Immigration Reform

I have only minor quibbles with the article quoted in Chuck Muth's blog. This one come the closest to reality that I have seen published.

The article outline a framework for immigration reform that woudl work so much better than anything Congress has put on the table.

We Return

No posts for two and a half months. but ther is simply too much going on in the world to shut up now.

I am frustrated by immigration reform. I don't think either side gets it really. Immigration reform needs to be based upon principles. but no one articulates the principles very well. The immigration problem is not about cheap labor or letting people get away with something. It is about real human problems and about our national security. Here is my humble attempt to articulate the principles upon which immigration reform should be based.

1. National Security. We need to keep terrorists out. At least we need to make it difficult for foreign terrorists to enter the country. Our borders need to be secure. Bear in mind that we are not seeing any Catholic terrorists in recent years.

2. Compassion. We need compassion for those within our borders, however they arrived, who are here to work hard, assimilate and achieve the American dream. Many who arrived here "illegally" did so at great risk and with great hardship, because they wanted a better life. We need to have compassion, not condemnation, even if they jumped to the head of the line. Many conservatives falsely assume that entering the country illegally is a crime. I found no such crime in the United States Code.

3. We need to cease giving away our social services from our tax dollars, to those who arrive illegally. We need to be a magnet for the right reasons: Be productive and succeed. Not the wrong reasons: Free health care and welfare.

4. If people arrived illegally and commit crimes, they should be deported. that is a risk of coming in illegally.

5. We need to provide a reasonable path to citizenship for those who are here and are productive and who assimilate into our culture. Making arrangements on any unpaid back taxes on the same basis as any citizen should be a prerequisite.

6. It should be easier to get in the country legally than it is illegally. At least we can keep track of those in the country legally. Issue them credit cards, maybe. Make them really easy to track.

I am sure there are others. I will post as I think of them.