Since the last time I mentioned Immigration in this blog, the Obama administration filed suit against Arizona’s law, and Fremont Nebraska passed their anti-illegal renter/employer ordinance. Still the debate rages on over security our borders, and what to do about all the illegals already here in the country.
I feel I need to reiterate my position.
First, the fact our borders need to be secured is without question. Drug smugglers, terrorists, and others can easily waltz across the border without any opposition. Mexico just broke up a Hizbollah smuggling ring that was setting up in order to help terrorists cross the border. How many others have succeeded, and are shuffling people right now? Border protection is the backbone of national security, and by ignoring it or by being lax for political expediency will only lead to tragedy.
Second, before we address all those illegals inside our borders, we need to reform the system immigrants go through in order to become legal. Again, I repeat myself when I point out I worked for INS for six months under the Clinton administration, and all indications are that the problem has just gotten progressively worse from when I was there. When I was there, most of the agents met their quotas and then were gone. Yet, part time and hourly workers were being worked half to death trying to process just the incoming applications. During my time there, the number of H1B visas, those high tech visas allowing in computer geeks from around the world, were unknown. The computer program that was supposed to be keeping track lost all the data from three of the four processing centers. The only one that was recorded correctly was Lincoln’s, and that is because I fixed the bug on the client end.
Also, the paperwork someone has to go through to get a work visa is ridiculous. The ability to file to work here should not take a lawyer, but it does. People are assigned dates to talk with the agent assigned to them, weeks after they would be considered illegal. We are talking over a year between the first application and the date to talk to an agent. All of these things are wrong and have to be fixed.
Once the borders are protected, and a far better system is in place, those that are illegal now in this country need to go through the application process. I know many on the right want all the illegals to go back to their home country and go through the system from the ‘back of the line’, but even I know the logistics of this are not possible. All those that have a present job should not have to abandon it, but I also feel their employers need to pay up all the back taxes not paid, all the missing wages due to not reporting to the government, then also pay the IRS fines for not paying those amounts.
While the businesses pay up what they have been bilking, the immigrants with jobs who are illegal would keep working, but those illegals without meaningful employment by themselves or their spouses would be sent home. These are the ones draining our system, the ones causing illegal immigration to cost more than what those illegals that are working offset.
Unfortunately, none of this is going to happen. See, borders are evil by the tenets of those currently in charge of the government. They want a system with no borders, as they oppose nationalism and patriotism. This is why most want to destroy religion, destroy the rich, or destroy other ideals we consider American. They want everyone equal, and I truly mean everyone in the entire world. Anyone with any common sense would realize that would lead right into a stagnation worse than what occurred during the Dark Ages. Tangible rewards are what motivates at least half of the populace. Those tangible rewards are why immigrants come to the United States in the first place, legal or illegal.
