Uncontrolled Immigration
Immigration was the fuel that built this nation, but we must remain a nation of laws. Therefore we must act immediately to strengthen border security and to improve workplace enforcement. As these first steps are taken, we can build a workable compromise that deals fairly with workers, businesses, citizens, homeland security, and those awaiting legal immigration in their home countries.
Strengthening Border Security
The borders of this country must be strengthened, for both humanitarian and economic reasons. Each year hundreds of immigrants die at uncontrolled border crossings.
We must also recognize that there are limits to what can be achieved with border security alone. After all, a large number of those here illegally simply overstayed legal visas – and no improvement of border security will correct that.
Workplace Enforcement
It is unfair to ask businesses that are playing by the rules to compete against companies that employ workers who are here illegally. Fence or no fence, illegal immigrants will continue to flood our borders as long as there are jobs being illegally offered to them.
Thus the single most effective step in controlling illegal immigration will be an electronically verifiable tamper-proof Worker Identification Card.
Employers will be able to quickly verify the legal immigration status of a job applicant by swiping a card on a device similar to those you see when dropping off a rental-car. The "e-verify" program to verify immigration status of potential new employees is a useful start in that direction, but improvements must be made to improve the quality of the database to prevent erroneous misclassification of workers and to ensure that system is solely used for employment-status purposes for those non-citizens who do not have a Social Security card. When a reliable and easy-to-use system is in place, employers will be all out of excuses if they are caught employing illegal aliens.
The Need for Comprehensive Reform
If perfect border security and absolute workplace enforcement were to be put in place today, large sections of the economy would be shut down, consumer costs would increase, and important businesses driven overseas. To prevent this, worker visa programs and realistic immigration quotas must be put in place.
Principles of Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Avoid breaking up families. Minimize economical impact on businesses. Special worker visa programs should be established for industries that cannot meet their needs with documented U.S. citizens, and for immigrants with special skill sets. The number of worker visas issued should reflect the actual unmet need for workers and not be used as a tool to drive wages down for U.S. citizens. "Impact Fees" paid by businesses hiring workers from visa programs should fully cover the additional burden of non-citizen immigrants on our schools, police, and health care systems. Do not reward those who jumped in line. Those who crossed the border illegally should be in line for citizenship behind those waiting in their home countries, and those undocumented immigrants who qualify and choose to stay in the U.S. as part of a worker-visa program should be subject to the non-citizen "Impact Fees" until such time as they may qualify for citizenship.
The Path Forward on Immigration
Congress must stop viewing immigration policy as something that can be left to rot for twenty years and then patched up with a one-time "fix". Instead, many aspects of immigration policy (such as immigration quota and worker visa rules) will have to be adjusted every few years to reflect the changing needs of our businesses and our citizenry.