No to Extremism...
Yes to Progress
IMMIGRATION
REFORM:
A Realistic Path
There is a difference between tough talk and actual policy implementation: closing the southern border, deporting people (particularly criminals), providing work visas to satisfy industry needs. How to do it with fairness and respect for human life. How to pay for it with the cost estimated at nearly $90 billion for each million people deported.
Then come really disturbing questions. Where do you put deported people? Do you create "camps" (as some call it)? Will "camps" have barbed wire fences, armed guards, or shabby facilities? Will people and children be incarcerated for months or years? Will kids have teachers or schools? Is government to arrest people who lived here peacefully for 10 or or more years, obeyed laws, have honest careers, own homes, raised children born here who only speak English or are in the army or in college? Deport immigrant offspring in their twenties who lived here all their lives and only speak English to non-English speaking countries? Where do we draw the line of creulty? Are you comfortable with all this or putting them in “camps?” Many of us have relatives who died in places called "camps." Nearly 12 million people were murdered in Nazi concentration camps. In the wrong hands and managed cruelly, this could go somewhere quite unAmerican.
Consider consequences of widespread deportation by the millions. Dishwashers in your favorite restaurants… the nanny babysitting your children… people who clean your bathrooms... do dangerous construction work… rip apart chickens you will eat for lunch… grind cows needed at your favorite hamburger joints... mow your lawn… pick the fruit and veggies you eat. If you deport people who do all that nasty but essential work, are you willing to pay 20 to 30% more for those services and products, which is what it will likely cost to replace such workers with Americans?
It's complicated.
Is it fair to slur all migrants as criminals or drug gang members or people who eat cats and dogs? You are likely the offspring of immigrants. Did your family eat cats and dogs? How would your parents or grandparents (or you) feel being accused of eating house pets? Have you actually seen anyone in your community hunt for pets?
Do we have enough staff at borders and in immigration courts to handle this? How many enter through the long northern border with Canada? Will government officials enforce labor laws that for decades that have largely gone unenforced? Enforcement of labor laws and ensuring employers hire people with work visas requires costly increases in government agents and law enforcement. Are we prepared to spend $1 trillion if that’s what it costs? Is it wise to borrow that much money? Immigration courts have millions-backlog due to inadequate funding and government inaction. Is it fair to punish immigrants for our politicians' ineptitude in kicking the can down the road for decades?
Is it in our national interest to bring in 10 or 20 million people requiring the destruction of millions of acres of farmland and forests to build 11-story housing projects? Is it good for our environment when we replace hundreds of square miles of rural land with parking lots, roads and concrete?
It’s complicated.
This passage is designed to get people thinking. A dam with holes is not a good damn. A damn that blocks good water is also bad. Immigrants satisfy essential labor needs - farming, poultry and meat, construction, food services, elder and child care. How do we satisfy essential work needs and provide adequate work visas?
Some migrants have legitimate asylum claims. Some make false claims… lie… are coached what to say in court… never appear in court… are drug gang members… terrorism threats. But all? Come on! Likely most are merely desperately poor people looking for a better life. Court hearings ascertain such facts, but protections vanish when migrants are released unvetted pending court hearings 5 to 10 years later. Dishonest people who violate laws should not be rewarded. Should honest, hard-working people be treated like criminals?
It’s complicated.
Will a blanket policy of deportation condemn thousands of people to certain death, prison or torture? Countries like Haiti and Venezuela were gutted by ruthless dictators or criminal gangs... placing people in desperate poverty and misery... subjecting thousands of women (and teenagers!) to rape. Corruption in Mexico is terrible - its criminal gangs sell drugs killing tens of thousands of Americans annually, ruining the lives of millions. American foreign policy (and severe lack of action) brought on the problem of millions crossing our border. This is also part of the equation.
Indeed it’s complicated.
A comprehensive plan, presented below, is sorely needed. It does not cover every detail but it is certainly more thorough than anything broadcasted by most politicians.
