George Rebane
I’ve been nudged to present my views on immigration
reform in more detail than what I’ve already written about the illegal alien
problem and my experiences as an immigrant over sixty years ago. The preamble to this post was ‘Immigration
Reform – The Correct Solution’ where I acknowledged that America will not
accept the mass deportation of 11M+ illegals, no matter how they got here. Nevertheless,
all effective and sustainable solutions to immigration reform must begin with securing our border with
Mexico so that the inflow of illegals is reduced to a ‘trickle’.
The following points comprise my ‘correct solution’ as it
stands today, and dear reader you may (and I know that you will) consider it as
a draft that together we might perhaps shape into a more polished form. As usual, I’ll revert to a structured format
that makes subsequent reference to the points presented a bit more convenient.
First, I think it’s useful to look at the country’s
inhabitants with the help of the tree structure (taxonomy) shown in the
figure. The first division is between
legal and illegal inhabitants. The
illegals break down into people who came into the country legally, and for one
reason or another their legal status lapsed and they are now in the process of
leaving or attempting to regain their status as legal aliens. The other group of illegals are fugitives
from the law. The leftward dotted line
arrows indicate how fugitive status may result from having first entered
legally.
The current illegal alien problem centers almost entirely
on the 11M illegal entrants and their descendants shown as the red square. These people never immigrated. Immigration is a defined process that
involves a legal entrant alien wishing to become a citizen and an informed government
that welcomes him.
The other half of immigration reform is supposed to
address the problems related to the retention of US educated aliens with
certain skills critical in our workforce, and the lengthy process currently in
place for legal immigrants to become naturalized citizens. But make no mistake, the real problem is with
the millions of illegal entrants denoted by the red square. So off we go with the provisions of a ‘correct
solution’ to immigration reform.
- Secure
US borders so that the number of successful illegal entrants is reduced to a
trickle which I define as a little more than 1% of the high historical ingress
rate, or no more than about 5,000 per year.
This must be accomplished before any of the remaining provisions kick
in. And while the border is being
secured, the administrative and processing details of the remaining provisions can
be set up and tested. - A
period of amnesty from prosecution is set up during which all fugitive illegal
entrants (FIEs) can come forward and declare their intentions to either start a
path to citizenship or request help in repatriation. No felon FIEs or their dependents will be
accepted into the naturalization path. All FIEs get an ID card (preferably
biometric). - The
path to citizenship starts with the FIEs first becoming immigrants, and going
to the back of the line of existing immigrants waiting to naturalize. In the meantime all such immigrants get their
‘green cards’ to be able to work legally.
The FIE immigrants get the same treatment regarding government benefits
as do current immigrants. - Assimilation
of our immigrant populations has been the backbone of America’s growth,
cohesion, and strength. No one becomes a
citizen without demonstrating a working knowledge of English that is sufficient
to hold a job and understand the basics of America’s governments, and be able
to communicate in writing their understanding of the same. No more dial #2 for Spanish, Korean, Arabic,
… . A common language is the lynchpin of
cultural cohesion; all American citizens will again speak and read English. - A
guest worker program will be re-introduced to fill episodic labor needs. This program will be separate from the
immigration program and will require guest workers to spend TBD time outside
the US before their guest worker permits are renewed. These permits will vary as a function of job
performed and employers’ needs. - All
permanent residency provisions for aliens not on the path to citizenship will
be terminated. No foreign colonists or
colonies will be tolerated; either become one of us, or go home/away. Foreigners will receive no special
dispensation with regards to their cultural or other social needs that are at
variance with America’s norms and customs – Americans will respond to foreign
customs at their individual pleasures, and not through any government imposed
diktats. - All
FIEs will pay all their outstanding fines, taxes, levies, … that they owe as a
condition of achieving legal status.
This may require the use of an algorithm to determine amounts when
actual records are not available. Until
such payments are satisfied, the FIE will be granted non-renewable provisional
status for a temporary stay in the US. - All
FIEs currently receiving transfer payments will be granted a non-renewable
provisional status for a TBD temporary stay in the US during which they may wean
themselves from such government support. - All
law abiding FIEs returning to their home countries, under whatever provision of
the immigration law, will be able to reapply for immigration without prejudice - Relatives of FIEs will receive no special consideration in their immigration status. As they become naturalized citizens, their relatives will be treated equally with the foreign relatives of other US citizens.
- The
reformed immigration law will contain provisions to attract immigrants with
STEM and other desirable skill sets needed in our workforce. Such immigrants, especially those with
waiting jobs, will be fast tracked into ‘green card’ status. All accredited graduates with such critical
skills from US schools will be offered the option for immediate ‘green card’
status and an extended stay in the country during which they may decide on
their long term status. - All
legal entrants will be identified upon entry, and their stay and status
monitored to determine their eventual proper disposition – i.e. toward
naturalization, lapsed, or fugitive status (see figure).
rebanesruminations.com 
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