Open Topic Sunday ... Wading Into The Controversy

We aren't ones to back down from issues, especially controversial issues. Immigration has been at the forefront of the news, debate, arguments, and mudslinging over the last week or so, and it started off with half a million protesters last weekend clogging the streets of LA. The majority of the crowd, according to the MSM, was made up of illegal aliens (though no media outlet chose to call them that) and their sympathizers. We have two bills trying to make it through the Congress--each side hoping theirs gets passed first--and a nation that is plain fed up with the whole issue.

Needless to say, we brought this on ourselves. Maybe we forgot when the Reagan administration handed a blanket amnesty during the eighties, or we just figured that after that people would start obeying the laws we had on the books. Either way you look at it, the amnesty Reagan granted was accepted as expected; we were thanked with a swift kick in the teeth. Not by those who were granted amnesty, but by Mexico, and it's flat-out refusal to address the issue on their side of the border. Years go by, Fox is elected, and he is encouraging his people to head north to America.

So, we face a problem. There is speculation that close to 12 or 13 million illegal aliens are within the United States. And I've heard from both sides--and their extremities--on this issue. I hear people on both sides shouting out solutions; these aren't solutions, but rather more bureaucratic garbage. A looooong time ago, I wrote about this. As a matter of fact, it was on my original site, and when Marcie saw it, she challenged me from her site to revise it. Make it more streamlined.

Well, things can only be so streamlined on paper. But, in an effort to give our readers food for thought for the day, I'd like to revisit my idea. And of course, time has given me the opportunity to think this over a bit, and make the occasional tweak when necessary to improve the idea. Here you go:

I. Border Fence
I know a lot of people dislike this idea. They'd rather we not create some Berlin Wall-like structure on our border. However, in this time of war, where our enemy could be capable of almost anything, it only makes sense to do this. Israel has done it, and it's worked wonders for them. They are keeping the suicide bombers within Gaza, and out of the rest of Israel proper. If we build the fence, we control the crossing points. And while border patrol would be light in the areas where there is a crossing, it would be heavy elsewhere; this, in effect, kills the major hang-ups regarding this idea. If we reinforce the border patrol elsewhere--where there are not points of entry--they can stop those trying to come over the thing. On top of that, you put razor-wire across the top of it. I don't want this to look like the Berline Wall, but it is a necessity at this time, and I have no idea why people are howling about it.

II. We Need To Know Who Is Here
This is the focal point of my plan. We have a problem with illegal aliens, which is actually three-fold. We don;t who they are, they seem unable to, or refuse to, abide by societal norms, and they don't know our language. These are integral to becoming an America. First, we need to know who they are, so this is what I propose:

--ID Cards: ICE offices will allow, for sixty days only, all illegal aliens to come in and register for new, unable -to-be-counterfeited identification cards. They will provide any and all information to ICE that is required, including information allowing for a full background and criminal record check. ANY illegal alien here that pops a red flag is going back home. No if's, and's, or but's about it. At the end of sixty days, that program is shut down. That time period should all illegal aliens to register themselves, and this ID must be with them at all times. If they do not have it, and are caught by law enforcement, they will be deported. I'm not fooling around on this, and neither is the country.

--Stipulations: The ID cards will only be good for the state in which the illegal resides in. If you register in Arizona, you can only be in Arizona. If you need to leave to find work elsewhere, such as California, you will be required--upon going to California--to inform the regional ICE offices of your "transfer." Another stipulation of possessing the card will be that the illegals have to: A) Learn our language, and B) Adapt to our society. I'm not calling for the destruction of their heritage, but they will get nowhere in this world speaking their own language and expecting--in some cases demanding--that people speak to them in their native tongue. English is the world's business language. It will open more doors for people than a native language ever did. Adapting to our society is a necessity. The laws of Mexico or Canada don't apply down here. Nor do they have protections under the Constitution. Those protections are for citizens only, as the Fourteenth Amendment clearly states.

--Expiration: The cards will be good for one year. At which time they may be renwed. Again, a background/criminal check will be run. The cards may be renewed up to five times. At which time, they must return home. If they wish to come back, they may begin the proper procedure for legal immigration. If, at anytime, they break the law, and this is dependant upon the law broken, that card may be revoked by the US government, and they will be deported.

III. Employers
Employers found to be hiring illegal aliens that do not possess the card will be fined. And it will be a hefty one, at that. Employers can simply make a phone call to verify someone's work status. Many don't. For those that enjoy the ability to pick up a couple day laborers who will work hard for the money they'll be paid, those days are over. This is part of the problem when employers are willing to turn a blind eye to the status of their workers. They can stillpay these guys under the table for this job or that, but we want them employed legally.

This is just a rough draft, mind you. But I have spoken with other people about this idea, and many are open to it. It doesn't "criminalize" those who are here already, and it still provides them with a place to be at other than their own dirt-poor nation. I understand the idea that this nation was basically created from immigration, but for the most part it was legal. Now, we have a flood of illegal immigration that is intolerable. But, I'm not really for either side of this debate. BOTH parties are to blame for this.

The Republicans look at them as a part of a cheap, unskilled (or little-skilled) labor force. This is due, in part, to the business sense of making a profit, and increasing those profits. Whereas a citizen would have to be hired at a certain wage, the illegals do the job twice as hard for virtually half of the money.

The Democrats look at them as potential Democrat votes, and due mostly to their desire to keep them on the government dole, and below the poverty line. I know I'm going to irritate a lot of Democrats when I make the next comparison, but oh well: The Democrats will do this because they look at the illegal Mexicans, Central Americans, and South Americans just like they looked at black people during the Civil Rights days. Simply keep the money flowing from the government coffers and trap the future generations in a failing school system. It keeps them voting Democrat. And for those Democrats crying foul over this swipe, it is your side pushing for their "right to vote" in some areas of the United States.

Now, a couple things in closing. First, I don't understand why the politicos in DC don't understand the idea that if something is illegal, it's not permitted, and there are consequences for doing that. None of them seem willing to really address that aspect of this debate. What these illegal aliens have done is break our laws. And what's worse is that they don't care that they have. Not happening any longer, is my reply. Our immigration reforms must be tough; it's the only way the message is going to be heard.

Second, we need help in this. The fat-cats in DC need to send a clear message to Fox that this sort of garbage--the encouragement of his people coming here illegally--has to stop. The only way our neighbor to the south is going to get this through their thick skulls is to threaten the cut-off of any foreign aid. You can't keep the natives under control? You can't keep them from crossing the border? No check to you this year.

Lastly, the biggest outcry I'm expecting out of this is to come from those who work for ICE and the border patrol. Let me assure our readers that I'm not condemning either one in this mess. They do what they're told to do. If the border patrol catches a bunch of illegals in Phoenix, and ICE refuses to pick them up and have them deported, then that ICE regional director has some 'splaining to do. Illegal means just that, and I'm sick of watching the round-robin of finger pointing.

The time for finding blame is over. This nation is reaching crisis proportions when it comes to it's immigration policies. We need solutions, not to affix blame. And if those in DC--Republican and Democrat alike--don't find that solution, this November they just might find that they're out of a job. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

Publius II