My Views on US Immigration

[AuburnNTexas 7,246]

Over the years I have been directly involved with US immigration. I sponsored my wife for a green card over 30 years ago. She has been a US citizen for over 20 years and come August we will have been married for 30 years. In addition I sponsored and filled out all the immigration forms for her Brother, Sister and her family. They all had to go through government checks and wait almost 10 years to come to the US. All have become US citizens. In addition we have a family friend who came here as an illegal when very young he married a US citizen, is a certified Electrician has two kids and is a home owner. Some how he got a legitimate social security card when he was 16 and has never been a drain on the US economy. About 5 years ago he was apprehended by Immigration and was forced to leave US and return to Mexico. I filled out all the forms to allow him to become legal and I sponsored him so he could return to his family.

I am not a lawyer but because I am fairly literate and speak Spanish over the years I have helped multiple people fill out immigration forms and citizenship forms some who were legal some who were not. We are a country of immigrants and I believe in legal immigration. I help people who are here illegally to become legal as I believe in keeping families together. I am selective in who I help. As I said I believe in Legal immigration but while I understand why people come here illegally I don’t approve of it. Below are my views on Immigration in this country and what I think we should do about it. Please feel free to agree with me, disagree with me or come up with other ideas on how to resolve our immigration issues.

Whether you are on the left or the right you must realize that our current immigration Policies are not very effective. There have been multiple attempts to address our immigration failures. The largest was the Simpson-Mazzoli Act signed by Ronald Reagan. Almost 3 million illegal immigrants were allowed to pay a fine and then apply for a green card after a short waiting period. In 1994 Section 245 (i) allowed another 578,000 people to pay a fine and start legal proceedings to get a green card. In 1997 The Nicaragua and Central American Relief Act allowed about 1 million more people to become legal.

In addition the US has one of the most open immigration systems in the world allowing about 1 million people to enter the US legally every year.

Depending on which report you want to believe we currently have 10 million to 16 million illegal immigrants. About 1/2 from Mexico but large numbers from Central America, Asia, and in some parts of the country Ireland and other European countries. While many cross the US border from Mexico we also have large numbers who are brought in on ships and boats on the coast lines and via legal means student visa's, work visa's, visitors visa's and then never return home.

The problem is we have never had a comprehensive policy tied into a flexible quota system. Should we have better security at the border of course both for stopping illegal immigration, Drug trafficking and the smuggling of terrorists into this country. Better border security by itself won't solve the issue as people coming in via ship across thousands of miles of coastline would just increase to compensate for what we stop on the boarder and it does nothing to address people over staying their Visa's.

The number one reason people come to the US is for jobs as every time we have a depression and jobs even low paying jobs are scarce the number of immigrants coming to the US decline. The other reason is to escape countries with repressive governments and or high crime rates.

We must improve our control of our own borders more agents, drones, fences, etc. We must also setup a system for tracking people who overstay their Visa's. We must give businesses the tools to verify that the people they hire are legal. Once they have legitimate tools we need to enforce the laws on hiring of illegals starting with fines that go up on repeated offenses up to jail time for employers who continue hiring illegal aliens. No fine or penalty for an employer who uses the tool when hiring but tool fails. Increased number of agents for checking on legality of employees.

Flexible quota when economy is booming increasing number of legal people allowed to enter or reducing quotas when job market is depressed.

Cutting down the availability of jobs for illegal immigrants by attacking it at the work place is probably the best deterrent to illegal immigration. This could have both positive and negative impacts. We currently have 10+ million people here illegally many of them working what happens if overnight new laws prevent them from working? Many of these people have been here for years and have paid taxes on somebody else Social Security number, have kids who are US citizens and some are married to Legal Aliens or US citizens. Are we going to break up families? What happens to businesses that lose large number of employees overnight? Who will replace these people in our fast food industry, meat packing plants, construction industry etc.? What will happen to our wage scale when we don’t have people willing to take low wage jobs at minimum wage? I have heard many people say they will self deport, how when they don’t have jobs and money to pay to self deport? Will US pay to deport 10+ million people including legal people to punish the father or mother?

