Thread: Republican congressman offers immigration solution

http://www.dailybreeze.com/opinion/arti ... wAll=y&c=y

By Rep. Dana Rohrabacher

If a bathtub is overflowing and water is spilling onto the floor, the first thing most rational people would do is turn off the faucet, remove the tub stopper and let the water drain. Then the cleanup would begin. If only the federal government was as rational.

Unfortunately, there are many in Congress who would mop up the floor before turning off the faucet and draining the tub. Instead of turning off the massive flow of illegal aliens in our country and demonstrating that the government can keep that flow at a very low trickle, Congress is proposing to legalize the millions of illegal aliens in the country first. This strategy has not worked in the past and it will not work for our country now.

There is only one way to stop this unfettered flow of illegal immigrants: cut off the jobs and benefits that attract them to America. The federal government must demand that businesses verify the legal status of their employees and administer heavy fines to those who violate the law and hire illegal aliens.

Next, the government must stop paying for the education and health care of those who have come here illegally. This strategy, coupled with stronger border control, is the only way to begin draining the tub.

If America turns off the faucet of jobs and benefits, the majority of illegal immigrants will go home. This strategy of attrition has proved successful for thousands of private and public employers who use attrition every day to reduce their payroll. Most people in Southern California are familiar with this pattern in private industry: employers will freeze hiring and offer incentives for early retirement and/or relocating. This approach can work for illegal immigration, which is why the cheap labor/open borders lobby refuses to discuss it.

By actually enforcing immigration law consistently, firmly, the illegal population will shrink. If the cannot find work they will go home and others likely won't come.
Xavier Hermosillo of San Pedro discusses the need for meaniful reform.

Most people are not aware of it, but the Immigration and Naturalization Service's Office of Policy and Planning reported that in 1999, 400,000 illegal aliens left the illegal population, but over 900,000 entered the country illegally. If we shut off the 900,000 a year who come into the country, eventually the illegal population will shrink to manageable numbers.

As Mark Kirkorian from the Center for Immigration Studies notes: "The United States can bring about an annual decrease in the illegal alien population, rather than allowing it to continually increase. The point, in other words, is not merely to curtail illegal immigration, but rather to bring about a steady reduction in the total number of illegal immigrants who are living in the United States. The result would be a shrinking of the illegal population to a manageable nuisance, rather than today's looming crisis."

However, this strategy requires not only strong border control, but work site enforcement. The theory is consistent with the mentality that most people abide by IRS law and file their taxes to avoid an audit and most people drive the speed limit to avoid a ticket; the threat of being caught is enough to deter people from breaking the law. If there is enough threat to employers, they will abide by the law.

Insisting employers verify Social Security numbers, forcing the Social Security Administration to notify employers when Social Security numbers don't match and giving employers immunity from lawsuits if they challenge fraudulent documents will stop an illegal alien's ability to obtain a job with fake documents. By fining 12 million and jailing employers who pay illegal aliens under the table, other employers who might be tempted to hire illegal aliens will think twice.

And, as illegal aliens find they cannot get jobs, they will go home.

It is absurd to say we can either give illegal aliens citizenship or we will have to deport all 12 million to 18 million. By securing the border, eliminating the ability for an illegal to obtain employment and stopping free health care and education for illegal aliens, they will have no incentive to cross the border, and every incentive to go home.

And the attraction to those currently across the border hoping to come here illegally will disappear.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, represents the 46th Congressional District, which includes parts of Orange County, the Harbor Area and the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Great. Now convince the senate and the president.

RR

You could also put up a sign at the border that reads:

Every 5th crosser will be [mod edit]...and four just walked through.

ahem

RR