Immigration Reform In 10 Easy Steps July 21st, 2006
CHICAGO – In December 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives
passed their version of immigration reform that dealt almost exclusively
with border security and enforcement.
On 25 May, the U.S. Senate by a 62-36 vote passed a bill that, in
addition to securing our borders, provided for a temporary “guest
worker program” and sought to confer qualified paths to citizenship,
i.e., permanent legal residency, for millions of illegal immigrants.
Now Congress must negotiate a final, comprehensive immigration reform
bill that will require the full power and support of the president
to succeed. It’s going to be an arduous task.
These contentious negotiations must be undertaken amidst the realities
of national security in the post-9/11 era, the socio-economic impact
of mass immigration and assimilation, and our proud heritage as a
“melting pot” of diverse peoples and cultures.
This House is Not a Home The House bill sponsored by Judiciary Committee chairman
James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) would subject illegal immigrants to felony
charges, has no provisions for temporary worker status or eventual
citizenship, and doesn’t rule out mass deportation.
This is the “welcome mat” that motivated more than one
million illegal immigrants and their supporters to march in peaceful
protest in cities across America. It’s the immigration equivalent
of sexual abstinence. And it may be equally naïve in its conception
and implementation.
Senate and White House on Same Page The Senate bill passed last month is a much more complicated
and arguably compassionate version than the House bill.
The Senate bill would also increase spending for patrols and building
fences along our border with Mexico. In addition, it would provide
for the up to 200,000 temporary guest worker permits per year advocated
by the president, as well as provide eventual citizenship to illegal
immigrants meeting specific criteria.
The Senate bill is actually a three-tiered proposal that encompasses
everything from full legal status or temporary worker privileges to
deportation. That’s where it gets tricky.
Illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. for five or more years
would be allowed to work and stay in the country and eventually apply
for citizenship.
Many conservatives in both Houses of Congress maintain that this is
tantamount to amnesty. Moderates reject that claim pointing out that
these illegal immigrants would be permitted to remain in the country
to work but would be required to pay $2,000-$3,200 in fines and fees,
settle any back taxes, undergo a criminal background check, go to
the back of the immigration line, and learn English.
Illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. for more than two but
less than five years would have to travel to a port of entry before
re-entering the country legally and beginning a formal citizenship
process. They would be subject to the same aforementioned fines, fees
and requirements of the five-plus year group of immigrants.
Illegal immigrants who have resided in the U.S. for less than two
years would be deported with no guarantee of return.
A Common Sense Approach to “Immigracion” First things first, we’re not going to deport 10-12
million illegal immigrants en masse.
It’s as impractical as it is irrational. And we can’t
afford to grant unconditional amnesty to every “Tomas, Ricardo
and Geraldo.”
We have permitted de facto immigration on a grand scale for at least
20 years. So there’s no reason to suddenly make felonious criminals
out of decent, hardworking, law-abiding people.
Nobody benefits by immigration policies that foster a permanent underclass
of foreign workers with no political rights, clout or capital. And
nobody wants to see hundreds or even thousands of aspiring immigrants
die in transit through suffocation, dehydration or exposure. (Nearly
2,000 people died attempting illegal border crossings between 1998
and 2004.)
That doesn’t mean, however, that we can’t give law enforcement
and the judiciary the teeth to restrict immigration and penalize those
who flaunt our laws once Congress reaches a legislative compromise
on immigration reform. So now what do we do?
Step 1: Secure Our Borders and STOP Illegal Immigration “…Our most important priority is to secure our
borders and stop illegal immigration,” says House Majority Leader
John Boehner (R-OH). He’s right. First you stop the hemorrhage,
with a tourniquet if necessary. Then you stabilize and treat the patient.
Before we can embark on real, comprehensive immigration reform, we
have to increase our border patrols, fortify and reinforce our physical
borders, stop the virtually unimpeded influx of illegal immigrants
into this country, and enforce laws already on the books.
