How I would Reform Immigration - The Summary Version

In case any of you haven't noticed, I am not an expert on all aspects of immigration law, however, here are the steps that I would take to resolve our current problems....

As I see it, there are multiple facets to this issue that must each be addressed in the appropriate order to ensure the sanctity of our borders while also minimizing the theoretical impact of kicking illegals out of the country. Of course, these points are the same as you hear on all the talk-shows, etc... but, I think that my suggestions may actually be effective:

1. Border Management
2. Labor Management
3. Legal Management
4. Rights Management

The first point, border management comes down to a simple issue... How much money are we willing to spend to keep people from illegally crossing our borders. This issue includes both or Northern and Southern land borders, as well as our Eastern and Western Ocean borders. This also needs to include the Gulf of Mexico and issuance of short-term Visas (i.e. Student, Tourist, Business, etc...).

When talking border management, the goal is not only to stop immigrants from illegally crossing, but also to stop the entry of terrorists, illicit drugs and possibly black-market goods.

The second point, labor management needs to address various requirements, both from the US Employers side and the decent treatment of immigrant workers.

The third point, legal management, needs to address several different areas such as the status of illegal immigrants in our country, employers who use (and sometimes abuse) these illegal immigrants, and the possible future options of those same immigrants (i.e. how to stay in the country, when the immigrant must leave, etc...)

The last point covers the rights that immigrants coming to this country should have when coming to this country LEGALLY.

My Plan - The Summarized Version:

1. Utilize a combination of technology and military force (national guard) to make the effort to enter our country illegally becomes more than the benefit of entering our country illegally.
2. Modify existing penalties for employers to include a mandatory fine of $50,000+ PER INCIDENT (i.e. 100 people working for a company would be 100 incidents). The goal being to make companies consider twice before they decide to use illegal labor.
3. Create a employment management division of immigrations, which would basically be a government managed, third-party contracted business of pre-screening applications, and matching up employees with companies who want unskilled labor. This division would be very similar to a current temp employment agency, with the exception that they would also be required to obtain full identification, background checks and health checks prior to matching an employee to an employer.
3a. Employer must provide a reasonable level of health insurance (level to be determined by experts) for all employees utilized.
3b. Employee will not be eligible for citizenship, or in change of Visa Status. Employee will not pay into social security, nor be eligible for social security. Income taxes will be paid as a "single - no dependents" employee via TIN or SSN at the Federal, State and Local taxes.
3c. Visa should be issued for six months, can be renewed ad infinitum as long as the Employer does not change. Employer may ask for employees by name from the screening agency.
3d. Employees with previous experience with an employer have first right for new seasons in areas that have seasonal employment.
3e. Employees cannot sponsor other people's visas, nor can their status be used to provide a guarantor on a visa.
4. Legal immigration MUST be streamlined. A person requesting the immigration of their own children/step-children or a spouse will have a temporary visa issue allowing that family member to enter the country to await the permanent resident visa. Whether the visa is a family visa, working visa, tourist or student visa, it should be much quicker to obtain.
5. Family status will have NO impact on deportation proceedings. A person illegally (or legally) in this country that has a child, which would make the child a US Citizen under current common interpretation of law, is still eligible for deportation. Said child CAN be taken with the illegal alien back to the country of their citizenship.

This is a summary of my views, and for the full version of how I would address the illegal immigrant problem in the US, you will have to wait just a couple more days....

I suicide for illegals?

According to the LA Times in THIS STORY, a 14-yr old boy who skipped school to attend a pro-immigrant rally ended up committing suicide at his home after being suspended for truancy.

According to other reports that I have read in off-line reading (meaning, our morning paper), this child was reported truant because rather than attending the pro-criminal immigration rally, he went to a soda shop, than ended up back in school in time for lunch, after which he left for the day...

So was he truant? did he go to protest? or was he simply taking advantage of the walkout to skip classes?

Personally, I find it a tragedy that this child felt he had to take his own life.

However, rather than blame it on the "school Vice Principal" (even if he did say what he was reported to have said), let's put the blame squarely where it lies. On his own mother and father.

People do NOT commit suicide on a spur-of-the-moment whim.

This may sound cruel, however, this boy obviously had MANY more major issues than the fact that the US legislature was wanting to pass a law that would not directly affect him or his family.

And now, let the illegals and their coordinators try to use this as a "martyr" for their criminality.

Or better yet, simply try to close down American businesses in Mexico by having a short term boycott on them, when you also "walk-out" in the US. Hey, I have an idea, don't go to work at the American stores in Mexico either... and miss that day's pay.... Better yet, take a MONTH off, and see how much we are going to be hurting!

Oh? you can't? because you can't afford to miss that much work? I thought you were willing to sacrifice? Isn't that what this is all about? how much you have "sacrificed" to come here and live an illegal life?

One of the most ignorant comments that I keep hearing is, "If we give them amnesty, we will bring them out into the open! If we try to punish them, we will only drive them deeper underground!" Excuse me, but... aren't the illegals living in the shadows right now? Oh yeah, you're right, because of the liberal viewpoint that they should be supported, illegals are no longer afraid of telling the world about themselves, because they know that immigrations won't do anything about it.

What used to be right and what used to be wrong, is now simply a bunch of grey area that permits criminal to thrive (and puts money into their lawyers pockets).

Letter to Senator Sam Brownback on Immigration Reform

This is a copy and paste version of the e-mail I sent to Senator Sam Brownback:

To the Honorable Senator Sam Brownback:

Sir:

Any position that allows an illegal immigrant to remain in the United States while awaiting a transition to "legal" status is wrong.

When I applied for my wife and step-daughters Visas in 1995, I was in New York, they were in Bolivia. After two years and three months waiting on the Visas, I resigned my position and moved to Bolivia to reunite the family. In 2000, I moved back to the US alone looking for work due to the crash of the Bolivian economy, once again, leaving my wife, step-daughter and son. FINALLY, in December of 2001, the Visa's were finally approved, and in January of 2002, my entire family was reunited in the US.

6.5 years to obtain a Visa for my WIFE, AFTER we had children.

The reason? Well, mainly because the Embassy in Bolivia kept requiring "evidence" that the paperwork we had wasn't "purchased" paperwork for obtaining a Visa using a false name.

As I was born and raised in Kansas, and as I had family here in Kansas, while I was in Bolivia, my family asked of your office for some assistance in clearing the red-tape (late 1998 or 1999 or so), and were told that "he's not one of our constituents".

Well, your support for ILLEGAL immigration and your refusal to support my family trying to immigrate LEGALLY is very disappointing. You have lost a Republican Vote, and I WILL be publicizing this as much as possible.

I would rather have Hillary Clinton supporting me as my Senator, as I would expect this from her.

You Sir are a coward for not standing up for what is RIGHT, and you are a hypocrite for supporting illegal aliens more than American Citizens.

Go get your Mexican flag, and head out to Alma, Junction City and all points West to campaign with all these newfound illegals as voters!

You Hypocrite!