Posted by
WardMD on Saturday, June 09, 2007 10:59:53 AM
Wait a minute...
If the "Comprehensive Immigration Reform (aka AMNESTY) bill intends to make MILLIONS (perhaps TENS of MILLIONS) of Illegal Aliens suddenly LEGAL (with the legal right to work), then WHY, exactly, do we need "Guest Workers"?
Is it REALLY President Bush's (and John McCain's, Teddy Kennedy's, etal) belief that ALL of the illegal aliens in the country now ARE working, and that we STILL need more? Or do they simply believe that once the illegal aliens become "legal", then they, too, will not do the work that other "Americans" won't do - therefore "Guest Workers" are still going to be needed (no matter how many illegal aliens are made "legal")?
I'm sorry, but I just don't trust the numbers (and I certainly don't trust the Government to be honest with the American People with respect to the REAL number of illegal aliens in the country and the government's desire/ability to REALLY enforce the border).
Either the MILLIONS of illegals ARE currently working (in which case, what's this crap about getting them "out of the shadows"), or they're NOT working (in which case, when they become legal [and start working], why do we need "Guest Workers"?).
Then, again, its possible (probable) that we really don't know how many illegal aliens are in the country, and would become legal if this amnesty bill were to pass, so it makes NO SENSE to not only grant legal status to these unknown millions of illegal aliens, but to ALSO (simultaneously) create a "Guest Worker" program to let in who knows how many millions more...
And with respect to these so-called "Guest Workers", what evidence do we have that these "Guest Workers" would EVER leave, once they got here? History has shown that the vast majority of people (especially from Mexico) lever leave (once they arrive) - and we continue to grant amnesty after amnesty after amnesty (and they know it).
I'm not saying that we should round up all the millions of illegal aliens in the country and deport them, but I am saying it would be irresponsible to shove this legislation through without clearly understanding and debating the consequences of the legislation.
At a MINIMUM, the various aspects of this "comprehensive" reform bill should be PHASED IN (in order):
1) Border enforcement (including the fence)
2) Establishment of a REAL and EFFECTIVE Employment Verification system (like a credit card authorization system) - employers should be exempt from prosecution/fines for anyone authorized by this system.
3) Allow employers currently employing illegal aliens to pay (as their fine) for their workers' legal status in exchange for "amnesty" from their crime of employing an illegal alien
4) Start enforcing the employer sanctions (for hiring illegal aliens)
5) Allow illegal aliens in the country to apply for legal status
6) IF there are still jobs being unfilled, then start the "Guest Worker" program.
Lacking in the discussion/debate over the current "comprehensive" reform bill, of course, is HOW the government intends to ENFORCE any aspect of the bill:
How do they intend to stop the flow of illegal aliens (especially since they are opposed to the fence)?
What do they intend to do with illegal aliens who do not apply for legal status?
What do they intend to do with those who are "rejected"?
WHY do we need "comprehensive" reform?
Look at the 6 items (above) which I propose - EACH of these items could be separate bills (as long as they are proposed/passed IN ORDER, with requirements that the preceding bills MUST be implemented before the bill in question could be implemented). Of course, I'd prefer that no bill be PASSED (debated, yes, but not passed) until the preceding bill(s) was(were) in force (and enforced).