Thread: Immigration bill that deals with reality

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Tuesday, May 24, 2005

By ROGER HERNANDEZ



Finally, sanity in the debate about illegal immigration.

Last week Sens. John McCain and Edward Kennedy introduced a comprehensive immigration-reform bill that recognizes realities all around.

The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act (the similarly bipartisan House version is being sponsored by Illinois Democrat Luis V. Gutiérrez along with Arizona Republicans Jeff Flake and Jim Kolbe) recognizes that the 11 million illegal immigrants who live in the United States are not about to go away, that businesses need them to do jobs Americans will not do, that they cannot be deported en masse for reasons that have to do with morality as well as logistics.

It also recognizes - almost - that in a post-Sept. 11 world, the national security of the United States requires that law enforcement regulate which foreigners come in and keep track of foreigners already here - the latter of which is obviously impossible if 11 million people live in the shadows.

The basics:

More visas for foreigners who want jobs Americans do not take. Employers would advertise jobs for two weeks; if no Americans took them up, the jobs would go into a database available at U.S. consulates. Applicants there would pay a $500 processing fee, undergo a background check and, if qualified, receive a tamper-proof biometric visa. Up to 400,000 such visas may be granted each year. The figure is based on an estimate of the illegal labor market - if it is correct, it would mean an opportunity for that many people to come through legal channels rather than sneak in. Vetted by the background check, to boot.

Amnesty. Yep, that. It's become such a buzzword that you won't hear too many supporters of the bill admit it offers amnesty. But it does. People who are in the United States illegally would pay back taxes plus $2,000 (call it a "fee" or call it a "fine," whatever) to undergo a background check and be permitted to stay and work for six years. At the end of that term, they would either have to return to their country of origin or apply for permanent residence. To become legal residents, illegal immigrants would have to have a job and show they are learning English. In short, people who are here illegally will get to be here legally. Linguistic honesty compels me to call that what it is: amnesty. But - and here I brace for the barrage of e-mails - so what.

For one thing, it is logistically impossible to root out and expel 11 million individuals. Who is going to do it, and at what cost to security, national and otherwise? Local cops who should be working on real crimes in the neighborhood? Federal officials who should be preventing the next terrorist attacks? Then there is the moral dimension: What kind of nation drags kicking and screaming out of their homes children who only know life in America? A woman who has lived here for a decade, working hard and staying out of trouble? The reality is that mass deportations are not going to happen. This legislation offers an alternative that is compassionate to hardworking immigrants and at the same time makes it more difficult for terrorists to hide.

Security at the border. McCain-Kennedy toughens up surveillance at the border with its call for unmanned airplanes and tighter coordination among U.S. agencies as well as Mexican and Canadian law enforcement.

It does not, however, directly fund more boots on the ground - more border patrolmen. This is a mistake. I'm all for the carrots, but this is one stick that is missing. Increasing the number of visas will surely cut back illegal immigration in the future, and the amnesty provision will make it easier to distinguish hardworking illegal immigrant from terrorists hard at work.

But there will still be those who won't want to bother with the system, even if it's much more immigrant-friendly. It's important for there to be more border patrolmen to stop them from coming in. And that is not just good immigration policy. It's also good national-security policy.

Roger Hernandez is a syndicated columnist and writer-in-residence at New Jersey Institute |of Technology. Reach him |at rogereh@optonline.net

Quote:
For one thing, it is logistically impossible to root out and expel 11 million individuals. Who is going to do it, and at what cost to security, national and otherwise? Local cops who should be working on real crimes in the neighborhood?

It may be tuff, but not impossible to rid illegals from the country. We seem to have more than enough funds in the Homeland Security budget to do so. Local cops ARE working on real crimes in the neighborhood, THANKS to new ILLEGAL ALIENS. In all reality, pro-immigration groups are making it sound like it's impossible to deport people in numbers. It's not. Nothing has ever been too much of a challenge for Americans.

Originally Posted by butterbean

Quote:
For one thing, it is logistically impossible to root out and expel 11 million individuals. Who is going to do it, and at what cost to security, national and otherwise? Local cops who should be working on real crimes in the neighborhood?

It may be tuff, but not impossible to rid illegals from the country. We seem to have more than enough funds in the Homeland Security budget to do so. Local cops ARE working on real crimes in the neighborhood, THANKS to new ILLEGAL ALIENS. In all reality, pro-immigration groups are making it sound like it's impossible to deport people in numbers. It's not. Nothing has ever been too much of a challenge for Americans.

It seems to me with all of the minuteman projects starting up around the USA, that they would have plenty of volunteers who would be willing to help.

Hey Roger Hernadez: Since virtually every word in your article was horse manure, I couldn't get past the first three paragraphs before I started feeling ill. So let me quickly dissect a few points in those first paragraphs before your words end up in the slag-heap where they belong:

You say:

1.) "The McCain-Kennedy bill....recognizes realities all around."
WRONG: It doesn't recognize the reality of the 80% of American citizens who want the illegal immigrants to get out and stay out!

2.) "...the 11 million immigrants are not about to go away."
WRONG: They are going, going, gone. The only choice in the matter is whether they are going peacefully, or with a good swift kick in the rear.

3.) "...businesses need them for the jobs Americans will not do."
WRONG: Maybe a handful of greedy corporate employers need them to exploit for their profits, but the other 80% of us need them like a hole in the head, which is why we want them to GET OUT AND STAY OUT!

4.) "...they cannot be deported en masse for reasons that have to do with morality as well as logistics."
WRONG: What the hell do you know about "moralilty," Rog, these scumbags are "illegals." Theres nothing immoral about putting criminals in jail or running them out of our country. As for "logistics," we're working on that right now, thats where we're at right now as I speak: working on the simplest and easiest way to get rid of these bums.

Mexico did not seem to have a problem with kicking 11 million of its own citizens out of the country with the poverty that their corrupt, incompetent government created.

undergo a background check and, if qualified, receive a tamper-proof biometric visa.

For $20 and a case of Corona, I can have a Mexican government official swear that I am the Virgin of Guadalupe.