As far as the estimated 500,000 “fugitive illegals” who
may have been deported by judges and either never left the country
or slipped back in, we need to find them and send them packing; especially
the violent criminals such as murderers, rapists and child molesters.
President Bush is already deploying the first of 6,000 National Guard
troops on our Southern border for non-enforcement duties such as engineering,
fence building, logistics and surveillance. In addition, by the end
of 2011, we will have up to 14,000 patrol agents enforcing our borders.
Critics maintain that building and reinforcing fences along one-third
of our 2,000-mile border with Mexico is unfeasible. Nonsense.
We’re already a nation of gated communities. If that’s
what it takes to provide for the national and economic security of
legal citizens of the United States, so be it.
In addition to increasing manpower on our borders and building fences,
we need to use the latest technology to monitor our borders. This
may include the use of infrared cameras, specialized motor sensors
that distinguish between people and animals, and unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs).
Finally, not all illegal immigrants come here from Mexico. Many come
from China, India and the Philippines. So we also need to protect
our Northern border with Canada and our ports of entry.
Step 2: Admit the Immigration System is Broken As is the case with any multi-step recovery program, we have
to recognize that the immigration system is broken and, therefore,
unenforceable. That appears to be one point that Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist (R-TN) and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) agree
on.
“America’s immigration system is broken and our national
security depends on Republicans and Democrats finding common ground
to fix it,” said Reid to The New York Times.
The current immigration system ignores our national security priorities.
The system rewards lawbreakers, facilitates the movement of terrorists
and foreign agents, and has been compromised through bribery, money
laundering, and the transport and harboring of illegals for profit.
Regardless of semantics, any compromise forged by the two Congressional
chambers on immigration reform is going to be impossible until they
bureaucratically learn to administer, quantify, screen and
manage the flow of immigrants into this country.
Step 3: It’s A Crime—No More Euphemisms Our hypocritical obsession with political correctness has
foisted such misnomers on us as “illegal migrant,” “illegal
alien,” “criminal alien,” “unauthorized migrant,”
“unauthorized immigrant,” “paperless immigrant,”
“undocumented migrant,” and the penultimate euphemism:
“undocumented worker.”
There is such a thing as “illegal immigration” and there
are, therefore, “illegal immigrants.” We have to define
what constitutes this crime.
According to the Wikipedia free encyclopedia, “illegal immigration”
is defined as the shift of populations across national borders without
complying with the requirements of national law. It includes both
those present in a country without legal authorization, as well as
those who may have crossed national borders legally but overstayed
the terms of their visas.
In the U.S., approximately 60 percent of illegal immigrants crossed
our borders illegally while 40 percent entered legally but overstayed
their visas. Three of the four pilot-hijackers on 9/11 entered
the country legally but overstayed their visas.
According to the Constitution of the United States, this trespassing
of our borders without legal authorization or with expired authorization
represents an unlawful act. We need not distinguish between the two
transgressions legislatively or judicially.
Step 4: Cost-Benefit Analysis Before we can enact comprehensive immigration reform, we
have to determine what social and economic impact illegal immigration
has on our nation. But first we have to determine how many illegal
immigrants there are in the U.S. and how many are coming into the
country on a regular basis.
It’s widely reported that there are about 10-12 million illegal
immigrants currently in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates that 8,200 illegal
immigrants enter the United States every day. That’s 57,400
per week, 172,200 a month, and more than 2 million (2,066,400) illegal
immigrants a year.
More than 15.2 million illegal immigrants have entered the U.S. since
the general amnesty fiasco of 1986. And more than 5.3 illegals have
arrived since 9/11.
These estimates are considerably lower than those of non-governmental
groups (NGOs). NGOs maintain that more than 10,000 illegal immigrants
arrive daily—more than 3.7 million per year. The CIA estimates
that there were more than 12.5 million illegal immigrants from Mexico
here in July 2005. That’s nearly 12 percent of Mexico’s
population.
On our current course, 14 percent (42 million) of the 300-million
plus population of the United States will be illegal immigrants by
2010.
