

Note a few things that aren't on my list: troops or walls on the border. I think they are a futile diversion from cost effective solutions. The best possible wall at the border is to let foreigners know that we respect our sovereignty, and they had best do the same.

Note also that I don't call for an immigration moratorium, though others may. I think their position is within the respectable mainstream of a dialogue about immigration, and while it's possible that I might change my mind later, but I am not currently persuaded that an outright moratorium is or will be necessary.

The main problem is multimillion-strong mass of Illegals, and the secondary problem is how we currently select legal immigrants for rapid assimilation into American society. I believe my proposals adequately address both situations, but there is certainly room for debate on the back end.

Note also that I have a guest worker program that is actually honest and responsible, and not an Amnesty by another name. My program would ensure that law-abiding foreigners are background-checked before entry, rather than rewarding lawbreaking Illegals after the fact.

All of the above could be adopted while allowing politicians so-inclined to chant the "compassionate conservatism" mantra.

My proposals will cost money and require an expansion of the federal government in certain areas. However, this expense and expansion is all well within the legitimate, Constitutional responsibilities of the federal government. There will be a greater expense initially, as we ramp up to deal with the backlog of Illegals, but a number of my proposals are at least partially self-funding. Also, success in these endeavors will eventually reduce the need for them, and as many Illegals would leave on their own. There will be future savings, it should be noted, as the population of Illegals is dwindles and their net drain on our resources is reduced.

In contrast, there would be also be an increased expense and expansion of the government if there is an Amnesty, as checking backgrounds and processing 8 to 12 million Illegals wouldn't be cheap. However, such increases and expansions would only serve to reward the lawlessness of Illegals and the cowardice of politicians, thereby encouraging more of the same in both, unless there were also enforcement proposals like mine in effect for the American Interior.

But, if we strengthened and enforced our laws consistently within our borders, then we don't need the phantom solution of Amnesty anyway.

An excellent start!
My thoughts run like this.

Every illegal in the country already has a clear "legal status", it's simple, they are CRIMINALS!
They committed a crime when they entered this country illegally, every one of them should be deported.

Any legislation to reward these criminals for successfully avoiding deportation up to now is nothing less than treason.

It is no surprise that we cannot control the borders of Iraq or Afghanistan to keep terrorist out, we cannot even control our own borders, where we have the "home-court advantage".

Today we are spending billions of dollars and hundreds of American lives to make many countries around the world better places to live.
We fight wars on others behalf, we spend billions in foreign aid.
We should not also have to deal with the constant drain on our domestic resources and suffer American jobs lost to illegal "undocumented workers" in addition to these sacrifices!

We should cease allowing "refugee status" for anyone, if your own country is a mess, fix it yourselves, as our fore-fathers did, instead of taking the easy way out and running off to the U.S.A.!

IMPLEMENTATION-

1. Illegal entry into the U.S. should immediately be made a felony on the first offense, with all attached loss of rights and privileges.
No matter if they have been here for five minutes or fifty years.

2. All illegals who are here now get a short window of opportunity to leave voluntarily, no more than 120 days.
If they want to ever have an opportunity to apply for legal re-entry of any kind they must leave via a manned port of entry.
There they must submit "Biometric" information and their true full name in order to be entered into a data base making them eligible for reentry.
If they are found to have re-entered after being deported in the past, they can never reenter the U.S. for any reason.

3. Having relatives who are U.S. citizens is irrelevant, you sneak in, you are a felon.
They can have all the "reunification" they want, back where they came from, but not here.
At this point every person in the world can probably claim to be related to some one in the U.S.!

4. When the window of opportunity for leaving voluntarily has passed, a felony conviction and deportation with heavy fines should be mandatory for any illegals found in the U.S., no exceptions.
If the invader cannot pay we should subtract funds from the originating countries balance of trade!

5. We should begin subtracting the cost of finding and processing illegals from their home countries balance of trade.

6. Law Enforcement should not be given any option to ignore illegal immigration status, a felony.
Americans operating "underground railroads' or otherwise facilitating illegals entry into the U.S. should also be charged with a felony.
See item #10 for dealing with children.

7. We must stop making it more advantageous to be an illegal invader than a citizen, no more "free" medical care, education, or other freebies for illegals!

8. At this point we should suspend ALL immigration, from ALL countries for at least ten years.
We need a break, time to fully assimilate the "immigrants" already here, legal or not.

