Solution to the Immigration Problem.

Addressing the illegal immigration problem seems to be pretty straightforward to me. Here's what I think it would involve:

 

1. Prevent people of unknown identity or purpose from sneaking into the country. This should be done in the most efficient and cost effective way. It seems to me that a physical barrier, such as is working well in Israel, is in that category rather than staffing the whole border with razor wire, guard stations and robots, but, hey, whatever works. I would put this as the key item, without which anything else you do falls apart.
2. Have a good guest worker program with regulations that would protect the interests of present American citizens as well as the workers themselves. Any employers found skirting the system would be subject to a very substantial penalty fine.
3. Intensify our visa reporting system. Visa holders should be accounted for. Anyone given a visa would be obliged to report his or her whereabouts periodically and those continuing to stay beyond its limits would be sent home with severe restrictions on any consideration of return. In the digital age there is no excuse for our present laxity.
4. Have a complete review of the criteria for legal entry to the country outside of the guest worker program. We need to have decisions on who and how many immigrants are desirable. I think generosity would be advantageous but there are limits. We already take in a million legal immigrants a year who now make up 1/10 of our population. Except in unusual circumstances it makes no sense to take in those who would immediately be dependent on our public support systems or would simply undercut the welfare of our present citizens. It goes without saying that our regulations regarding political and religious asylum need revision. Asylum is being used as a substitute for economically motivated immigration and everyone knows it.
5. The hard part after this is deciding on the status of those here illegally. Allowing individuals simply to remain here in a limbo status seems to be an absurdity, neither good for the country or for the individuals involved; although I suppose that if all the above criteria were carried out those here illegally would eventually leave or die out, eliminating the issue. The "dreamer" group would be an easy one, but then for the others there should be a mechanism for declaring oneself after rules on how one's case would be handled are clearly spelled out. I think that if illegal entry were actually stopped the American people would prove very generous in this regard, to the chagrin of those who have patiently been waiting in line.
6. For those who claim the solution is to help the Latin American countries become more stable and prosperous I absolutely concur. Just tell us how to do it.

 

I welcome any discussion on these ideas, preferably not that I am stupid, or hard hearted or don't have the right "values". As logical as it seems to me, I'm afraid our dysfunctional congress is going to prefer the kabuki dance over whether we should authorize $5 billion for the wall or shut down the government.

 

 

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