A comprehensive plan has to account for these people. My proposal is too create a new card a yellow card. All people here who are illegal will be given one year to apply for the yellow card. Yellow card would entitle them to get a legal Social Security card and work. To get this card they would pay a fine and processing fees. It would not have same rights as a green card they could not sponsor relatives to come here and they would then be required to apply for a green card within 18 months. The US government would then hold the green card application for 18 months more before starting the process and at that time they would have to meet a certain level of English proficiency. Those who were here and didn’t apply for the yellow card when given the opportunity will be deported if caught after the proscribed time.

I believe when the job market dries up you will see a tremendous drop off on the number of people coming in illegally. It has to be where we put the most resources in preventing the hiring of illegal immigrants.

We are a country of immigrants even the Native Americans came from someplace else a long time ago. At one time there we no immigration laws we were a vast country with few people immigration was needed to allow this country to grow and develop out unique American culture that has been impacted by people from all over the world. The music we listen to the food we eat even our language has been impacted positively by immigrants.

We just need to do it in a legal and controlled manner. That can’t happen without slowing down the numbers coming in illegally while also dealing with the people who are currently here.

[homersapien 11,812]

Thanks for presenting a reasoned argument. You made some very good (and obvious) points.

We too have a formerly illegal immigrant on my wife's side of the family from Slovakia. He is one of the most intelligent and hard working people I have ever met and is a contributor to our economy.

[AuburnNTexas 7,246]

Thanks for presenting a reasoned argument. You made some very good (and obvious) points.

We too have a formerly illegal immigrant on my wife's side of the family from Slovakia. He is one of the most intelligent and hard working people I have ever met and is a contributor to our economy.

Scary you an I agree on something LOL

Thank you

[homersapien 11,812]

Thanks for presenting a reasoned argument. You made some very good (and obvious) points.

We too have a formerly illegal immigrant on my wife's side of the family from Slovakia. He is one of the most intelligent and hard working people I have ever met and is a contributor to our economy.

Scary you an I agree on something LOL

Thank you

No it's not "scary". Possibly unusual but not scary - as in impossible.

For the most part, I react to posts, not the people making them. I have agreed with most of the posters on this forum at one time or the other.

[channonc 466]

AnT, thanks for your thoughtful views on this subject. While I don't agree with everything, I certainly agree with most of what you have written. Unfortunately, I think compassion is missing from this debate from our lawmakers. As you pointed out, these are fellow human beings with families, friends, and are just trying to have a normal life. But once you recognize the human issues here, you get labeled as "soft". I agree with you that we should have a focus on border patrol in this equation, however, I do not think building a wall, adding more physical fencing, and adding more border patrol agents are the answer. I would like to see more strategic, thoughtful policies put into place. Technology is something we should figure out how to utilize better without becoming invasive on privacy. I also agree with you about visa overstays. I think it is a bigger issue than many like to admit. I think visa overstays are also a product of the extremely difficult process for some to actually get a visa to come here. Frankly, I think if tourist visas were a little easier to get, it may actually help with the visa overstay issue. There has been a mandate for biometric exit now for some time. The problem is actually implementing it, we do not have the facilities on the air or sea side to realistically accommodate biometric exit machines and paperwork. The facility modifications required would be at an astronomical expense. On the land side, I think it becomes even more difficult to implement. But we do need to figure out how to somehow figure out a way to track visa overstays more effectively, and then enforce it.

[AuburnNTexas 7,246]

AnT, thanks for your thoughtful views on this subject. While I don't agree with everything, I certainly agree with most of what you have written. Unfortunately, I think compassion is missing from this debate from our lawmakers. As you pointed out, these are fellow human beings with families, friends, and are just trying to have a normal life. But once you recognize the human issues here, you get labeled as "soft". I agree with you that we should have a focus on border patrol in this equation, however, I do not think building a wall, adding more physical fencing, and adding more border patrol agents are the answer. I would like to see more strategic, thoughtful policies put into place. Technology is something we should figure out how to utilize better without becoming invasive on privacy. I also agree with you about visa overstays. I think it is a bigger issue than many like to admit. I think visa overstays are also a product of the extremely difficult process for some to actually get a visa to come here. Frankly, I think if tourist visas were a little easier to get, it may actually help with the visa overstay issue. There has been a mandate for biometric exit now for some time. The problem is actually implementing it, we do not have the facilities on the air or sea side to realistically accommodate biometric exit machines and paperwork. The facility modifications required would be at an astronomical expense. On the land side, I think it becomes even more difficult to implement. But we do need to figure out how to somehow figure out a way to track visa overstays more effectively, and then enforce it.

