[freedomtowernight_edited.jpg] 26th Parallel: Immigration Solutions

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Immigration Solutions

Henry left a comment in my last immigration post detailing his 4-step plan to solve our immigration issues that deserves its own spot in a post. I must admit that, aside from a few points I've made in scattered posts here and there, I haven't actually sat down to drawn my own plan to solve the illegal immigration issue. Henry's plan is a very good one and mostly agrees with my views. His plan is below with my comments after each point.
My 4 point plan for solving the immigration problem.

1. We must build the security fence and stop the flow of illegal immigration to a trickle if not completely. Absolutely.

2. An amnesty for all illegal aliens that don't have criminal records. We have to get these people in from the shadows. This one made me pause. Jonathan noted in another comment that an amnesty makes him nervous because he doesn't trust Congress to know where to stop. I have to agree with Jonathan, although simply rounding up 12 million (or whatever the number is these days) illegals and shipping them out of the country is not a realistic solution. Henry's suggestion of amnesty for otherwise law-abiding illegals sounds like a more realistic proposal, one that I believe President Bush was seeking in his failed immigration bill earlier this year.

3. A radical increase in the number of visas offered to Latin Americans, so they can migrate here legally. We need the population as the non-Hispanic population in the US is aging and contracting. Latin Americans generally share the same values (Judeo-Christian) and contrary to what many believe, do want to learn English and live the American dream. Yes. Yes. Yes. And Yes. There are some ingrate immigrant jerks out there who don't appreciate this country despite the fact that they have a better life here that they could have dreamed back in their home country. Nevertheless, they are in the minority despite what some far-righties may suggest.

4. Free trade agreements with Latin American democracies. It's not our obligation to make improve Latin American economies but we have to recognize that a vital and viable latin America can only be good for the U.S. I also agree that free trade agreements are important and necessary. We can all agree that a prosperous and stable Latin America is good for everyone, but as always the devil is in the details. Just throwing money at the problem won't solve it, we must encourage sensible solutions such as free trade agreements and hope that Latin America jumps on board.

Labels:

3 Comments:

Blogger Robert said...

The devil is in the details....

Indeed it is. I don't see a problem with increasing visas for Latin American countries, for the reasons Henry stated. I agree that it shouldn't be weighted too heavily towards some countries and not others.

I don't know if it's possible to come up with immigration reform that will satisfy every requirement for every person, but something clearly has to be done.

3:38 PM, November 20, 2007  
Blogger Henry Louis Gomez said...

My proposal of increasing the number of visas to latin Americans is based on the following:

We need immigration. As I stated, the U.S. is headed for a demographic crisis. The median age of Hispanics in the US is 12 years younger than than for non-Hispanics.

Many of the types of jobs that are available are at the low end for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. European and Asian immigrants tend to better educated, which is good for them, but their qualifications may not necessarily match up with what the job market is in the U.S. Which brings me to the next reason: market forces. The reason most illegals in the U.S. are from latin America is precisely because they are attracted to the kind of jobs that are readily available.

There's also a simple truth to the fact that people that want to come here probably already have a relative here. Since there are already so many immigrants of Hispanic origin in the U.S. the people who are more likely to make the leap are from latin America.

All that said, I don't have a problem with increasing the number of visas available for foreigners to come to the U.S. across the board. I just think that Latin Americans are much more likely to take advantage of it.

6:53 PM, November 21, 2007  
Blogger atrevida said...

NEW IMMIGRATION PROPOSAL

Let us try to think out of the box. Let us integrate our social problems with our social solutions.

This proposal would deal with the need for corporations to have cheap labor to fill agricultural positions, the social security problem, and our rising prison population problem.

It will also address the three criminals involved in this immigration problem:

THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
(which has turned its face when corporations continue to break the rules in hiring illegals),
THE CORPORATIONS THEMSELVES who have knowingly hired these illegals, and
THE ILLEGALS THEMSELVES who have been given the green light to sneak in the U.S.

FIRST: I would suggest we choose 3 border states as a pilot program i.e.,
New York State (borders Canada),
New Mexico, Texas (bordering Mexico)

1)for six months there would be an aggressive and intensive program to identify the illegal immigrants and companies who are hiring them;

2)They would all be fingerprinted and their DNA taken;

3)Each illegal family would be sent back to their country of origin but not empty handed;

4)the U.S.Government and the companies involved would compensate these families with $5,000, put in an escrow account in American banks in their country of origin.

5)They would then be put on a list for future legal employment.

SECOND: These same jobs (cheap agricultural labor) should be offered to low-risk prison inmates in prisons close to these farms. They could get $5 an hour. The money would be put in a special account, after a percentage is taken out to go to their victims and some to their social security account. The rest would be placed in a high-interest account that they will receive when they finish their sentence.

NOTE: Our prisoners serve their terms by sitting in their cells and collaborating with other and more violent criminals.

Some of these prisoners wanted to get rich quick, were too impatient or too lazy to work hard to save their money. When they get out they have not been “rehabilitated” and have practically no money to start over. So they become repeat criminals.

This would teach them hard work, give monetary compensation to their victims and their families, and the savings to help them start over.

The Mexican government will not like this idea. And people who don’t want reform immigration won’t like this idea. But this can eventually include the service industry with our problem youths, or include youths who would get extra credit in college by spending time experiencing this kind of work.

Yes, this will be initially costly since the prisons will need funds to help implement this program. But I am sure that whatever objections there are to this plan, they could be addressed and ironed out --IF OUR LEADERS REALLY WANT TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM!

The American people want justice for all concerned, including legal American citizens.
A country that does not FIRST take care of its own citizens will eventually fall from within.

5:26 PM, February 01, 2008  

Post a Comment

<< Home