The Immigration Debate.

I am frequently a critic of those who only criticize, but never actually offer a solution. So I have decided to weigh in on the ongoing debate over immigration. Protests continue around the country, but there is no end in sight on the issue, since Congress has gone on their Spring Break, and will not take up the issue again for a while.
This issue is one wrought with emotion, and one that has a unique ability to render those participating in the debate completely beyond rationality.

I think a multi-pronged approach is necessary to "solve" this growing problem.

1st, I think it is essential to construct a border wall along the Mexico-US border. Thomas Friedman, columnist, has, I think stated the issue most clearly by calling for a High Fence and a Wide Gate. His approach, which is similar to my own, is that the border must be secured. Those who claim that the building of the wall is similar to the Soviet building of the Berlin Wall, do not remember History very well. That wall was built to keep people inside Berlin, this wall's primary purpose will be to stem the tide of illegal immigration that now plagues us.

2nd, we must streamline the process of legal immigration, and create a realistic guest worker program. The current situation, with waits of as much as 5 years for Mexican immigrants is a recipe for increase illegal immigration. It is ridiculous to expect people to wait that long. If people are really interested in coming to the U.S. with an eye on eventually achieving citizenship, then we should streamline the system to limit the time that takes to 1 year. That means making INS work better than a Federal version of the DMV, and yes, it will cost some money to make that happen, but the overall cost should be offset by the reduction in cost necessary for border security. For those who have no desire to become U.S. citizens, but merely wish to come here to work, guest worker status needs to become a reality. The wait for legally crossing into the U.S. needs to be no more than 6 months for such a case. They need to secure a promise of a job inside the U.S., with health care benefits. They need to provide an address within 1 month of entering the U.S., and they need to be given a tax id number, to allow for the withholding of payroll taxes. The six month and 1 year periods should be enough to allow a check of criminal records and make necessary homeland security assessments.

3rd-Real Penalties have to be put on those who willingly employ illegal immigrant labor. If you want to hire legal guest workers, fine. But if you attempt to use illegal labor, it needs to cost, and cost a lot. For those who attempt to work on forged documents, automatic expulsion from the U.S. has to be the result. Do it legally, or do not do it.

If prong 3 is employed, many will naturally return to Mexico. No job, no reason to stay.