A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Real Asylum or Money Seeking. Some migrants have legitimate asylum claims. Some fabricate claims or are coached what to say. Entering solely to make more money is unacceptable. We have obligations to provide jobs to citizens - to prioritize Americans who need work. Addressing legitimate asylum seekers facing threat from ruthless governments and criminal gangs is necessary, but allowing millions to cross the border without immediate vetting is irresponsible.
Walls. Completion of near impassable barriers is sensible - any low cost option that does the job. But an across-the-border wall isn’t enough. You cannot put a wall on the river bordering Texas and Mexico. The wall is a symbol of a singular idea that will not solve a complex problem. We see pictures of holes cut through metal fences. Holes allow people to enter illegally. So will tunnels or airports where people arrive with a passport. Solutions require more than a wall.
Asylum Laws. Laws are of a past era and need updating. Many migrants make false asylum claims and millions worldwide will come given lax enforcement. Allowing countless millions to enter stresses our economy and environment. Population rising above 400 million does not bode well for a clean environment or quality of life. Key to the problem is corrupt countries overrun by cruel drug gangs. Until this is addressed millions will migrate. This is discussed below in "Foreign Policy,"
Ethics Matter. Many make false asylum claims. Let’s not be naive. Many lie or are coached what to say. This is not ethical. Being compassionate does not mean supporting dishonesty. If you went to Paris on a three month visa but worked illegally for two years, you’d expect French police to come and say your visa expired, you broke the law, go home. That includes those in America without a work visa. Migrants have ethical obligations to be honest and respect laws. Ethics matter.
ICE. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (UC) agents are unfairly vilified. People live here illegally for years without following immigration laws or paying taxes, yet ICE agents are vilified. This is unfair. People here illegally should not be glorified and ICE agents should not be demonized. Let federal agents do their job. Federal agents are not concentration camp guards. They are human beings like you and me doing a job they are paid for: enforcing laws.
Satisfy Labor Needs Legally. Businesses (or parents) have labor needs, from farms to poultry factories to nannies. Ensure everyone works legally with documentation or visa. It means massively increasing staff to monitor and punish employers who violate labor laws. Satisfy labor needs legally. Do not reward unethical people who violate laws. Document forgers must be prosecuted or deported. Laws need teeth. Employers violating labor laws must be quickly prosecuted and heavily fined. Enforce laws - this is not the 19th century wild west.
Environment & Water. Immigration is also an environmental issue. It is astonishing how little news services cover the environmental impact of immigration. Millions entering the country will require the destruction of perhaps millions of acres of farmland, nature or forests to house them - all replaced by parking lots, buildings, congested roads clogged by cars, and more greenhouse gases. How many millions of acres of forestland and farms must be torn up? There are water shortages in the southwest. Millions more people will place further demands for water. Immigration proponents give no thought to environmental impact. They should.
Stunted Jobs Growth. Note the below except from the Center for Immigration Studies:
“… too many U.S.-born are missing out on the supposed “job-creation boom.” It is true that the country has added millions of jobs since the height of Covid. However, most of that employment growth has gone to immigrants, both legal and illegal. The government’s household survey shows that there were only 971,000 more U.S.-born Americans employed in May 2024 compared to May 2019 prior to the pandemic, while the number of employed immigrants has increased by 3.2 million.”
Job growth is often illusory: only 25% of newly created jobs went to American citizens. American citizens deserve priority.
Treat Humanely. Migrants are human beings, not animals. When detained, provide quality housing, food, and speedy asylum hearings. Calling them all criminals, mentally ill, etc., is wrong - most are honest but poor people looking for a better life. It is unfair to deport people 10 years later because poorly funded immigration courts take so long to decide. Fairness works both ways. Incompetent politicians created a poorly funded system where people wait up to 10 years for a court hearing. Who deserves the blame?
Who Can Stay? Obviously, anyone who applies legally and is accepted. DACA (“Dreamers”) should stay. It is cruel policy for someone who lived here all his/her life, 20 years, has a college degree, or served in the army, to be forcibly returned to a country they have never seen or whose language they don't speak. It is in our economic interest to keep educated people here. Factory or farm workers should stay as long as they are sponsored by employees, have approved work visas, and follow our laws.