Many foreign governments, particularly Mexico, make no legitimate effort to prevent their citizens sneaking into the U.S.
In fact many countries actively support this invasion of the U.S., with Mexico only being the most visible culprit.
It was recently reported that money sent back to Mexico by these invaders is now Mexico's largest source of foreign income, exceeding even their oil exports!
Legal immigration should only be allowed to resume, if ever, after a country has implemented clear and sincere steps to halt all illegal emigration to the U.S.

9. At the least we should immediately reduce the quota of legal immigrants from any country by a set ratio to the number of illegals coming from that country. It should be a ratio with real bite, like 5-1.
Maybe then the their countrymen seeking to emigrate legally would help to stem the tide in order to protect their own opportunity for emigration.

10. We should immediately establish an unvaried policy that closes the loophole allowing invaders to exploit babies as a means of gaining "resident alien" status.
If a kid is born here they are a citizen, per the constitution. Fine, they can stay and be put up for adoption, but the parents are child abusers, and should be permanently deported!
Alternately they can be sent back to their country of origin with the parents after being fingerprinted, then allowed to return after they are 21 to decide where they wish to live.
This is not as desirable as adoption, we will still end up with poorly educated immigrants with no real concept of American culture.

11. Employers. I agree with your thoughts on employers.

You wrote,

• 1: Eliminate all mention of Section 245(i), even if expired, from the US Immigration and Naturalization Code. No more Amnesty, ever. Agreed!

• 2: Get legislation through Congress that would enable States to deny goodies to Illegals, a la Prop #187. Agreed!

• 3: Outlaw Mexican matricula consular IDs, and kick banks accepting them out of the FDIC. Legal depositors will withdraw from recalcitrant banks . Agreed!

• 4: Beef up Border Security with manpower, resources, and a Volunteer Reserve, if necessary. No troops, and no messing with posse comitatus, this should be a civilian effort. Agreed!

• 5: Beef up the immigration courts and set deportation hearings for two weeks after apprehension, with no bail. Agreed!

• 6: Run sting operations at day laborer sites. Agreed!

• 7: Establish two-way communication between the IRS and Border Security, and start apprehending and deporting Illegals using false SS numbers (no, the current over-hyped voluntary program doesn't count). Agreed!

• 8: Seize the assets of businesses knowingly hiring Illegals under the RICO Act, as they are ongoing criminal enterprises. Prosecute executives who knowingly hire Illegals. Agreed!

• 9: Compile biometric information on Illegals, and declare that they will be permanently ineligible for immigration and citizenship. Agreed! See my item #2.

• 10: If the United States declares that the above proposals against Illegals will be diligently enforced after a certain date, many Illegals will leave beforehand, and a relatively small number of well-publicized cases of enforcement throughout the Lower 48 will result in millions of Illegals deporting themselves. Agreed! But make it all 50 states, and implement my item #1 to give it teeth.

• 11: End the busting of immigration caps by limiting family reunification to spouses and dependent children, and counting them against the caps when they are brought in. Require all future immigrants to declare their future intent to bring in family upon arrival. This way, families can immigrate in a controlled, orderly fashion without the current deceptions being used against the American public. We must have truth in immigration. Agreed! Add my items #3 & 9.

• 12: Outlaw anchor babies, and give the option to the Illegal parent of taking the child with them upon deportation, or putting them up for adoption. Agreed! My item #3.

• 13: Outlaw bilingual ballots, and resume the English-speaking requirements for citizenship. Agreed!

• 14: Establish English skills as a prerequisite for future immigrants. Let's start admitting folks who will hit the ground running toward assimilation. Agreed!

• 15: Shut off new immigration to nations that offer dual citizenship. Disqualify current immigrants from those nations from future American citizenship. Agreed!

• 16: Make Mexico and Central America our cheap import sources of choice with tariffs on manufacturing from other sources, especially China. Agreed!

• 17: In return, Mexico must open up to American investment by allowing the sale of real estate to us and guaranteeing property our rights. Getting Mexico to fix its economy is crucial. Agreed!

• 18: Establish a guest worker program where an initial bond is posted by the Illegal and his employer, say $500 each, with more withheld from the Illegal's earnings, as security for his departure from the US by the specified date. Guest worker visas must be applied for in the workers' countries of origin, and participants are only eligible to be employed by their sponsoring employer. Violation of these terms will render the worker ineligible for any future visas or residence in the US. Any guest worker program can only come after anti-Illegal measures are in place. Handshake promises of future diligence will not be trusted from any politician of either party, including President Bush. Agreed, but under this plan they should not be "illegals", they should be documented guest workers.
It must be made abundantly clear that failure to leave on time forfeits the bond!

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