At What Cost? Next we have to determine what the economic costs and benefits
of illegal immigration are relative to production, social services
and crime.
Many, including the president, maintain that illegal immigrants perform
jobs that no one else wants and that help to stabilize our economy.
Illegal immigrants undoubtedly help to keep production costs down
and enable us to compete internationally in industries ranging from
agriculture, manufacturing and construction to food service, hospitality
and domestic service.
An estimated 80 percent of U.S. crop workers are illegal immigrants,
for example. And the Senate bill includes a provision that would permit
1.5 million immigrant-farm workers to apply for permanent residency.
Others, however, argue that “cheap” illegal labor artificially
lowers wages and benefits and our standard of living. Nearly 60 percent
of illegal immigrants live at or below the poverty line.
Barron’s estimates that illegal immigration costs America $311
billion in unpaid taxes. In addition, a Harvard University study found
that U.S. immigration policies cost us $200 billion in lost wages
annually.
But it is in the administration of social services where illegal immigration
exacts its greatest costs.
Illegal immigration cost American taxpayers $68 billion in federally
funded programs in 2002. Some experts estimate that sweeping amnesty
could increase that figure threefold.
Republican Arizona State Representative Russell Pearce maintains that
Maricopa County encompassing greater Phoenix loses $2 million per
week in uncompensated medical care.
Regardless of their intentions, many foreign women arrive here legally
on vacation or with a student visa, etc., and have a baby here. She
and her baby and other members of her immediate family are automatically
eligible for legal status. These “anchor baby” families
are also immediately eligible for emergency medical services, often
at considerable cost to taxpayers.
Education, including the benefits of in-state tuition for illegal
immigrants, can also be costly. Pearce estimates that it costs more
than $800 million annually to educate Arizona illegals in grades K-12.
This despite the fact that the illiteracy rate for illegal immigrants
is 2-1/2 times greater than it is for the legal population.
While it may be unfair to characterize illegal immigrants as criminals,
entering the U.S. without proper authorization and documentation is
a crime. More than one-third of our federal prisons are filled with
illegal immigrants.
As much as 80 percent of the violent crime in metropolitan Phoenix
involves illegal immigrants. In Los Angeles County, an estimated 95
percent of outstanding homicide warrants and approximately two-thirds
of the 17,000 fugitive felony warrants belong to illegal immigrants.
The bottom line: What are the costs of health care, education, lost
jobs/wages, unpaid taxes, crime, etc., relative to the benefits of
increased production, lower wages and assimilation?
Step 5: Strengthen Law Enforcement America is a nation of immigrants. But we’re also a
nation of laws.
For too long we have looked the other way when it came to the enforcement
of immigration law. We need to enforce laws already on the books and,
when necessary, enact new laws that will protect all Americans, including
immigrants who arrived here legally and who have patiently “waited
in line” to achieve legal status.
First and foremost, we need to enable the 700,000 or so local and
state law enforcement officials to detain and arrest people here illegally.
That’s the least we can do in areas such as the Southwest and
our cities where illegal immigration has a disproportionate impact
on local and state resources.
Cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and
Miami adhere to Special Order 40 that prohibits local police from
detaining and arresting illegal immigrants.
That order should be a casualty of 9/11.
Illegal immigrants who commit serious felonies should not be able
to get out on bail before trial because they’re a flight risk.
They have little or no incentive to await trial when it’s so
easy for them to return to Mexico and resurface in the U.S. under
a different identity at another time.
Step 6: Identification, Registration and Documentation Increased vigilance in the post-9/11 world is here to stay.
We have to stop apologizing for identifying who is here, why they’re
here, and whether they have the necessary credentials and documentation
to stay here.
We must make criminal background checks mandatory for all people entering
this country.
This may entail fingerprinting, DNA sampling, etc.
We need to require valid, tamper-proof identification documents. Forged
documents are adversely affecting not only our national security,
but our economic security as well.
Nearly 9 million people pay their taxes each year using the wrong
social security number.
Social Security and the IRS currently are not required to notify you
if someone is using your social security number. These “no match”
bureaucratic oversights not only engender rampant identity theft,
but also jeopardize our national security.
