Immigration
America is a nation of immigrants. Many Americans can recount with pride the struggles of their families to build their part of the American dream. But our current immigration system is suffering under dramatic pressures. It is broken. The threat of terrorism has raised the stakes. We must reform our immigration laws to ensure that we keep terrorists out while protecting the opportunity for law-abiding immigrants to come to America.
Currently, our nation is home to roughly 11 million illegal immigrants. We must find constructive solutions to this growing problem. A nation’s ability to control its borders is the most fundamental prerequisite of national sovereignty. It is not constructive, however, to reclassify 11 million illegal immigrants as felons.
The process must be reasonable. First, we must secure the borders by dedicating more funds for enforcement, border personnel, and new technology. Building a wall sends the wrong message. No nation can enhance its homeland security by becoming a fortress. Nor can it resolve its immigration problems with impractical policies and laws that are skewed exclusively to enforcement. While strengthening our borders is an essential element of national security, reasonable immigration reforms are equally important to protecting our homeland.
Second, we must implement procedures for putting law-abiding immigrants, who have been here at least five years and paying their taxes, on the path to legal immigrant status and ultimately full U.S. citizenship. This group should enroll in citizenship classes and learn English as part of the process for U.S. citizenship.
Third, immigrants who have been in the country for less than five years, who do not have jobs, or who have criminal records should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine their suitability for continued residency in the U.S.
Fourth, seasonal agricultural workers who have contracts with growers should be allowed to work here during the growing season. Effective oversight mechanisms must be implemented to ensure reasonable working environments for seasonal workers as well as to protect them against abuse by employers.
Finally, our nation must reduce the incentive for undocumented workers to migrate to the U.S. This can only be accomplished by enhancing border security, legislating enforceable and stricter penalties for individuals and companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers, and creating new government documents, including social security and green cards, that cannot be easily duplicated by individuals or groups in the business of trafficking in counterfeit identification papers. It cannot be stressed enough that the federal government must allocate more money to do the job.