The death of the immigration bill last week brought a huge sigh of relief from conservatives and liberals alike. Opponents of the bill saw it for what is was, a form of amnesty offered to an estimated 12 million people in this country illegally. Those who supported the bill argued that by doing nothing we were offering a “silent amnesty”. Ironically both sides of the argument are correct. By allowing people here illegally to pay a small fine and be put on a path to citizenship, we are forgiving them of their crime, this equals amnesty. On the flip side if no bill is pushed through Congress to take into account the 12 million law breakers currently residing here, we are also forgiving them of their crime by not enforcing our laws.

One thing all Americans should agree on however is our immigration policy is flawed at best, and in major need of reform. But what is reform, and how do we go about it? According to dictionary.com, the term “reform” means; the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. President Bush’s immigration bill in and of itself was “wrong, corrupt, and unsatisfactory” therefore it could by no means be considered a reform of prior policies.

Recently the President spoke out again on the immigration bill, urging Congress to try again. While most Americans would agree Congress should try again, I doubt many would agree they should simply re-submit the same piece of failed legislation as the President is urging. Bush admits the legislation is imperfect, but feels it is the best option available. I respectfully disagree.

If President Bush is looking for ‘options’, he need look no further than the American people for his answers. Both conservative and liberal bloggers have offered alternatives to the recently failed immigration bill. The Great American Journal for example offers a solution to the amnesty section of the bill, stating amendments should be added that include:

• Amnesty is a One-Time offer for people already here, not to include any family or friends not here at the time of passage. It does not apply to anyone with a criminal history, specifically, those already making up about 20% of our U.S. prison population. Criminals must return to their homeland. MS13 or any other gang members need not apply.
• An application for amnesty must be filed with the INS within 90 days of the bill passing. Not coming forward and filing within the period allowed will be an automatic felony. No court time needed. You’re here and you didn’t file, so you’re guilty.
• NO immigrant who arrived or arrives here “illegally” and received or receives any form of “amnesty” can EVER attain voting rights or social economic assistance of any kind, including free medical care. They will have all other civil protections once approved for citizenship. But they will NEVER vote. If you want to have a say in the running of this country, the very least you could do is come here LEGALLY, demonstrating some form of respect for our laws.
• Tax-paying immigrants can send their children to public school so long as they assimilate into the American culture, including our language, and abide by all laws.

Passage of a bill with the above listed amendments would certainly allow Americans and legal immigrants to sleep better at night. One problem still remains however, after passage of such an immigration bill, it would be up to the U.S. government to enforce it. This does not inspire much confidence on behalf of the American people.

On the flip side, there are many of us who do not feel anyone who came into this country illegally should be offered any type of deal allowing them to stay. We feel that anyone who has broken the law should not be offered the opportunity to benefit from those actions. For those people, the solution is much simpler.

Like any other problem which needs to be solved, it is best to look at the root cause of the problem. In this case the question is, why did these 12 million people come to the United States? The answer is, jobs. They came here illegally in order to make money, so the solution is a simple one. Cut off their supply of money, and you not only force those already here to go home, you take away the motivation for new people to come here illegally as well.

Chris Kelly at Showmenews.com sums up the Solution to illegal immigration quite well:

“Prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants. The way to do that is to establish a civil cause of action that permits a private citizen to sue any employer who hires an illegal alien. Provide for a fine to be paid by the employer to the citizen who brings the lawsuit, and make the employer pay the legal cost of the successful plaintiff. People will be on the lookout for illegal hiring. Lawyers will be eager to bring suits. The government will not have to enact a single regulation or hire a single person. Taxpayers will pay nothing. As soon as the suits start being successful, employers will stop hiring illegal workers. As the jobs evaporate, the flow will stop.”

This would be real immigration reform!

Sphere: Related Content

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Immigration, Politics