The beginnings of my thoughts on immigration reform.

Since yesterday, I've been thinking about which of my ideas I should start this blog with. Now, I'm aware that I previously stated that this would be a blog of random ideas, but since I've only just begun, I have a serious backlog of unused, uncooked, and unappreciated ideas (by "serious backlog", I mean, of course, five), all of which are clamoring for their moment to bask in the glow of the presence of the immortal Internet. After a period of short consideration, I decided that I would start off on the topic of U.S. immigration reform. I figure this is as good a place to start as any other, but since I really deplore writing about "any other" it was therefore quite easy for me to choose immigration reform from between the two. I enter upon this topic with some trepidation, it being a topic much discussed and bandied about by some of the worlds greatest thinkers, though for some reason, they're often ignored and we're left to hear much of the discussion from T.V. news anchors, who are intelligent, but alas decided to get their degrees in journalism and not in political science, sociology, or anthropology. Therefore, while I'm somewhat concerned that my ideas won't live up to the high standards of our nations great thinkers, I think I've got a fairly good chance of meeting the somewhat lower standards of a cable news channel anchor. With that self reassurance in mind I think I'll begin, though I may not be able to get through the entire idea in one post. Granted, since I've never actually taken the time to read other blogs, I'm not entirely sure how long a post should be or even if there is some sort of excepted norm, so like usual I'll just do my own thing and pray you'll forgive me if I offend your delicate sensibilities.

To begin with, I think the first thing that needs to be done with immigration is for everyone involved to come to the realization that it's here to stay and must be dealt with. This would seem to be a rather simple step, yet there are many people who don't want to recognize that there's a problem, or who think that if we ignore the problem it will eventually go away. As usual these people are deluding themselves and living in a fantasy world, namely Disney Land, which is a nice place to visit, but not a nice place to live as the Disney Land security personnel will be quick to inform you of if you try and live there. There seems to be a long standing tradition in this land of ignoring the problems of immigration, dating back to the fifteen hundreds when many of the tribes of people long established here didn't think it necessary to implement a plan for receiving and dealing with immigrants. A quick perusal through our history books will teach us of the disastrous results of such poor planning on the part of the natives. Indeed the very fact that these said history books are written in English should be a lesson of some sort, though I'm not entirely sure what said lesson should be. That being said, I think we should learn from their mistakes and, now that we're the natives, try and implement a better way of receiving new folks from distant lands.

At this point some of the deluded people will ask the question, "Do we really need immigrants?" I could just as easily ask them if they need their high definition TV. In truth we don't need immigrants in the severest sense of the word. Just like we don't need a car, or running shoes, or silverware, or cable, or chocolate. The point is that we want all of these things, with perhaps the notable exception of the running shoes, and when you think about it we should want immigrants too. Immigrants preform a lot of jobs that need to be done to improve our lives and at times lower prices. Here now is a sticking point. Immigrants can lower prices, but often this comes about because they've also lowered wages. Some people argue that immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans, while others argue that Americans don't want these jobs anyway. Often the reason why Americans don't want these jobs is not because of the nature of the work, but because the salaries have been depressed by immigrant labor. I think I have a solution to this problem, or at least perhaps the beginnings of a solution, which I'll get to latter, as I'm getting ahead of myself, which I must admit is physically a little uncomfortable.

The first thing that I believe needs to be done is for everyone to be identified and given legal identification. Everyone who's already in the U.S. should be granted amnesty and be allowed to stay, assuming they adhere to the new standards. In the identification process, when an immigrant registers, we must include biometrics, such as fingerprints, to solidify the identity of the person. I've heard of immigrants constantly changing their name or using different parts of their name to escape from law enforcement. This way, their fingerprints or eye scan or whatever will be their signature, no matter what they want to call themselves. This database would have to be accessible nationwide to agencies such as police departments and those that issue government licenses. This system probably won't be cheap, but it is necessary if we want to make a difference.

At this point I'd like to address the idea of granting amnesty. A lot of people are against this as they see it as a sign of rewarding people for breaking the law. Now, I can't really argue that point. In a sense we would be rewarding them, but in another sense it's merely a recognition that the previous laws were flawed. Eventually we have to come to our senses and realize that those laws are impotent and ignored and no longer apply. Times change and we need to change with them, that's why the forefathers of this country made provision to change the constitution as our situations changed. Imagine for a moment if we actually enforced those laws. In the short term there would be a lot of pain as the country adjusted to losing millions of people. In the long run we'd adjust, but would it be for the better? Would we have fixed the problems that caused this mess in the first place. Also, looking beyond our own pain, what would happen to the millions of outcasts? Would their homelands take them back, and how would they be received? That's just a part of why I believe amnesty is necessary. The other part is that we're trying to solve a problem. In order to solve it we need participation by all parties involved. If we don't grant amnesty, then the illegal immigrants in the country won't register and the problems will persist. We need them to register if we're to have any hope of changing things for the better. We can't properly run a country with millions of undocumented people living within our boarders.

I believe that there are several benefits to legalizing these immigrants. I'd like to point out here that by legalizing I don't mean granting citizenship. I merely mean allowing people to live and work within out boarders. The first benefit I'd like to comment on is that businesses, schools and governments could openly cater to them and form policies allowing for an easier transition into our culture. For example, it would be easier for private schools to advertise and offer services that would help the newcomers learn English or adapt to life here. Such operations are hampered at the present as people are afraid that if they go to such a school they may be discovered and deported. Businesses might also be more inclined to offer safety information or training in foreign languages, or offer training to help foreign workers learn terminology in English. They may not want to offer such things at this time, because they don't want the government to know that they're hiring undocumented workers. Another benefit is that it would help cut down on crime and labor abuses. If immigrants are given legal status and identification, they won't need to use stolen social security numbers or identities to get a job or financial credit. Also, workers may be more willing to report work place abuses if the fear of deportation is removed. They would be more likely to work with OSHA and if necessary the police. I think this also brings up another point. How often are crimes committed and the immigrant community refuses to talk to the police because they're afraid of deportation? I think most of these people are good people and would like to help the police. By documenting and legalizing them, we'd be helping to remove a hiding place for criminals. This leads me to another benefit, which is that immigrants will be able to take ownership or pride in their new land. I think they'll be more willing to make a positive impact in the community and become responsible members of society once we've adopted them into our society. This means they may be more willing to help with social activities and service projects. One other benefit that I see is that by documenting them we'll be able to determine who we want to allow to become a citizen. I don't think everyone that comes here wants to become a citizen of our country, but some do. If we document them, then we can put them on a sort of trial. If they behave themselves for a set number of years, then they can apply for citizenship. This might help us keep from allowing undesirables from gaining citizenship. This country as always wanted to receive the best that other lands have to offer, this just gives us a chance to test them beforehand, a type of initiation process. One last benefit is that once these people are using legal documentation and identification we can collect income tax on them. It seems to be somewhat difficult to collect taxes on salaries paid under the table. Once these people are legalized, their salaries will be placed on the books and the government can collect taxes on them. This will help pay for the programs and infrastructure needed to support them.

Well, I think I've written quite enough for today. I'm only halfway through my idea, but I think I'll finish it later. I hope you'll reserve judgement on the whole until then.