progressoverpeace,
Sorry if I was confusing. Immigrants would be individuals who have come into the country to find work and become part of the community. We want them to go through legal channels, but neglect of the border for most of my lifetime has resulted in a large subset of the immigrant population who have entered the country illegally- illegal aliens. I’m trying to recognize the difference between those who are in the country legally vs. illegally, and distinguish both groups from those who enter the country specifically for the purpose of carrying out criminal or terrorist activity.
I don’t especially like the fact that we have had virtually open borders for at least a couple of decades, but I can’t change the past. From my reading (Heritage Foundation), immigration reform really is a package deal- improve border control, reduce incentives for illegal immigration, create system to manage legal immigration and guest worker programs, and deal with the people who are already here.
McCain’s proposal is too fuzzy on details of border control and how to manage the number of guest worker applications, but it also has good points, such as a tamper proof ID for guest workers/ immigrants and getting the Mexican government to take a more active role in restricting illegal immigration.
The problem is always what to do with those who are already here. I don’t expect the problem to simply go away- it hasn’t before, and that’s why we have to deal with it now. Tamper proof ID and tougher enforcement on employers will encourage some illegal aliens to leave on there own. Those who have been here for 20 years are unlikely to pick up and go. Would we rather maintain a large number of people living the shadow of the law, or find a way that enables them to gain legal status? There are reasonable ways to limit this- proof of employment for X years beginning prior to a given date is a common proposal. Of course it is possible that the government will ignore the laws that we pass today, leading to a greater problem in the future. That hardly seems like a good reason to avoid passing laws to deal with the problem now.
Other than plunging the nation into recession, which I concede would reduce economic incentives to stay in the US, how do you suggest dealing with the 12-20 million people who are already in the country illegally?
