Immigration Reform Ideas

The illegal immigration problem has become quite serious and needs to be fixed.  Immigration in itself is a great thing and really helps build the diversity that makes this country great, but the costs and potential threats likely outweigh the benefits until the system is corrected.  The potential of a WMD (weapon, virus, etc..) crossing our border is quite scary.  It only has to happen one time and we have enemies that would lke nothing more than to create destruction and loss of life here. Anyways, here are some ideas that I have to fix the problems and potentially increase the amount of legalized immigration.

1.  Guard the borders.  Stop people from illegally entering our country by land and sea.  Fencing, satellites surveillance and increased military presence along the border should help solve that problem.  Invest in new technologies to monitor the sea and borders.

2.  Keep track of people with Visas and enforce them.  Our law enforcement needs to review expired Visas and find those that are still here in the country.  There needs to be a computer system to track all that are here on Visas and an automatic alert put on them if they have not left the country via our border or airports.

3.  After we take care of the current problems, we need to deal with the people that are already here illegally.  You can't fault them too much for coming here and trying to make a better life for themselves.  Also, our government has done nothing but encourage it.  Both political parties probably have their reasons for not seriously dealing with the issue.  We always hear about the Democrats wanting more votes and the Republicans wanting cheap labor.  There might be some truth on both of those, but I would guess that the biggest issue in solving the problem is that the two sides can't agree on the solution.

The current cost of illegal immigration is helping to bankrupt some states (California) not to mention putting a large cost on our healthcare system driving up the costs for everyone.  You can look at the public school system alone and think about the cost of how many teachers the taxpayers have to pay for, not to mention free breakfast and lunch. 

Currently, most illegal immigrants are not paying income taxes and some do not pay medicare or social security.  Some are paid under the table in cash.  Some are using fake documents and claim lots of kids to reduce the amount that is taken from their checks.  In general, they are using the services provided by the government while not fully contributing.  It is true that some do pay their taxes and can obtain a tax id despite being here illegal.  Doesn't it seem backwards that our government would provide a tax ID to someone here illegally rather than deporting them. 

My solution is not to kick them out like some hardline conservatives and my solution is not to just legalize them like some hardline liberals.  I think the easiest and most fair solution would be to make them earn their legalized status.  That would come at a cost, but would give them the opportunity to stay and live the American Dream.  First, we should assess an approximation on how much back taxes are owed on each individual.  I am not sure on the easiest way to do this, but I would be there are some ways to look at how long they have been in the country (car insurance, apartment lease, etc...).  On top of the back taxes and penalties, there should also be a heavy fine placed on them that will be paid over the next 5 or 10 years that they are earning their green card status.  After they earn that green card status, then they can follow the normal process to earning their citizenship.

4.  After you have dealt with the borders, tracking those that are here temporarily, and the illegal immigrants that are here already then you can deal with improving our current system.  Currently, it takes way too long and is too costly to bring over family members to this country.  If someone is here legally, following the law and paying their taxes, then they should be able to bring their family here.  I think there should be some minimal requirements like proving a place to live and enough potential income to support them, but its so sad that there are mothers and fathers separated from their children and there are adults that can't bring their parents over here to finish their lives.  We could easily increase the amount of legalized immigration and have better control on who is entering our country if we control the illegal immigration.  Immigration is the backbone of our country.  Braindrain alone has brought so much talent to us and away from competing countries.  The opportunity here brings the brightest of the world to this land, and we need to continue to encourage it. 

Immigration is a beautiful thing, so lets improve the system and then encourage growth!  Let me know your thoughts.