In addition, we have to ensure that anybody getting a driver’s
license has valid identification. (More than 20 states, including
Illinois and Wisconsin, issue driver’s licenses to anyone regardless
of federal laws.) The same should hold true for marriage licenses,
etc.
We must also require proof of citizenship and photo I.D.s to vote
and receive state and federal social benefits.
Most importantly, people must have valid identification to establish
residency, enter our educational institutions, or secure a job.
Proper documentation will enable immigrants to acquire citizenship
and gain access to public health, affordable housing, education, credit,
etc., without having to be compensated inadequately or be omitted
from state and federal social programs.
Step 7: Hold Employers Accountable Employers should be held accountable for current employees
and, more importantly, future employees.
We need to impose fines and criminal charges against employers who
continue to knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
To assist employers, we must ensure that agencies such as the Department
of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration and IRS cooperate
to eliminate the multiple-use of social security numbers and employee
I.D. numbers.
To facilitate this process, we should replace the 20-year-old I-9
paper forms with the electronic employment verification system recommended
by the Senate and fine employers for refusing to convert to the system.
Once the new electronic screening system is in place, the Senate bill
stipulates fines of $20,000 for employers knowingly hiring illegal
immigrants—double the current maximum fine.
Repeated violators could also be sentenced to up to three years in
jail.
The House bill provides for fines of up to $40,000 per violation and
up to 30 years in jail for repeat offenders.
Finally, everybody from business and labor to Congress and immigration
rights groups has had a vested interest in maintaining the status
quo when it comes to immigration. It isn’t fair to penalize
hard working, law-abiding illegal immigrants for accepting this bureaucratic
largesse.
On the other hand, it isn’t fair to expect private employers
to assume the costs and burdens of identifying and documenting illegal
immigrants when our government has been so abysmally deficient in
doing so. Until state and federal governments impose tough penalties
and enforce immigration law, we can’t expect private employers
to do so.
Regardless of the specific fines and punishments meted out by Congress,
we have to confront illegal immigration in the workplace. If that
means that all employees have to undergo criminal and employment background
checks, including fingerprinting and DNA analysis, that’s a
price we’ll have to pay.
Step 8: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff U.S. immigration policy should be permitted to determine
who is an asset to the nation and who is a potential detriment. We’re
not going to deport every illegal immigrant. Nor can we permit every
illegal to stay.
We must distinguish between legitimate political refugees and social
and economic opportunists, between immigrants currently working in
this country and future ones, and between general amnesty and temporary
guest worker status.
We should be more inclined to admit highly qualified and trained professional
immigrants than unskilled workers.
Most of all, we should throw out the dangerous and costly lawbreakers
and reward the law-abiding, revenue producing workers.
Our public universities make these admission distinctions. We should
do so as a nation as well.
It is imperative that we differentiate between those who offer humanitarian
aid and those that aid and abet criminals.
We should not penalize “good Samaritans” for giving an
illegal immigrant a cup of water, a meal, a ride or a place to sleep
for a night.
Conversely, we cannot tolerate those who smuggle, transport, harbor,
shield, employ or otherwise profit from the importation of illegal
immigrants. Those who do so must be punished to the fullest extent
of the law.
The distinction between “good Samaritans” and criminals
is already being drawn. In conjunction with local and state law enforcement
agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently initiated
“Operation Return to Sender” which resulted in the arrest
of more than 2,000 illegal immigrants, about half of which had criminal
records.
The Operation targeted violet criminals threatening public safety
with offenses ranging from assault with a deadly weapon, sexual assault,
abduction and child molestation.
This ICE network of fugitive teams is being increased by approximately
50 percent. We must continue to identify and either incarcerate or
deport these violent felons without pause.
Step 9: Don’t Be Intimidated By Mexico—Or Anyone
Else It’s time to tell outgoing Mexican President Vicente
Fox and president-elect Felipe Calderon to stop interfering in our
immigration policy, especially where our national security is concerned.
