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Blog Entry 6 of 8 WebViking's Corner

I'm a libertarian/conservative who believes the first precept of good government should be "Do no harm!" That said I recognize that, as distasteful as it is, sometimes government is necessary and can do good. I'll be talking mainly about national politics, with the occasional odd foray into local issue.

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Immigration Reform?

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Contributed by: John Newman on 6/27/2007

Immigration Reform, left for dead three weeks ago in the US Senate is back, as the Senate votes to re-open debate yesterday. The problem with this "Grand Compromise" is that the primary focus of this reform are the 12 million illegal immigrants currently living and working in this country. These people have nothing to do with Immigration Reform, they are already here. Yes, they exist in a kind of legal limbo, and yes, that has to be addressed at some point, but they are NOT the problem.

The problem is that 1 to 2 million more of them enter this country every year, and that's what any real immigration reform MUST address. It is unacceptable to have that many people that we know nothing about pouring into this country every year. Especially when there are terrorists out there that would like nothing more than to get into this country clandestinely and kill large numbers of American citizens.

There are only two ways to stop illegal immigration. One, take control of the border to prevent people from crossing illegally, and two, prevent any chance that an illegal immigrant can find a job in this country once they get here.

Completely preventing anyone from crossing the border is probably impossible. It is 1951 miles long and passes through some of the most remote areas in either the US or Mexico. But certainly we can cut it down from a million or more illegal crossings a year to a few thousand. Hire more border guards and give them better equipment. Build a fence. Yes, they will try to tunnel under it, but we don't need to make it easy for people to sneak into this country.

One important and often overlooked area of border enforcement, is what happens when illegal immigrants come into contact with local authorities, for instance, for a traffic violation. Unfortunately, a lot of local politicians have been grandstanding lately and saying that local authorities will not cooperate with the Federal officials to make sure that these illegal immigrants get deported.

While it is some of this idiocy is based on problems dealing with the Federal government to transfer custody of the illegal immigrant, some of it is simple political posturing to appeal to Hispanic voters. The Federal government needs to be able to respond quickly to any arrest of an illegal immigrant anywhere in the country. And all law enforcement agencies need to be actively involved in enforcing the country's immigration laws. Illegal immigration affects us all.

On an additional note, I would advocate pressing criminal charges against some illegal immigrants. Say those that are caught illegally crossing the border multiple times, or the coyotes, the ones that are paid to smuggle groups of illegals into this country. In the case of an illegal that is caught multiple times, sentence them to a year in prison to be spent in the US before deporting them. For coyotes, make it five.

Now obviously, if illegal immigrants couldn't find work in this country, they wouldn't come here. One of the requirements of the 1986 Immigration "Reform" act was that employers had to certify that they had checked each employee's credentials before they were hired to confirm that they had the legal right to work in this country. That's why everyone fills out that stupid I-9 form when they get a new job. For all the good the I-9 form has done, you might as well blow your nose with it.

The new Immigration "Reform" Act calls for a computerized employee eligibility verification system to be set up within 18 months of the passage of the act. I'm not sure how that will work, but it seems like the government could make a good start on such a system by using tax records. Certainly something better than the I-9 is needed, and an electronic employee eligibility system seems like a possibility. The ACLU would probably keep such a system tied up in court for 18 years, not 18 months.

Also needed is better enforcement of existing laws. It's illegal in this country to hire illegal immigrants. Surprise, surprise. So why is it happening? Because no one is enforcing the law. Oh sure you hear of a raid every now and again, but they are few and far between. If we need 10,000 or 20,000 or 30,000 enforcement agents to actively pursue and bring to prosecution employers that hire illegal immigrants, then let's do it.

Anyone that hires an illegal immigrant should stand a good chance of getting caught. And when they get caught, fine them. Then come back next week and see if you can catch them again. And if they keep hiring illegal immigrants, eventually you will have fined them out of business.

Taking control of the border and enforcing current labor laws is all that needs to be done to "fix" illegal immigration. After we do that, we can decide what to do about the 12 million illegal immigrants already here. If they don't have criminal records and want to become citizens of this country, I favor legalizing them. Call it whatever you want, but don't do it until you've made the commitment to control the border and enforce existing laws.

What about all the businesses that are going to complain about not being able to find enough cheap labor, you say? I say tough, let 'em pay a better wage. Sure that will make a lot of things more expensive for the rest of us, but let's be fair about this. Breaking the law to hire "cheap" labor is as reprehensible as crossing the border illegally.

And all this costs money, and that's too bad. This is a fundamental problem and it's going to cost money to fix. We've spent the last 40 years not fixing it, and it's going to hurt more to fix it now. And if we don't fix it now, it's going to cost even more to fix it later.

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Showing 1-4 of 4 comments

Submitted By: Chris Rodriguez

posted on 6/29/2007 @ 7:03:06 PM

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The Mexican govt counts on the money that flows back into its country from illegals sending money back. These same people say they go back and forth because they don't necessarily like our customs or morals. That tells me it's more about greed, especially how far a dollar goes down there. Much of Mexico is beautiful country, and I think alot of them love it there, but love our money more. Instead of fixing their own govt's problems, it's more of a 'me first' mentality. Sounds like alot of Americans I know.

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Submitted By: Chris Rodriguez

posted on 6/29/2007 @ 6:57:13 PM

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I'd love it if Mexico was worth staying in for it's citizens, I just don't see that hapenning anytime in the next 50 years. Not all illegals are coming from there, and some are from countries in far better shape than Mexico. Common denominator? The U.S. is that much better than anything else out there. I really do feel for these people trying to better their lives, but not when your first act on entering our country is breaking its laws, and the toll it takes on american workers, our health care system, schools, and entitlement programs.

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Submitted By: Bing Van Gorden

posted on 6/29/2007 @ 3:48:46 PM

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I agree with your two prong approach but I would offer a third and put pressure on Mexico's government to not only stop actively pushing their people over the border but to fix their economy and take care of it's people. If they have opportunities there, there would be no reason to tempt crossing to hear.

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Submitted By: Chris Rodriguez

posted on 6/28/2007 @ 6:56:55 PM

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Anyone see Mexico's Immigration Laws?http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=14632 Quite an eye opener. It's all in their constitution, and it's pretty harsh. One way door.

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Showing 1-4 of 4 comments

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John Newman

Northglenn , CO

John Newman has posted 8 blog entries and 33 comments since joining on 9/27/2005. John Newman 's average blog rating is 3.64.

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