illegal immigrants: Failure of '86 reform holds lessons for Bush

Sunday, November 17, 2002 - In 1986, then-Sen. Alan Simpson sponsored the first major immigration reform in three decades, and launched one of the biggest fights of his stormy political career.

The landmark legislation put more agents on the border, imposed stiff sanctions for employers who hire illegal immigrants, and granted amnesty to 2.9 million illegal immigrants.

Viewed as a major political feat at the time, 16 years later the law is widely seen as a failure.

The number of illegal immigrants living in the United States has doubled to an estimated 8 million.

"It didn't work the way we thought it was going to," said the lanky former senator from Wyoming, in Denver last week to appear at a lecture series.

"It took a lot of thought. It was a creative bipartisan piece of legislation," he said. But "the failure was the failure to get a more secure (worker) identifier system." In those failings are perhaps a few lessons for politicians, including President Bush, who again is considering the Herculean task of immigration reform.

Simpson's Immigration Reform and Control Act was envisioned as a win-win for immigrants and the host country: Make it much harder for illegals to cross the borders and to get jobs once they were here. Then legalize undocumented immigrants already in the United States, bringing millions into the country's mainstream.

Today, the notion has a familiar ring. Many observers expect Bush will again propose the immigration reform he shelved after Sept. 11. It included the legalization of 3 million undocumented Mexicans living in the United States, the first large-scale amnesty since 1986.

In the wake of the 1986 law, millions of newly minted Americans exercised their right to get visas for members of their extended families, swelling the number of legal immigrants to the U.S.

And the employer sanctions did little more than spawn a massive black market in fake driver's licenses and Social Security numbers, the basic documents employers must ask for.

Simpson said that shows that any new immigration reform must include some form of national ID that's hard to falsify and that employers can use to ensure that prospective workers are legal.

Right now, "you get a breeder document like a (false) birth certificate, then comes the Social Security number, then comes the driver's license, and you're just in the system," Simpson said.

The ID is not a new idea - nor a politically easy proposition. Such an identifier initially was included in the 1986 bill but then stripped. It generated such caustic debates that few politicians are willing to touch the subject even today.

The emotion of that debate also holds another lesson for Bush, the former senator said. Whatever Bush proposes, Simpson said, he should expect a tough fight.

Some experts are more hopeful a major reform can succeed this time, noting that any new proposal is likely to include a critical element the 1986 law lacked. Bush, as well as some prominent Democrats, will support a guest-workers program.

"The idea is to have a circular program where people come in on a temporary basis, do specific work, like seasonal work, and then leave," said Angela Kelley, assistant director of the National Immigration Forum, a Washington-based pro-immigration group.

Simpson's law "rested on an incorrect assumption. You can't stop immigration by shutting down the borders," Kelley said. "You have to give people a legal alternative to enter the country to work."

A country of immigrants, America finds it difficult to hammer out hard-headed solutions to problems that loom larger than ever, he said.

"It's because of the words on the Statue of Liberty - 'the huddled masses,"' Simpson said. "Here's the torch, and those words, and people can't get that out of their craw."

"There is nothing wrong with that, except it doesn't say, 'Send us everybody you've got, legally or illegally,"' he said. "It doesn't say, 'Send us every huddled person in every huddled country."'

It didn't work the way we thought it was going to," said the lanky former senator …

…."the failure was the failure to get a more secure (worker) identifier system."

Well I’m glad Simpson sees this legislation as a failure. Why did he vote for giving amnesty before a proper worker identification system was in place?

A secure identifier system is only a very small part of the failure of the amnesty. And we don’t need a national ID, as Simpson suggests, to keep out illegals.

The real failure of the amnesty and of our immigration policy is not enforcing the current laws on the books. After all, we have a SS system, birth certificates, drivers licenses and other identifiers. These forms of identification are routinely disregarded by government and law enforcement agencies. If gov’t and LE agencies today are accepting the Mexican ID, giving out benefits and catching and releasing know illegals, what is to make us believe this policy will not continue if an illegal does not have his new National ID Card? If drivers licenses, birth certificates & SS numbers are being forged and stolen today, what is make us believe these practices will stop with a National ID Card? What is so magical about the National ID Card that will change gov’t and LE practices as well as eliminate all these illegal practices? Nothing! They are not going to change.

This guest worker program is another sham. Our borders are not secure now. Once we get a guest worker program will the borders be magically shut & the guest workers will only enter through designated areas? Will the guest worker program eliminate the drug dealers, murders, thieves and others who just want to come to America, but want no part of being a guest worker?

Currently we cannot track & deport visa violators. What makes us think we can track & deport guest workers any better? How will we track guest workers who just don’t show up for work? If we catch them will they be deported? Will guest worker’s families be allowed to enter? Will they be tracked & deported if the worker is in violation of the program?

Currently the pro-immigration people (and it seems the government too) is unwilling to deport know illegals. When there is a work slowdown &/or the picking season has ended will these guest workers be shipped back to their country? At who’s cost? Why would we think that those who currently do not want to deport known illegals, those who want to put water & beacons out in the desert, will just turn around after the guest worker program is implemented and say “OK your work is done, go back home now”? It is not going to happen. These feel-good liberals will then start crying that the worker’s kids are in school, they have ties in the community…anything to keep the guest workers here. What happens if the guest worker has a baby in America, then the kid is American? You know the parent(s) then won’t be sent back home when their work is done.

We need to close the borders, overhaul the current INS and immigration policy and eliminate the incentives for illegals to come to America. Now!

The Illegals Solution: Credit to Sabertooth.

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 I keep getting requests:

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.

Then...

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

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

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

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.

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

6: Run sting operations at day laborer sites.

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

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.

9: Compile biometric information on Illegals, and declare that they will be permanently ineligible for immigration and citizenship.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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 earning, 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.
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 that their are no house to house searches.

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.

A few final thoughts...

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.

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.

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