Legalized Illegal Immigration

Illegal immigration has gotten so far out of hand that there is no easy fix to the situation. Unchecked, the costs incurred by it could bring our straining financial system to its knees in education, healthcare, criminal, and various welfare program costs. To send all the illegals back could cause a tremendous backlash to our economy. Unemployment is currently around 4.5%, which is considered full employment, and the loss of a large portion of our low-paid workers would cause serious inflation. Worst of all, there is a rapidly growing negative sentiment toward the Hispanic population. I've seen the looks American citizens of Hispanic heritage receive when they enter businesses. My fear is they are all assumed to be illegal. And yes, we do need to refer to illegal immigrants as illegal, not undocumented. Labeling them as undocumented is just an attempt to soften what is truly a growing problem for our country. It's a strategy that is similar to calling rape "sex without consent," murder could be "unilaterally quieting a life," speeding could be "expediting travel," and drunk driving could be "driving without a care." But I digress.

Approximately 74% of illegal immigrants have less than a high school education. Immigrants coming from Mexico increase their income from $2.30 to $8.50 an hour (adjusted for the cost of living in both countries). Who can blame them for wanting to come if there are no penalties other than risking being sent back? The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that in 2005, 80 to 85 percent of Mexican immigrants who had been in the United States less than ten years were unauthorized. This is totally unacceptable. This country needs an expanded worker visa program and excuses that "our system can't handle it" are getting old. The government was able to track an unpaid speeding ticket across state lines during one of my military moves, but can't process enough visa applications? Get real. Make the system handle it.

Our government needs to solve this problem, not politicize it and make excuses. Government inaction is creating problems for cities throughout the nation as they attempt to cope with and enforce a national issue at a local level. Our first step should be to secure the borders to our country. We need to know who is currently here and who is entering our country! I retired from the military 8 years ago. My specialty was electronics. Trust me. They can secure the borders using technology that existed when I retired. The enforcement may not work perfectly, but good enough to stop the mass migration. We must also ensure all illegal aliens register with immigration authorities and receive papers and a personal identification card. EVERY citizen should have to carry one, otherwise, how do we know who you are? I am forced to carry a driver's license while driving. I also was required to carry a military ID. As far as I know, it hasn't caused undue hardship on me. But then again, I've never had any reason to hide my identity from authorities. You should also have to use one to identify yourself at the polls. Why wouldn't anyone want this...unless of course you're a criminal. It's a small price to pay to live in this country. If you don't like it, move to a different country.

After the registration program is implemented, if anyone is caught unregistered after a set grace period, back they go, no excuses. If these legally registered immigrants stay employed, obey our laws, and learn English, move them to the head of the line for citizenship, but after those attempting to enter through traditional legal means. If any immigrant (note that they are no longer called illegal) is convicted of a felony, gang related activity, driving while under the influence, sex crime, or violent crime, impose the maximum prison sentence and deport them immediately. If they are caught in this country again, immediately incarcerate them and then deport them. Hopefully this will deter them from ever coming back...if they can get back. Is this unfair that we pay for their incarceration? Yes. But in the end it will reduce criminal activity and the costs associated with it. It will also tell criminals wishing to harm us to stay out of our country.

A true guest worker program should be implemented, perhaps adjusted seasonally to fill agricultural needs, to allow gaps in our labor workforce to be filled. This option would allow one parent to come here to work temporarily and thus reduce the burden to our healthcare, social security, and education systems. This would allow those individuals wishing to maintain citizenship in their home country to do so. I know that it's sad to separate parents in such a way, but it happens in many careers. Airline pilots, ocean-going seaman, truckers, traveling businessman, and military personnel spend many days away from their families and still manage. The temporary workers could send the income back to their families. They could improve their families' lives and to cite two examples, provide better healthcare at home and perhaps finance college educations. This would surely help Mexico's flailing economy and possibly stem the immigration tide as conditions improve. Would there be a net loss to this country in terms of an export imbalance? Sure. But overall, paying $8 an hour to someone versus $15 an hour due to a depleted workforce will keep our homegrown fruits and vegetables from possibly doubling in price. The net may be in our favor. Even if we require the temporary workers' employers to purchase health insurance, we'll still be way ahead of the game.

There is no easy answer to a problem which was allowed to go unchecked by our government for so long. It is now a highly emotional problem for all involved. Who wants to split up families? Who wants to send a child to a country he or she has never known. There will surely be some tough calls made in the near future, but we need to keep in mind the final outcome. Some of the blame and future decision making will fall on the illegal immigrants currently here. Their choices will determine whether they are successful or fail. Considering the work-ethic I've personally witnessed, I have faith that most will achieve their goals.

One thing that must happen or we will handicap the new citizens for the rest of their lives is they must, must, must learn English. If not, the odds are overwhelming that they will be blowing leaves, cooking burgers, or cleaning for the rest of their lives. There may be the occasional success story, but the odds are slim. The inability to speak English also separates them from our culture and makes them a target for ridicule and hate. Indeed, anyone who has studied history knows the traits that which define a nation. Among them are common descent, culture, religion, and yes, language. Given that descent has always been something which causes strife in this country, multiculturalism is now lauded, and religion is becoming so diverse, the only thing which can bring us all together is our language and the land in which we live.

It's sad that the people of this country have been forced to make such strong demands of our government that we have been labeled as being racists or callous just because we want a controlled legal immigration policy. We just want our country to remain the great country that it is, a country of immigrants whose goal is to become part of the American dream. It looks like we'll have to figure it out at the grassroots level though. Nothing like having a government that doesn't do their job. Thanks Congress! You represent us so well.