Mexican Role. Often overlooked is the role of Mexico. Why is Mexico’s southern border so easily crossed by hundreds of thousands of refugees? Why does Mexico allow millions to march 2000 miles north to the American border? Why are criminal smugglers able to extract ransom from refugees? How heavily is the notoriously corrupt Mexican government involved with smugglers and drug trafficking causing ruin or death to millions of Americans? Mexico must handle refugees instead of letting them cross into America. Government must address this.
Employers Obey Laws. The Dept. of Labor (DOL) must enforce laws. Many employers have legitimate labor needs. Fill needs correctly. Everyone must have a work visa. All employers violating laws must be heavily fined and prosecuted. We must not be a nation of lawlessness. DOL must hire thousands more staff. Little will change otherwise. News reports note it could take up to 100 years to address violators given current staff. Allow local law enforcement to assist. The problem is especially disgusting as 100,000s of teens illegally do horrible work. This is the 21st-century. Fund the DOL properly so that it can do its job. Ignoring laws is no solution.
Adequate Staff. DOL and Homeland Security (HS) need far more staff to conduct speedy trials and enforce labor and visa compliance. Letting people work without documentation mocks laws. We might as well rescind laws that go unenforced.
Work Visas. Many employers have legitimate labor needs. Fill those needs, but do it correctly. Everyone who works should have a work visa. Every employer violating these laws must be heavily fined and punished.
Overwhelmed Courts. Courts are grossly underfunded - a backlog of millions of cases. The solution is to hire thousands-more immigration judges and attorneys to quickly handle asylum cases at the border. We cannot expect people to leave 5-10 years after building a life here or raising children. Quickly conduct hearings at borders and airports.
Political Dysfunction. Failed bipartisan cooperation is troubling. All leaders should negotiate in good faith. The situation will remain bleak until leaders put cynical politics aside.
Airports. Illegal immigration is also at your local airport - entering legally and never leaving. People remaining in the U.S. after visas expire should be quickly apprehended. Enforce federal laws.
Chain Migration. Chain immigration (bringing cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents) needs addressing. Automatic citizenship just because a relative lives here is wrong. Everyone should go through the application or asylum process in their country of origin.
Child Labor. According to reports, nearly 400,000 children and teenagers crossed the border since 2020 without parents or family. Many minors are sent here to work and send money to families. Young teenagers do harsh work in dangerous professions. It violates labor laws and requires enforcement.
Criminals & Terrorism. Drug gangs and criminals can enter through loose borders. It is in our interest to ensure everyone is vetted at the border… unless you welcome drug cartels, criminals, or terrorist organizations in your neighborhood.
Drug Addiction. A comprehensive plan must address drug addiction. Besides millions ruining their lives, they provide billions in income to criminals in Mexico, South and Central America. Improving quality of life in those countries and encouraging their citizens to remain includes stopping American addicts from funding drug cartels. Rehabilitation and mental health counseling are part of the problem… and solution.
Homeless Deserve Priority. Even before millions of migrants arrived, we had a crisis of homeless people. They must be prioritized and resources must be directed to them. They face serious problems - psychological, drug addiction, broken families. The homeless were not receiving adequate help. There is a cynical irony in New York City, where the near-200,000 migrants receive costly residences in hotels, daily meals and healthcare, whereas the homeless are, well, still homeless. Is this right?
Smugglers & Lies. People come here with delusions that life is easy. Foreigners, through Internet and media, must understand how difficult it is here. What kind of life is here for them? New Yorkers witness huge increases in prostitution in Queens County or mothers and young children selling candies in subways. This is a better life? There are questions we need to ask, like why our government is passive in dealing with this.
Foreign Policy. U.S. foreign policy plays a key role. The border crisis is brought on by people leaving Venezuela and the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador - countries plagued by corrupt government, ineffective police, and drug gangs. It’s why people leave - fear of corrupt police, rape, torture. Foreign policy must punish poisonous narco-states. This includes Mexico, which has criminals earning millions by escorting people 2000 miles to our borders. Intervening in other governments is distasteful, but the problem is at our doorstep. Corruption and drug cartels bring misery. U.S. intervention is part of the solution.
