Being a small businessman is tough enough with Goobermint as a silent partner..The reams of paperwork I have to go through to run 3 businesses would boggle the mind of a mid level corporate paper pusher. To add to this quandary the fact that Jose' and Jos-B up the street can undercut (one) of my businesses pisses me off to no end. The government is 100% complicit in this disaster and has been for some time….Government has effectively turned thousands of small and large business owners into criminals while making the rest of the "holdouts" have absolutely no voice at all. None….I applaud GWB for at least stirring the pot and getting the subject on the table. I'm all for a seasonal worker program as long as the workers don't linger and start sucking up social services….I am 100% adamantly against ANY Amnesty. I consider it "Amnesty" enough to let the illegals go home... and reapply for a work visa in a legal fashion and at the end of the line. That to me, is a suitable Amnesty….Taking the politically expedient route of waving a magic wand and turning illegals into LEGALS is such a disservice to those legit business owners who have played by the rules for so long.....it just makes my blood boil… If government can get their $hit together and have a way to prove ones status, that in and of itself would be a great service. I completely agree with you. Along with splitting immigrants into two categories, legal and illegal, actually migrants, we’ve split employers into two groups, those who follow that law and those who don’t.
Although the big outcry over HR4437 is the creation of a felony offence for the 1st illegal entry, instead of the 2nd as under current law, I think the real reason for the opposition in the pro-illegal community is the employer check. With a immediate ss# verification available to employers, there’s no longer any reasonable excuse for employing illegals with mismatched ss#s “in error”. If enforced, a big if, it would dry up the employment market.
Amnesty/guest workers is a separate issue. I’d speculate we need a migrant labor program, but it should be just that, migrant labor subject to regional need, and in no way a path to citizenship. Though I doubt it would happen, I’d like to see birthright citizenship re-visited in that regard, treating migrant employees as we treat foreign diplomats and members of foreign military, not subject to the jurisdiction of the US, thus no citizenship for their US born children.
Seems like we're in agreement.
I think all US citizens should have to run a small (successful) business for three years....LOL.... kinda like how each Swiss citizen has to serve a year in the National Guard over there.