[Recovering Ex-hippie]

thanks for your post..It is very helpful.

I agree with attrition through enforcement. My post did not offer the either amnesty or mass deportations concept.

ER treatment obviously will be accepted..but the slow changes of reducing the welfare impact will help. So will holding employers accountable, which we have not yet.

I think the best way to deal with this is to piecemeal dismantle all “positives” benefits and chip away at what we tolerate now as you outlined, along with the border being secured. I think the majority of Americans would NOT have a problem with money appropriated to start the serious border enforcement and enforcing the employers being held responsible for hiring illegals.Then also deporting those who have overstaye dtheir visas.

That does not create the Drama of sending entrenched families of several generations back on buses, which the media would use to stop ANY changes.

[kabar]

My post did not offer the either amnesty or mass deportations concept.

Any legislation that allows the lawbreakers to stay and work here is amnesty. Giving the so-called law abiding ones work visas is amnesty. And I gather you would want them to have the ability to have their families join them. Family reunification is one of the demands of the pro-amnesty crowd.

but the slow changes of reducing the welfare impact will help. So will holding employers accountable, which we have not yet.

We have laws on the books that prevent the lawbreakers from receiving welfare and there are penalties for holding employers accountable. The 1986 bill contained employer penalty provisions. The problem is enforcement. We can pass all the laws we want, but unless we have Presidents who want to enforce them, the travesty will continue. Bush 43 and Obama did not enforce our immigration laws.

Then also deporting those who have overstayed their visas.

The US-VISIT program was voted into law in 1996 to track and deport visa overstays. It was never fully implemented. This is not a money problem, it is a question of political will.

That does not create the Drama of sending entrenched families of several generations back on buses, which the media would use to stop ANY changes.

It is not only the media. Motivated by parochial self-interest, the pro-mass immigration, open borders, amnesty advocates have formed a powerful coalition including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, labor union leaders, the Catholic Church, ethnic and racial groups, “moderate” Republicans, and the Democrat Party. The common thread that unites these groups is power, money, and the prospect of increased constituencies, even at the expense of our long-term national interests and survival.

Here is what a real immigration reform proposal should look like IMO.

Advocate a pro-immigrant policy of low immigration. Republicans need to provide the American people with their own comprehensive immigration reform plan, i.e., give people a reason to vote FOR something rather than just attack the other side’s proposals. Such a plan should contain the following elements:

 Formulate a merit based immigration system that brings in the skills and talents to keep us competitive in the global economy;

 Reduce immigration levels based on need more closely approximating 300,000 a year;

 Eliminate extended chain migration, i.e., family reunification, limiting it to the nuclear family,

 Secure the border;

 Enforce existing immigration laws to reduce the current illegal alien population and limit future illegal immigration, i.e., attrition thru enforcement. Enforcement would include: (1) ending the job magnet; (2) increasing coordination at the federal level by eliminating barriers to information sharing among agencies; (3) leveraging state and local enforcement resources; (4) fully implementing the US-VISIT Program to track and deport visa overstays; and (5) make mandatory and improve such programs as E-Verify and 287 [g] authority to assist employers and law enforcement in identifying illegal aliens;

 Eliminate birthright citizenship and the visa lottery program;

 Ensure that anyone who enters this nation illegally is not rewarded by being permitted to stay and work here; i.e., no amnesty;

 Streamline the processing and adjudication of immigration cases;

 Promote pro-immigrant measures that help newcomers assimilate and embrace the values and principles of our Founders and the Constitution.