Posted by
Playful Walrus on Tuesday, May 06, 2008 12:58:42 PM
Some people want us to stop focusing on the illegal alien problem, because they want to keep illegal aliens here. The Democrats want them to add them (legally) to their voting base, and employers want cheap labor without having to move operations out of the country. Then there are the illegal aliens themselves, who understandably want to get as much as they can for as little as possible, and have gotten away with staying here for so long.
But we do still care about the illegal alien problem. We do not want shamnesty because that only made things worse the last time. We want enforcement. We demand enforcement.
Do you want us to stop caring so much about this issue?
I would care a lot less about keeping out illegal aliens if:
1. We control the border to keep terrorists, WMD, and communicable diseases out of the country.
2. We stop collecting payroll taxes, and get government out of the relationship between the employer and the employee, except where actual crimes have been committed, such as contract fraud. Two people voluntarily negotiating compensation and working conditions should not be a crime.
3. We no longer use any income tax or any other tax money that can’t be equally collected from illegal aliens for health care, all forms of financial assistance, schools, government buildings, public works, etc. User fees, fines, sales taxes, property taxes, gas taxes, and utility taxes are acceptable.
4. We bill an illegal alien's country of citizenship for the cost of their prosecution/incarceration should they commit a crime, and for any civil judgments and fines the individual fails to pay.
5. We verify someone is a citizen before they can register to vote, and we verify their identity when they vote.
Get all that done, I will have little problem with illegal aliens going about their lives here,
We currently have a way of life designed for citizens, immigrants (legal), and visitors such as business professionals, tourists, and students. It does not work when we are flooded with unskilled, poor, uneducated illegal aliens who need government assistance to do anything outside of the workplace and use stolen identities.
But since my five points are unlikely to be put into place, we need serious border enforcement, workplace verification, and deportation of illegal aliens who commit additional serious crimes. If those are all done effectively, the illegal alien problem will correct itself. Either people will self-deport, or they will grow old and die out, and their children will be citizens by birth. We will not have a massive influx of additional illegal aliens if we hold the line on shamnesty, and there will be no need for it. Those “living in the shadows” right now (as they march in the streets, no less) came and stayed here illegally by their choice of their parents’ choice, and we have no obligation to accommodate them.
If employers truly can’t find enough citizens and immigrants to staff their operations, then we can grant more temporary work visas to bring in workers from across the border.