Hello all.

I wanted to pass my thinking by you guys, and see if it makes sense. I could be missing something, and a public forum is a great way to see what it might be.

Problems:
1. Bad People want to do Bad Things to people in our country.
2. Anyone can illegaly enter our country, especially if they have a little money (and Bad People often have plenty of money, which makes it especially easy to get in).
3. Lots of people are already in our country illegaly, and all of these people are a burden to the tax-paying legal population. Some of these people may be Bad, but most are not. They are just looking to improve their lives (good for them, that's what this country was built for).

Why is there such a flow of illegal immigrants into our country? Because it's a better place to live, and getting in legally is so hard as to not be an option.

So, here's my hypothetical solution: Relax immigration rules, allowing good people to legally enter our country, and in a timely manner. Maybe they have to wait a week, but not 2 years! Fingerprint them as they come in. Give them legal IDs. Let them get jobs, improve their situation, contribute to society, pay taxes. They become Americans. Our country improves as a whole, our base pool of human resources increases.

By the way, the whole notion of "but they would take all of our jobs" just doesn't hold water. More people in the country means more jobs become available to service the increased population. Drop the artificial minimum wage, and watch how many less skilled people will work day and night to get ahead. Some will get skilled fast, and the rising generation? They'll be in our public schools, learning the skills needed to better our society. What about our own unskilled laborers? Maybe it's about time they learn a skill so they can compete. Success in life is merit-based.

But, wouldn't these recently immigrated, largely uneducated, unskilled poverty-stricken people be a burden? They'd leech off the welfare system, wouldn't they?

No, there's a "send back home" clause. These people are not eligible for welfare. If they can't hold down a job, try to show up for welfare, or are found begging on the streets, BAM! They get sent home. And they are not allowed to legally come back in for another 5 years. We got their fingerprints, remember?

Now, with legal immigration available, the only people trying to get in illegally are, by definition, Bad People. The open border areas can become firing ranges. Post signs warning people about it, in all major languages.

As for the existing population of illegals, let them become legal. They get to be fingerprinted, and their employers are allowed to give them jobs. Probably the ones they already have. Only now they pay taxes.

What about space, where would all these people live? If you ask this, you must live in New York city. Ever visited Arizona? How about Alaska? Oregon? Washington state? Utah? Nevada? Not everyone has to move into your neighborhood.

Everyone in the country gets to have an ID card. Keep it with you, if practical. Government keeps these on file, and your fingerprints. Yeah, it's an invasion of privacy, but privacy has a high cost: lack of security. I'd rather exist in a government database than be killed by terrorists, thank you so much.

Result: A larger country, government can keep tabs on citizens, illegals are very rare, and we are much safer from terrorists from within. I like it, how about you?

--- wad