Posted on 01/08/2004 8:03:21 AM PST by PhiKapMom
The Bush proposal
Linda Chavez
January 8, 2004
President Bush announced a sweeping new immigration reform proposal this week that could become a hot-button issue in the November election. For months, insiders have hinted that the president would propose a new guest worker program aimed at allowing more foreign workers into the country on a temporary basis. Widely favored by the American business community, a guest worker program would allow employers to fill jobs in industries that routinely experience shortages of workers willing to do the often difficult, dangerous jobs Americans shun -- at least at wages that allow employers to remain in business.
But the guest worker provisions won't be the most controversial part of the administration's new proposal. Although some groups that want to limit immigration altogether -- such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) -- oppose guest worker plans, even such staunch restrictionists as Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) are on record supporting the idea of guest workers. The real battle will be over what to do with those millions of illegal aliens who are already here.
Some 8-12 million illegal aliens reside in the United States now -- up three- or four-fold from a decade ago. An estimated 60 percent of these are from Mexico alone, and it is no accident that the Bush plan was announced in anticipation of the president's meeting with his Mexican counterpart, President Vicente Fox, next week. The White House announced less than a week before the Fox meeting that millions of illegal aliens from Mexico and elsewhere will be allowed, over time, to earn legal status in the U.S., so long as they have been working continuously, paid taxes and not broken other laws. The plan will impose some penalties on these workers -- most likely fines similar to those proposed in legislation sponsored by Republican Representatives Jeff Flake and Jim Kolbe and Senator John McCain, all from Arizona.
These proposals may not offer perfect justice -- who can blame those who resent rewarding "line jumpers" with legal status while millions of other would-be immigrants wait patiently to enter the country legally. But "earned legalization" is probably the best solution to a largely intractable problem. There is no way that the United States can find and deport 8-12 million illegal aliens in this country, and even if we could, we would do more harm than good.
The American economy depends on these workers, who, along with legal immigrants, contributed significantly to the economic boon of the 1990s. If FAIR could wave a magic wand and make these illegal aliens disappear overnight, the rest of us would suffer by having to pay more for everything from the food we put on the table to the houses in which we live. Our office buildings wouldn't get cleaned, our crops wouldn't get picked, our meat wouldn't get processed, nor our tables cleaned when we go out to eat.
Sure, we could double wages to attract American-born workers to some of these jobs, but at even twice the salary it would be difficult to fill the nastiest of these tasks, like processing poultry. But why would we want American workers, who we've spent trillions of dollars educating for 13 or 14 years, on average, to perform jobs that require only the most minimal skills? Even if we got rid of all illegal aliens in the U.S., these jobs would likely go to foreign workers, like it or not.
What sense does it make to insist that we get rid of the very people doing these jobs now in order to make way for other foreign workers to take them under a new guest worker plan? It makes a lot more sense to figure out how to get those illegal aliens already employed at these jobs to come in from the shadows and become part of the legal system. They should pay a penalty for having broken the law in the first place by sneaking into the country or overstaying their visas, but it is better for all of us if they earn their way toward legal status than remain in the illegal netherworld where they now hide.
Linda Chavez is President of the Center for Equal Opportunity, a Townhall.com member organization.
P.S. I like your tag line.
This needs qualification, as you correctly point out. Legally, in this instance, refer to form rather than substance. They broke many laws, told many lies, and failed to follow rules. But each of them had a passport and visa that were apparently valid when they entered the Country as commercial passengers.
Frightening, isn't it?
Thanks PKM.
Kind of childish don't ya think?
He is taking a stance in accordance to what he believes is best for this country. he is neither encouraging illegal immigration, nor rewarding it...he is simply dealing with the situation as it stands.
You on the other hand, are what Teddy talks about at the start of his quote:
"It is not the critic who counts..."
That's not really true because in California where there are many illegals, the houses are more expensive than in a state that has few illegals. California has the most illegals and has the most costly houses.
So ---- that guest worker program wasn't so popular with the hispanics? The same hispanics who celebrated Cesar Chavez day? Cesar Chavez who insisted the border be controlled.
Illegals don't make our houses cheaper --- for one houses are more expensive than at any time in our history --- and there are more illegals now than at any time in our history. How can a house cost $300,000 and up in a state with the most illegals if they are someone supposed to be bringing housing prices down?
Another thing --- my dad bought a house in the 50's --- all American made which cost $15,000 then. The exact same house --- same house, same foundation, same wood, same nails would now sell for over $100,000. Illegals are definitely not helping the cost of homes stay low.
President Bush made proposals...It is up to the Congress to take those proposals and shape them into some sort of law...it is your congressman/woman whom you must persuade to your view NOT the President. Once Congress has messed around, added pork, etc, whatever they decide must pass muster in the Senate. President Bush, like all presidents simply started the ball rolling...Congress is your target not the President.
In the first place immigration from Mexico is as close to unstoppable as any thing we're likely to see. We've increased border patrols exponentially in the last decade and the problem's gotten worse. Therefore a large population of Mexican nationals, whether good or bad, is a given. We can continue to consider them illegal and force them underground w/ all the inherent pathologies associated w/ that or we can try and to "rehabilitate" them by offering incentives for coming forward.
I prefer the latter.
Secondly, the national security threat from porous borders is also a primary concern. If we have a method for regulating farm and service industry workers we should be able to better focus on the true undesirables that are infiltrating our country.
I believe both of these primary concerns have been addressed by this proposal. I think that in time most reasonable people will come to understand this.
Certainly not ALL concerns have been addressed and it is reasonable to anticipate further legislation that refines issues ranging from security, to economics, and cultural aspects of this migration. It is not the perfect solution (is there such an animal?) but it is a start in the proper direction.
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