The Immigration Debate–The Answer Is Really Simple

Egberto Willies

13 years ago

The immigration debate relative to undocumented persons currently in the country is not a complex issue at all. Formulating the immigration issue as a wedge between people is what makes its resolution complex. Only by knowing the facts and mitigating these in a pragmatic but not necessarily ideologically pure manner will the immigration issue be solved.

Back in 2006 it was evident that the status quo in immigration would be challenged not functionally but simply rhetorically. I posted the following in my political blog http://PoliticalTruths.info.

Posted by PoliticalTruths at 6/13/2006 4:22 AM | Add Comment Link: http://bit.ly/my09Eu

Right Wing Republican bait & switch? Not this time.

The Right Wing Republican media machine is one of the best ever. The synchronicity of this machine from the blogosphere to the radio to the television warrants many graduate theses. Now that the truth of Dick Cheney deceit via President Bushes aloof entry into Iraq is being uncovered” the machine is gearing up for a major change in subject. They are throwing out the illegal immigration balloon and attempting to tie it to potential terrorism. Every crime committed by an illegal is accentuated. It is important that we do not allow this to happen less we fail our country yet again.

The insanity of the War in Iraq has cost us over 400 Billion dollars thus far. It is rather immoral that we can spend limitless for a war whose major beneficiaries are the Vice Presidentâ€™s crony corporate associates while;

Making every American more vulnerable to terrorist attack in every corner of the world.
Sacrificing major necessary infrastructure projects.
Under funding K12 and college assistance in a time when our major competitors are gaining on us in parabolically.
Not providing the resources necessary to protect the homeland.

We must be aggressive in showing this change in topic is a farce. The Right Wing knows that when illegal immigration is framed in terms of terrorism American job loss health care & welfare abuse and depressed American wages most marginally skilled Americans will generally accept their misinformation at face value.

To counter the misinformation we must be ready to answer each point and offer actual solutions. While we cannot condone illegal immigration officially our economy depends on it. The reality is that the illegal aliens as a whole contribute much more to our society that they take in the aggregate. Many pay social security taxes they will never benefit from. Their disposable income turns over many times to support many local economies. They perform services that most Americans would rather not do at a fair price.

The reality is if we had spent the 25 percent of the monies we spent in Iraq we could have done much more to protect our borders. Moreover we would have been able to spend more time on legitimizing the guest worker program we tacitly have.

The drumbeat continued and in 2010 after the Healthcare Debate was lost by the right as the President found a way to block it obstruction. At that point I blogged the following rather partisan but true analysis/statement.

Posted by PoliticalTruths at 1/5/2010 1:57 PM | Add Comment Like: http://bit.ly/jSoqgj

Make the immigration issue our issue

By December of 2005 it was evident that the Republican Right Wing was getting ready to create a new crisis that is afflicting our country. In that light I wrote the following blog Right Wing Republican bait & switch? Not this time. Given

that during the majority of the Bush administration the Republicans controlled the Executive & Legislature (both Senate & House)
that 9-11 occurred 5 years back with no substantive improvement in border security in said period (neither the Canadian or Mexican border)
that the largest border of all our coastline and ports remained porous

It is laughable that the Right Wing would have the mitigated gall to use this issue as a wedge in an attempt to corner liberals into the trap of being against the population. Their idea is to plant stories in all mass media about the strain illegal aliens are putting on society at large as well as the security implications. After this false impression has metastasized they then challenge Liberals as being soft on illegal immigration and security.
In watching the discourse in the mass media and in the blogosphere I fail to see an emphatic response specifically hammering every Right Winger that brings up the immigration issue with their specific failure being the party in power to submit or effect legislation to protect the border. This one issue packaged appropriately can show their incompetence and hypocrisy.
The reality is that the immigration issue is a complex issue that is not easily explained in sound bytes (the preferred language of communication perfected by the Right Wing). As such it is best not to be forced to address issues of citizenship but hammer on border security as well as homeland security. We do not need get wordy or nuanced on this issue. Make the immigration issue our issue.

Of interest is that while many are attempting to use immigration as a wedge issue, many towns wants solution. That a conservative Colorado Town wants a path to citizenship (http://bit.ly/l3LAFP) for undocumented workers illustrates why outside the rhetoric of immigrant hate and prejudice, pragmatism would likely be acceptable to most Americans. An article in Newsweek title
d “Why Americans Think (Wrongly) That Illegal Immigrants Hurt the Economy” (http://bit.ly/m7y8dJ) illustrates why the education process of the American populace is likely necessary before the wherewithal to create any good comprehensive immigration bill is political plausible.

We are all aware of the many punitive anti-immigration bills currently passed or being in the process of being passed in the states such as Arizona(SB 1070), Utah (HB 497), & Georgia (HB 87). These bills are all likely to be declared unconstitutional as only the Federal Government has authority to enforce immigration. What we need is to first understand the facts about immigration and pragmatically create an immigration schema that takes today’s reality into account.

First here are a few facts:

Undocumented workers otherwise stimulate the economy on the demand.
Undocumented workers are less likely to commit crimes (http://bit.ly/l3LAFP)
Many undocumented workers pay into social security but will never get any at retirement. In fact illegal immigrants bolster social security with billions. Back in 2005 they provided $5 Billion in Social Security and Medicare payments they will never collect (http://nyti.ms/kKqpwS).
The financial cost of undocumented workers on states is statistically marginal (http://1.usa.gov/l6gR0w) while their over benefit to quality of life on natives is high.
Undocumented workers do cause the wages of American workers to fall.
If American employers do not knowingly employ undocumented workers, most will stay home.

Plausible Solution:

Knowing the above facts make solving the Immigration issue rather simple if the political will is there.

Tighten the border. Tightening the border includes more than tightening the southern border. It means surveillance of both borders as well as the shoreline, a monumental task that will require the use of available technology.
Provide a blanket amnesty to all undocumented aliens as of date of legislation. Non-violent criminals should be given probationary status to maximize the number of undocumented residents coming out of the shadows. Violent criminals will never come out but should be deported when caught. Taxpayer dollars should not be used to incarcerate in the US.
Create a national worker ID card that an employer can use to identify a legal worker. This eliminates employer liability and ensures employer compliance with the new immigration law, to do any of this you are going to need the help of immigration lawyers.
Political asylum notwithstanding, deport anyone beyond their vacation visa or no visa post new immigration law.

A basic template for immigration reform is simple. Unfortunately it is also an issue that can be used to insight racial, cultural, an economic fear in natives that is ultimately detrimental to the society as a whole.

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