Thank you for your input. My ego is not so big that I expect anybody to agree with all that I said. I understand that the fence and border agents will not solve the problem. The smugglers would just use boats and move to our coastlines. The Border Agents serve multiple purposed to slow down drug traffic to catch illegal immigrants and one thing that is not mentioned to save people who are trying to come to this country. Our agents have literally saved thousands of people who have become lost or did not bring enough water. The Southwestern borders are not very hospitable to people walking in the desert.

You are 100% right about the human element in the immigration process meeting and knowing these people does affect you. Biometric screening will be expensive but may need to be done. The area that I think we need to put most effort at is the workplace as better screening to help companies know who is legal and who is not along with penalties for companies that knowingly hire illegals will have the biggest impact on helping with this issue. Companies that repeatedly knowingly hire illegals should have penalties that would eventually put employers in Jail and the company out of business. If we do something like this we also have to have safeguards in place to prevent companies from not hiring legal people who are from a from a different company. Nothing is simple.

[AUTUmike 79]

Good post, AnT. I think your proposal actually accounts for the reality of the situation, unlike the simplistic wall & deportation proposal.

[channonc 466]

AnT, thanks for your thoughtful views on this subject. While I don't agree with everything, I certainly agree with most of what you have written. Unfortunately, I think compassion is missing from this debate from our lawmakers. As you pointed out, these are fellow human beings with families, friends, and are just trying to have a normal life. But once you recognize the human issues here, you get labeled as "soft". I agree with you that we should have a focus on border patrol in this equation, however, I do not think building a wall, adding more physical fencing, and adding more border patrol agents are the answer. I would like to see more strategic, thoughtful policies put into place. Technology is something we should figure out how to utilize better without becoming invasive on privacy. I also agree with you about visa overstays. I think it is a bigger issue than many like to admit. I think visa overstays are also a product of the extremely difficult process for some to actually get a visa to come here. Frankly, I think if tourist visas were a little easier to get, it may actually help with the visa overstay issue. There has been a mandate for biometric exit now for some time. The problem is actually implementing it, we do not have the facilities on the air or sea side to realistically accommodate biometric exit machines and paperwork. The facility modifications required would be at an astronomical expense. On the land side, I think it becomes even more difficult to implement. But we do need to figure out how to somehow figure out a way to track visa overstays more effectively, and then enforce it.

Thank you for your input. My ego is not so big that I expect anybody to agree with all that I said. I understand that the fence and border agents will not solve the problem. The smugglers would just use boats and move to our coastlines. The Border Agents serve multiple purposed to slow down drug traffic to catch illegal immigrants and one thing that is not mentioned to save people who are trying to come to this country. Our agents have literally saved thousands of people who have become lost or did not bring enough water. The Southwestern borders are not very hospitable to people walking in the desert.

You are 100% right about the human element in the immigration process meeting and knowing these people does affect you. Biometric screening will be expensive but may need to be done. The area that I think we need to put most effort at is the workplace as better screening to help companies know who is legal and who is not along with penalties for companies that knowingly hire illegals will have the biggest impact on helping with this issue. Companies that repeatedly knowingly hire illegals should have penalties that would eventually put employers in Jail and the company out of business. If we do something like this we also have to have safeguards in place to prevent companies from not hiring legal people who are from a from a different company. Nothing is simple.

On the border and border agents, we agree. I just disagree with others (not you) who have suggested that this is the panacea... it is not.

Not sure biometric screening is the answer, but I think we need to explore this and other solutions that can help with the visa overstay situation. I also think we need to be prepared to spend money in this area... and if biometric exit is the system that's is chosen (and for now it is), we need to put some real money behind it. It does not need to become another unfunded mandate on our cities and states or on the private sector (airlines, cruise lines) to bear alone. Either way, we need to get a system that works and is efficient.

Completely agree with you about companies who hire illegals. Ultimately, we only have enforcement on the workers themselves. While businesses can be fined, the fines are usually minimal (comparatively) and no one at the company is held criminally liable. This needs to change. If enforcement were shifted to the companies themselves, I think you would see a lot more change in this area.