A Solution To The Immigration Conundrum

As I promised in my last blog post, I hereby present my idea of how to solve this very difficult problem of illegal immigration in our country. Before going into my ideas about illegal immigration, two facts need to be appreciated. The first is that there is a limited amount of arable land in Mexico—inadequate to support Mexico’s population with food, especially as the Mexican population increases. The other fact is that Hispanic immigrants to the United States send about $15-20 billion back across the border in the form of remittances to help support their families in their homeland every year. To counter the influx of immigrants I would:

• First of all, the fence across the Mexican border should be built and manned so that it is, indeed, impermeable. Opponents of this idea say that it is pointless, because immigration has dwindled to a net zero in late months. I would posit that the decrease in net illegal immigration is due to the fact that there are practically no jobs available to undocumented aliens in the United States at this time. As soon as the economy improves, the influx of immigrants will resume.
• Next, I would develop a system whereby employers would be severely punished for hiring illegal immigrants. I will admit that this measure in itself might be enough to discourage illegal immigration even without the fence. The lack of jobs for undocumented immigrants has demonstrated its effectiveness in stopping significant amounts of illegal immigration for the time being.
• A system of legal guest worker movement into the United States should be established. This program would be similar to the Bracero Program of several decades ago. These workers should be given temporary immigration cards that clearly identify each one of them. The workers should be admitted according to the needs of the industries in the United States that need low income laborers, i.e., in agriculture, home service, and other service sectors.
• These guest workers should be allowed to send all the money they can spare back to their homes in Mexico. The amount they send back to Mexico should be subtracted from the $20 billion they are already sending home; and the difference should be given to the Mexican government to invest in education and agriculture. That money given back to the Mexican government must be closely monitored and administered by United States employees, at least until it is clear that the Mexicans can handle the money, themselves, without funneling it into their notorious criminal cartels. I do not believe this system would cost any more that the lack of a system we now have. We are paying far too much in social costs because of the chaotic present situation at the border today. My proposed system might even work without the fence; economic pressures might be effective in preventing illegal immigration. Presently, the people of the United States are up in arms about this problem of illegal immigration.

The federal government has completely failed to enforce the immigration laws on the books because it would like to encourage Hispanic voters to elect Democrats to public office. In response to this failure of the feds, the states have made life so difficult for Hispanic immigrants that they are having a very unpleasant time living here. This is another reason the flow of immigration has slowed for the time being. I would like for you to consider this issue and, perhaps, write to congressmen, senators, and the President with your ideas.

I would, again, to suggest that you look at a blog post by Henryk A. Kowalczyk I recommended in my last blog post. It has some worthwhile ideas for your consideration. http://bit.ly/I37WFe