Nicely summarized.Let’s look at this problem from several angles.Right now, a significant percentage of low-wage, stoop-labor jobs are done by illegal aliens. It has been argued that Americans won’t do these jobs, so they must. But why won’t Americans do them? Perhaps because they can get better treatment and pay in a minimum-wage job, and furthermore, many employers are taking advantage of illegals, law or no law, precisely BECAUSE they are cheap.For this reason, a number of Republicans are in favor of things like “work permits,” which are effectively a way to take advantage of this inequity for business purposes while treating people as poorly as possible (as well as circumventing various labor laws, which “obviously” wouldn’t apply to non-citizens).Other Republicans are clearly against any kind of illegal aliens coming in this country. This is at least consistent with current law, but the law has definite holes in it.One such hole is allowing in refugees, especially political refugees. The children coming across the border are, for the most part, fleeing social violence — and most have come THROUGH Mexico to get here. Does that not count as a refugee? Unfortunately, we have had a tendency to treat only those fleeing left-wing governments as refugees. Those fleeing right-wing dictators (especially those we supported as a “bulwark against Communism”) were not treated as political refugees.There is another hole, which is those children who were born here. By definition, they are citizens. So we can either boot their parents, or kick out a LEGAL citizen because of the crime of their parents. There is widespread agreement that we need to do something. If we want to keep out illegal immigrants, there are several things we can do that will work better (and cost less) than some kind of ridiculous wall.1. Enforce labor laws. Stop winking at those companies using illegals, and make sure they are paying legally required wages, and Americans will take the jobs.2. Triage immigrants. Research has shown over and over again that someone with the energy and ambition to immigrate is often the hardest worker and one who will contribute to society. If someone fights their way across a barren land despite criminals, hunger, and other dangers to get to our border, that doesn’t sound like a “freeloader” to me — that sounds like someone we should be proud to take on.3. Streamline and/or create alternate paths. If you don’t think someone will work out, put them on probationary citizenship status. Other countries do. Kick them out if they don’t live up to citizenship requirements. That gives us the best of both worlds: letting people in, and screening those we want.4. Establish clear principles for “refugee” status. Children who scramble away from violence which has killed their parents should not EVEN BE IN QUESTION. Sheesh.I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but these are not difficult ideas. And as some evidence that we do need change, research shows that immigrants who can get a lawyer succeed in getting in much more often than those who don’t. In other words, significantly more people might pass the standards, if they were simple enough and clear enough.
Nicely summarized.Let’s look at this problem from several angles.Right now, a significant percentage of low-wage, stoop-labor jobs are done by illegal aliens. It has been argued that Americans won’t do these jobs, so they must. But why won’t Americans do them? Perhaps because they can get better treatment and pay in a minimum-wage job, and furthermore, many employers are taking advantage of illegals, law or no law, precisely BECAUSE they are cheap.For this reason, a number of Republicans are in favor of things like “work permits,” which are effectively a way to take advantage of this inequity for business purposes while treating people as poorly as possible (as well as circumventing various labor laws, which “obviously” wouldn’t apply to non-citizens).Other Republicans are clearly against any kind of illegal aliens coming in this country. This is at least consistent with current law, but the law has definite holes in it.One such hole is allowing in refugees, especially political refugees. The children coming across the border are, for the most part, fleeing social violence — and most have come THROUGH Mexico to get here. Does that not count as a refugee? Unfortunately, we have had a tendency to treat only those fleeing left-wing governments as refugees. Those fleeing right-wing dictators (especially those we supported as a “bulwark against Communism”) were not treated as political refugees.There is another hole, which is those children who were born here. By definition, they are citizens. So we can either boot their parents, or kick out a LEGAL citizen because of the crime of their parents. There is widespread agreement that we need to do something. If we want to keep out illegal immigrants, there are several things we can do that will work better (and cost less) than some kind of ridiculous wall.1. Enforce labor laws. Stop winking at those companies using illegals, and make sure they are paying legally required wages, and Americans will take the jobs.2. Triage immigrants. Research has shown over and over again that someone with the energy and ambition to immigrate is often the hardest worker and one who will contribute to society. If someone fights their way across a barren land despite criminals, hunger, and other dangers to get to our border, that doesn’t sound like a “freeloader” to me — that sounds like someone we should be proud to take on.3. Streamline and/or create alternate paths. If you don’t think someone will work out, put them on probationary citizenship status. Other countries do. Kick them out if they don’t live up to citizenship requirements. That gives us the best of both worlds: letting people in, and screening those we want.4. Establish clear principles for “refugee” status. Children who scramble away from violence which has killed their parents should not EVEN BE IN QUESTION. Sheesh.I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but these are not difficult ideas. And as some evidence that we do need change, research shows that immigrants who can get a lawyer succeed in getting in much more often than those who don’t. In other words, significantly more people might pass the standards, if they were simple enough and clear enough.