The "Illegal Alien" Debacle.

The United States has a major problem. More than 250,000 people illegally cross its borders every year. This is a major problem for many reasons, security being one of the principal ones. Another major problem is the continued loss of sovereignty over affairs in the country by more than 11 MILLION undocumented, unidentified people living and working in the United States. In this current war between Western civilization and Islamicist supremacists, such an open-border problem is not only untenable, it's downright dangerous. I certainly hope the United States Congress doesn'e wait untl we have a nuclear explosion in Des Moines, Omaha, or Little Rock before it decides to take action.

We need to establish control of our borders. Nothing short of people on the ground, armed with all the equipment and weapons necessary, can establish that control. It also means ALL our borders need to be controlled - the southern border with Mexico, the "longest undefended border in the world" between the lower 48 and Canada, and the extensive border between Alaska and Canada, although our southern border is currently bleeding the most. If securing the border means creating a border force of a million people, building guard towers within line-of-sight of other guard towers, building a huge, electrified fence, and mining the area behind it, then that's what we need to do, and we need to tell people, especially those trying to cross our borders, that we're doing it, and why. I will post ideas about how to secure the border in a later article, although I've already covered it a couple of times.

Border security isn't a luxury any longer, it's absolutely essential to the security and prosperity of the United States. We MUST close our borders to illegal immigrants - and undocumented importation of drugs, weapons, and other items - regardless of where they're from.

At the same time, we need to do something about the 11 to 13 million illegals currently living in the United States. We have many options.

1. The most difficult option would be to hunt them all down and deport them. We would need another million or two people just to do that, and it would probably take ten years. By that time, another 10 to 12 million could have crossed the borders, unless they're closed to all but legal immigrants. It would also be unbelievably
   expensive - hundreds of billions of dollars, perhaps even trillions of dollars. It's not the best option to pursue at this time, but something definitely HAS to be done.
   


2. The second option is a blanket amnesty for all current illegals, giving them legal status and allowing them to work toward citizenship. That, too, isn't the best of options, and would be only slightly cheaper than deporting them. It would also incur a huge backlash against both the current government (both parties) and the illegals being granted amnesty. It would also reward people for unlawful behavior, increasing the chances of more illegal immigraion, hoping for the "next" amnesty. We don't want to do that. It also fails to do anything about the criminal aliens that are living among us.



3. A third option is to grant limited amnesty to current illegals, based upon some outside criteria, while deporting the rest. This only combines the worst of the two previous options, and will only work if the outside criteria are written so vaguely that just about anyone can meet them. It will not cause the worst of the illegals, those that currently cost the governments in cities, states, and at the national level, billions of dollars every year. It would NOT filter out undesirables, such as criminals and potential terrorists. It also depends heavily upon illegals reporting themselves. Only those who are very sure of meeting the criteria for amnesty would do that. The rest would still have to be identified, hunted down, and returned to their native country.

First, secure the border. Secondly, deal with the illegals already here, and in such a way as to benefit the US and still maintain security. I offer the following suggestions for dealing with those that are here:

1. Illegal aliens will only self-identify themselves if there is a reward sufficient to make it worth their while. That means getting more than they have at the present time. Many illegals are hard-working people who would make excellent citizens. Others are criminals wanted for crimes both in their home countries and in the United States. Still others are just a drain on the system, either in their native country or in the United States. We want to keep the first group, expel the second group, and work with the third group. The third group will have two options: either become productive, or be expelled.



2. Set up rigid requirements for illegals to remain in the United States. Establish a "points" system that would encourage productive behavior and punish unproductive behavior. My recommendations are as follows.
   
3. Incentives:
   
   
   
   • If they speak English, they are automatically awarded 5 points. If the entire family speaks English, they receive an additional 5 points.
     
   • If they are a married couple with children, they receive an extra 5 points.
     
   • If they're currently working, and have gone at least five years without not working or drawing any form of welfare, they score two points per year for each year they've been employed. If they've paid taxes and social security during any of those years, they get an additional point per year, for a maximum of 20 points.
     
   • If they've created a business of their own that has proved profitable for three consecutive years, they get 20 points. If they've hired others (either legal employees or other illegals) they get an additional 10 points for each employee that has paid taxes and worked for at least a year.
     
   • If they've bought a house and consistently made payments on it for at least three years, they get an additional 5 points, plus one additional point for every year they've made payments over the initial three.
     
   
   
4. Penalties:
   
   
   
   • All illegals in the country automatically lose 10 points for being in the country without proper documentation and approval.
     
   • If they have been convicted of a felony crime in any nation, they lose 100 points.
     
   • If they have been convicted of any crime other than a routine traffic violation during their stay in the United States, they lose 25 points for each conviction.
     
   • If they have applied for WIC, AFDC, unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, or any other form of relief or welfare, they lose 5 points for each time they have applied or been granted such help.
     
   • If they've used a hospital emergency room for treatment and refused or been unable to pay, they lose 5 points for each such visit.
     
   • Anyone found with forged or other nonvalid identification will lose 10 points for each such piece of identification.
     
   • Anyone overstaying a visa for longer than 30 days will lose one point for each day over 30 that they have remained in the United States.
     
   
   
5. Set the minimum number of points for citizenship at something like 50, and see how many qualify. The establishment of the point system itself will encourage those who DON'T qualify to try harder. The number of points can be adjusted later if it proves either too easy or too onorous, but should never be made TOO easy to qualify (below say 30 points).
   
   
6. Establish a national database for seasonal workers who come to the United States to pick vegetables or fruit (or other reasons) for a limited time, then return to their homes in their native country. Do the necessary background checks (prior to their applying to enter, if at all possible), then issue temporary entry permits (valid for up to 9 months) for these people to do the work they normally do anyway. Make the database available to all ports of entry, and allow people at those ports of entry to issue the appropriate documentation. Keep the cost of such documentation low, covered half by the employee and half by the employer (not over $15 each). Encourage the establishment of "cooperatives" where migrant workers can register in their home country, list their skills, and where potential employers can "shop" for such workers. (This should be done by the various growers' groups, etc., that currently exist in almost every field of agriculture or other such work.)
   
   
7. Require all funds transactions between the United States and other nations be recorded and forwarded to a central agency. Such funds transactions should include both the name of the sender and the recipient, the amount, the address from which the funds were sent and the address to which they were sent to, and the date of the transaction. Immigration people can use such data to identify illegal immigrants sending funds back to their host nation. Comparing the data with the list of approved temporary and migrant workers would eliminate many of the fund transfers and allow the INS to concentrate on illegals.

My suggestions won't end all illegal immigration, but it will do a lot more than current legislation being proposed to reduce such immigration, and identifying those who would be welcomed citizens, while protecting us from those who will be as much of a problem here as they would be in their native country. That's more than what can be said about any legislation currently being proposed.