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A Ten-Point Plan for Immigration

By Lynn Woolley
MichNews.com
Jul 19, 2005

You’ve heard the argument: There is no way to stop illegal immigration, so we’re better off to accept it and learn to live with it. There are just two problems with this attitude. First, the cost of illegal immigration both financially and culturally is devastating. Second, it’s not true.

Of course there are ways to stop the daily influx of illegals. But since political elites in the United States, including President Bush, show little interest in enforcing our borders and deporting those who are breaking the law by being here in the first place – it seems to be a losing battle.

It’s not. But it will take a better brand of leadership to get the job done.

President Bush (and Clinton before him) has shown little propensity to secure our borders. Some pundits will tell you that this is due to political correctness, or the huge emerging voting bloc that is forming around Hispanic communities. The real reason, though, is that many companies want the cheap labor that comes with illegals. The Bush administration is more worried about alienating contributors than securing our borders.

For their part, the illegal migrants – mostly from Mexico – want to escape the poverty of their country for the prosperity of ours. But millions of these illegals seem to have little desire to assimilate, and are slowly reforming the southwestern United States into the image of Mexico.

The combination of millions of non-assimilated aliens and a feckless administration that doesn’t even seem to understand the danger is a recipe for disaster. It’s by far the number one topic on talk radio where some callers admit that they employ illegals and say they couldn’t do with them. Some callers demand that the federal government do its duty and secure the borders – and still others lay down a challenge for a workable plan.

Here’s one: a ten-point plan to bring illegal immigration under control.

1. Build a border fence where needed. Build it tall and make it hard to climb.

2. Increase the number of armed border guards. Not that we need a “shoot-on-sight� mentality, but a serious armed force along the border will send a message that we mean business.

3. Institute a “three strikes� policy for American businesses that employ illegals. A fine the first time; jail sentences the second time; a full shutdown of the company the third time for companies that knowingly employ illegals.

4. Institute a strict deportation policy for any illegal caught in the country. Deportation hearings should be swift and sure, utilizing a federal database to help local governments detect counterfeit driver’s licenses and Social Security cards.

5. Pass a new law abolishing citizenship for babies born on American soil to illegal immigrants. Illegals often hurry to America to have the “anchor babies� so that they can get a leg up on permanent residency and many social benefits. This incentive should be removed.

6. Establish English as the official language of government.

7. Pass a new law to require government-licensed broadcasting stations to broadcast a major percentage of the day in English. The people own the airwaves, and this is a perfectly logical way to preserve our national language.

8. Implement sanctions against Mexico for encouraging illegal immigration. Remember the comic book that was a guide to crossing the border illegally? If Mexico has no shame, it should be punished. On the other hand, when Mexico cooperates with efforts to halt illegal immigration, we should look for a way to reward it.

9. We simply have to ban illegal aliens from utilizing our social services including schools and hospitals – particularly emergency rooms. Most states ’ school financing problems would be instantly solved if the states did not have to educate illegals in their native languages. And ERs should provide emergency treatment – and then turn over the illegal patient for deportation.

10. Finally, the government should formulate a logical immigration policy. How many immigrants do we need? How do we choose who gets to come? What do we expect of them? We need a fair policy that does not reward those who have already entered the country illegally.

This would do it, though parts of this plan are expensive and parts of it are unpleasant. But if the United States is going to remain the world’s superpower and win the War on Terror, it will first have to win the undeclared war against its own borders, language and culture.

The current administration doesn’t have a clue how important this issue really is. For America’s sake, let’s hope a viable candidate for 2008 emerges who will make this war on the home front a priority.