The recent Arizona law on immigration has caused a lot of controversy, but one thing that has emerged on all sides of the argument is that this country needs some serious immigration law reform — the system is broken, denies reality, is overly complex, and basically wastes everyone’s time and encourages immigrants to be and stay illegal.

I can hope that politicians will implement some really great reforms for immigration soon, but I won’t hold my breath lest I turn blue and collapse before my time.   But I have my own ideas, and if it sparks some discussion on their merits, so be it.

This is a dependent list, meaning that to truly work all points must be implemented at once (or staged in as noted).   Half-assing this system won’t work to benefit of anyone, most likely.

IMMIGRATION REFORM IDEAS

1.  Truly Lock Down Our Borders – We’ve been saying it for years, but we’ve never actually done it.   Tons of other countries are a pain in the ass to get into because they have their borders tighter than a bongo but the United States is practically an open gate with a “Welcome!” sign.    If this requires the placement of a soldier on each mile of the border to guard it and a 15′ high razor fence, so be it — I’m sure we can find plenty of servicepeople willing to trade their deployment in Afghanistan for some homeland security duty.

2.  Announce a Period of Partial Amnesty — Once you have locked down the borders, declare a 6-month window of partial amnesty for all illegal aliens.    You put out a huge marketing campaign that tells the public, “You have six months to come forward and declare yourself as an illegal seeking permanent status in our country or to leave.   If you come forward in this time period, you will be shuffled into the program for gaining a green card without penalty.   If you decide to leave, you can go without issue.  After this time period expires, you will be declared illegal and an enemy of the State and will be deported without appeal.”   This does not mean that folks will not be required to go through the standard procedure to become a legal permanent resident, but you have to deal with the current illegal population and wholesale deportation is impractical, so this is the fair way to handle the backlog.

3.  Simplify the Permanent Resident Requirements and Procedures — I will detail what requirements I think are necessary to be a permanent resident in this country and a citizen in another post, but suffice it to say that both the requirements and the procedure needs to be simple, straightforward, relatively cheap, and clear-cut.   Anything else and you encourage people to go or stay illegal and take their chances.

4.  Revise and Expand the Visa Program — We have a huge requirement for temporary presence and work positions in this country, whether it be in the entertainment industry or the seasonal worker system.   If you provide an easy way for people to come here legitimately for work, visits, or similar, you discourage illegal access.    Seasonal worker visas should be super-easy to obtain for a specified time period, say, 3-4 months, with easy requirements — prove you pay your taxes and a criminal/drug check.    No quotas, a low fee, and easy applications complete the picture of simplicity.

5.  Lower Wage Requirements for Seasonal Workers – One of the big problems with seasonal workers is that companies prefer that they be illegal so they can pay them below minimum wage to work in the fields and so forth, and the people are perfectly willing to do so.   Thus, to make this work, lower the minimum wage requirement to something reasonable; say, $2/hour.    This will prevent outright exploitation ($0.50/hour or something) but will give companies the flexibility they need.

5.   Heighten the Penalties for Illegal Entry –  Coming here illegally should carry a swift and harsh punishment, fast deportation, fines, and banning from the country for a very long time.   If you make it easy to NOT be illegal, then the ones that are should be severely dealt with to further discourage it.

6.  Amend the 14th Amendment – The intentions of this Amendment did not include providing a loophole for illegal immigrants to get a foothold in the country simply by having a child.    If the child is born to a permanent resident or citizen, this makes sense to make them citizens as well.   But if both parents are illegal or temporary, the child should absolutely not become a citizen automatically; it ties these people here in unnatural and unfair circumstances.

7.  Require Regular “Check-Ins” for all Non-Permanent Residents — If you’re here and you’re not permanent, you should have to check in with an official body every 3 months or so to confirm that you are following the terms of your visa and that there are no outstanding measures to be taken care of.   If you fail to report regularly, you are then tagged as being illegal and you are sought and handled in that matter.

8.  Require Regular Worker Audits – Companies will have little to no excuses for hiring illegals under the new system, so regular surprise worker audits should be conducted.   Contrary to all the detractors out there, it’s completely legitimate to ask, “show me your papers” to employees and employers to have them prove that only legal workers are being used.

9.  Require Paperwork for Any Government-Paid Benefit – The only exception is being dire, life-threatening medical care, but otherwise, it’s completely normal to background check someone before giving them government-paid care, food stamps, etc.    Make it fair — if you are going to ask everyone, ask EVERYONE, including me, to prove that I’m a legitimate citizen.   More on this in a future post about national ID cards.

10.  No Tolerance Rule for Crimes by Temporary Residents — As non-permanent residents in the USA, hold those present here temporarily to a higher standard; if you commit a crime while here, you are convicted and deported.   No time in jails (costs us money), no big appeals process, no chance to go back to work here.   We insist as visitors to our country that you treat it better than your own country; if you are not willing to do so, out you go.

Conclusion

These measures are probably not complete and all-encompassing of all situations that exist out there, but I think they would be a step in the right direction towards where we need to go.   Some of these appear harsh, perhaps; and maybe that’s a legitimate concern, but at the same time, we have to consider this fact:   We welcome with open arms foreigners into our great country, but we insist that you are a visitor and must behave with the appropriate amount of respect.     I realize the economic issues of cheap labor and seasonal help and I think we can work the laws and regulations to conform with those needs and demands without sacrificing our national security and control of the situation.   In reform, we hope to go back to being a great country who makes it clear what is acceptable and what isn’t and is only ever enhanced by the stream of new people, cultures, and ideas entering on a daily basis.