Mexico’s interest in our immigration policies does not reflect
their concern for the safety and welfare of their own citizens as
much as it does their desire to boost their own sagging economy.
Rather than provide sufficient economic opportunities for its own
people, Mexico is bent on sending them here. Why? Because Mexicans
abroad send home roughly $20 billion a year, that’s why.
Mexico needs to clean up its own economic backyard. Mexican entrepreneurs
and small business owners are often shaken down by corrupt police
ostensibly assigned to protect them. And escalating licensing fees
make it harder for employers to create jobs and pay higher wages.
While we empathize with the more than one million illegal immigrants
and their supporters who protested the House of Representatives’
bill through rallies, marches, work stoppages and boycotts, the fact
of the matter is they’re lucky we didn’t use that opportunity
to round them up and deport anyone who was here illegally but had
the audacity to demand their “rights.”
Keep in mind, Mexico has some of the most restrictive immigration
policies anywhere for illegal and legal immigrants. It is a criminal
offense to enter Mexico illegally.
Central Americans and Chinese people in Mexico are routinely refused
work permits and deported.
According to the Wikipedia free encyclopedia on illegal immigration,
Mexico deported more than 120,000 people from Central America during
the first eight months of 2005. The year before, Mexico’s National
Institute of Migration (INM) deported 188,000 people.
Mexico’s constitution restricts non-citizens or foreign-born
persons from working many common jobs, participating in politics,
holding office, acting as a member of the clergy, or serving on the
crews of some ships or airplanes. Furthermore, certain legal rights
are waived where foreigners are concerned, such as the right to a
deportation hearing and other legal motions.
Simply put, Fox and Mexico have no moral authority to weigh in on
our immigration policies. It’s time to tell Fox and the president-elect
to sit down and be quiet until we iron things out.
Step 10: Contact Congress Today Federal law justifiably requires that states provide public
education and emergency medical care to illegal immigrants. Many states
frustrated by the intransigence of Congress, however, have enacted
laws that impact other costly and controversial budgetary concerns
regarding healthcare, education and criminal justice.
By exhibiting the backbone that the U.S. Congress lacks, the states
are proving that tough but fair immigration reform will enhance the
prosperity and security of current and future Americans.
Unfortunately, any chances for immigration reform this election year
were dashed by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert on 20 June of this
year when he announced that the House will conduct hearings on the
Senate bill later this summer in Washington.
Hastert’s political ploy has no timetable. Rather than reconcile
the two Congressional bills, the hearings are destined to either bury
the bill in conference committee or subject it to endless debate.
In this era of international terrorism, it’s unconscionable
for Speaker Hastert and his cohorts not to enact comprehensive immigration
reform this year.
Hispanics represent the fastest growing segment of our electorate.
Politicians who insist on politicizing this issue should be voted
out of office as early as November’s midterm elections.
Security, Diversity Not Mutually Exclusive We must not forget that America was built by immigrant labor.
And we need not criminalize people unnecessarily for seeking to provide
a better life for themselves and their families.
Many Americans regard immigration reform as an attack on our history,
culture and institutions. They worry that turning over segments of
our culture to non-citizens who have little allegiance to mainstream
traditions will weaken our country. These fears are unfounded.
By monitoring and regulating the flow of qualified immigrants into
the country, we will ensure that government continues to provide the
public services and security that we are accustomed to, without diluting
our values and culture.
Finally, while Mexicans represent the majority of illegal immigrants
entering this country, they’re not the only ones. By not limiting
our perception of immigration to Mexico, we can secure all of our
borders and ports. And we’ll be able to achieve our goals of
increased production, security and diversity.
Gino Giovannetti is a member of the “Jonathon Brandmeier
Morning Show” on “The LOOP,” WLUP 97.9-FM. He is
a graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism and
also attended the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism at Indiana University.
The views and opinions of Gino do not represent those of WLUP Radio,
Emmis Communications, Inc., or anyone with a brain the size of a walnut.
Gino@WLUP.com
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