Why is immigration a political issue? It seems logical that we would want the kind of people who want to come to be able to come. After all, this country needs immigrant and migrant workers to do the jobs Americans can not or will not do. The best soft power we have is the people that want to come the United States and become Americans, we should embrace that.
Since I have been sitting around this summer doing little besides reading, thinking and applying for jobs I have come up with an immigration policy that I think could be workable. Obviously I’m not in a position of political power now, but that does not mean I can not think of good ideas, or ideas that I think are good.
If what we want is people to come and be able to work, and work their way to being American citizens then lets start by basing our policy on that goal. To this end the US could establish virtually open borders, anyone who wants to come can, but on the condition that on arrival they register themselves with the INS and on settling somewhere they inform the INS and their local PD. This program I’m proposing isn’t for visitors, but those who intend to come to the US and make it their home, potential immigrants. Once arrived and registered, an immigrant has a six month grace period during which they must find housing and employment, or if under age 18, enter school and demonstrate passing grades. Given that some level of unemployment is cyclical, in the first 6 months they have to show at least 4 months of employment and a dedicated effort for any time not working.
Once you’ve made it through a 6 month check up, and assuming you’ve passed work and housing requirements, immigrants are given a 1 year extension. If in that year you are working 9 months of the time, then you get another year. If after 2 and half years you’ve managed to be employed for at least 3/4ths of the time, with no criminal infractions and your kids in school, you get another 2.5 years extension on your residency. After 5 years of steady work, you get a follow up evaluation. Should you still be a contributing member of society, you get permanent legal resident status. Another few years of that, and you get a chance to take the citizenship exam.
For individuals who are under 18, or in post-secondary school, good school records could be substituted for work records.
I think its workable, it lets the people who are willing to be part of the American dream stay and sets ground for long-term economic expansion. Additionally, by checking up on people periodically we can watch out for those who slip through the cracks and prevent them from messing up the system for everyone else.
1 comment:
Jacob, Jacob, Jacob.
First off, the whole "jobs Americans can't or won't do" line is BS rhetoric. It doesn't actually mean anything. The reason they don't do them is because jobs like picking strawberries and avocados don't pay enough. Why don't they pay enough? Because the companies hire illegal immigrants to do, so they pay FAR less than minimum wage (which is still more than they make in Mexico). "Jobs Americans won't do" is just euphemism for modern indentured servitude or slave labor.
Second, your proposal doesn't address border security. This is important a) because of obvious national security concerns and b) because your proposal still doesn't give a illegals a reason not to screw the system and come here illegally. Many of them don't necessarily want to be here permanently, they want to get in quick and easy and send money home as long as they can. Your plan must, at a minimum, include border enforcement.
Finally, and in the same vein as the second point, I don't see how this is enforceable. At least, not any more enforceable than the status quo. It's all well and fine in theory, as we Chicagoans like, but in practice I think it would fall apart.
Oh, one last thing. Regarding your first two sentences: "It's the culture, stupid."
Glad to see you're still blogging :)
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