Few of the many suggestions swirling around the current immigration debate use much common sense.
The idea to build a wall along our 2,000 mile southern border is stuck in some
peoples’ minds but they don’t say who would actually build it or how long it would
take or how much it would cost. They just say “build a wall” and think that will solve
everything. Who would do the work? Our unemployment rate is below 5%, and this is
with millions of illegal workers. Where would we find more workers to do this hard
manual labor? Where would the estimated $2.2 billion it would cost come from?
What about the environmental damage it would do to the deserts it would cut
through?
The people who say we should deport 12 million people don’t say how to do that
either. They just say “round them up and send them home”. They think arresting 12
or 15 at a time on street corners and construction sites will quickly get rid of 12
million people. They don’t consider the personnel who would have to be hired to do
this. They don’t consider the cost to find out if they are here legally, where they
came from or where they should be sent. They don’t consider where we would keep
these people until their status was decided or the cost to send them “home”.
Those who say we should stop all immigration for awhile don’t say how we would
manage here without more people to replace our low birthrate and aging workers.
They seem to think we can keep the economy going without new people, but we
don’t have enough young workers to do that. And most of the young workers we do
have want easier jobs and aren’t interested in picking vegetables or cutting lawns or
cleaning hotel rooms.
Even the people who say that illegal immigrants who have been here two to five
years should return to their homeland and come back in legally, are not considering
how many (or how few) would leave. If people have to prove they have been here for
more than two years by providing rent receipts, utility bills and paystubs, a whole
new industry will start up. The counterfeiters who are now printing driver licenses
and social security cards will start printing rent receipts, utility bills and paystubs. I
imagine most of these “entrepreneurs” will be American citizens. This bill says those
here less than two years just have to leave and not come back. Many of those people
will simply go farther underground and be exploited and mistreated more than they
are now.
And while we are all discussing this problem of illegal immigrants and raiding a few
factories and arresting a few workers, many more will be walking across the deserts.
They will simply be replacing the people we put on the buses heading south.
Common sense says we should change the immigration laws and put more money
into border protection to secure the border with Mexico. There were no immigration
laws here until the 1890s when waves of Irish immigrants forced the government to
write them. These laws have been constantly rewritten since then. It is time to do it
again, this time making more sensible laws that people can live with. This, along
with more border protection will slow the illegal immigration to a manageable
number.
If we change immigration regulations so that people can legally come into this
country with wait times of only a year instead of 10 or more, most people will do it
legally. If the fees are only a few thousand dollars, most will pay that instead of
paying smugglers and be cheated or die.
People who try to immigrate legally now, often have to wait many years and pay
many thousands of dollars in fees. Even children whose parents are already here or
spouses of U.S. citizens have to wait years to come in legally. Once people apply for
legal immigration, they are not allowed to come into the U.S. as a visitor until the
immigration papers are finalized. This means some of these family members don’t
see each other for years.
If money were put into clearing up this backlog of people waiting to get in legally,
we could then deal with the people here illegally. If undocumented people were
convinced that they should apply for legal status and will not automatically be
deported just because they register, they would do it.
The overwhelming majority of them are law abiding and would prefer to be legal
residents and workers, they are just here to provide good lives for their families. If
people understand that they can get decent jobs with safe working conditions when
they have the proper documentation and that the documents can be attained while
they are here, they would do it. They would gladly pay back taxes and fines in order
to get legal status.
As much as many citizens are against amnesty, and we all wish it had never gotten
to this point, I don’t see how the immigrants who are here illegally can be sent
away. They should be allowed to stay and register and go through the criminal
checks and approval process. The ones who qualify should be put on the path to
become permanent residents and citizens.
Over the past 20 years we have let them in, used them, enjoyed the fruits of their
labors and now we have to use some common sense and be responsible. We should
change the immigration laws and secure the border so everyone who wants to come
in will apply for legal status, and then we should legalize all the millions of people
from all countries who are here without documents.
If we make these changes and keep enforcing the “new” rules, we won’t find
ourselves in a similar or worse mess 10 or 20 years from now.
Donna Poisl is President of Live & Thrive Press and the author of "How to Live &
Thrive in the U.S. / Como Vivir y Prosperar en Estados Unidos". She wrote this
reference guide to help immigrants learn our system and succeed in this country.
Contact Donna at http://www.howtoliveandthrive.com or Immigrants in USA Blog at
http://immigrantsinusa.blogspot.com
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