call your senator
So Jess and I were driving to FPLC this morning, and despite her objections we were listening to NPR. The talk inevitably turned to the upcoming protests over immigration. That got us started talking about how to solve the whole immigration policy problem. And what do you know, we up and solved it.
Businesses want cheap, available labor. Immigrants want to come to this country to work without risking their lives and without prohibitively difficult paper messes or wait. Americans want secure borders and an end to a system of human trafficing. A lot of people, especially immigrants, want working immigrants to avoid being abused by the american companies that hire them. The government wants to be able to keep track of where immigrants are and what they're doing. All of this needs to be accomplished without creating an overburdoned immigration system.
So here's what you do: first, you establish a revised visa system that lets immigrants enter the country quickly and easily, but requires that they get employed within the first month of their residence in the country. That way there won't be an incentive for aliens to enter the country illegally. Secondly, you set up regular raids of businesses to check whether their employees have proper papers. The ones who don't are kicked out of the country, and the business that was harboring the illegals gets a gigantic fine. That way there's incentive for the immigrant to get documents, and for businesses to make sure their workers are legit. The result: legal entry of documented workers and the collapse of the human traffic system, without putting undue strain on the US government. Businesses can't abuse workers who aren't afraid of getting kicked out of the country.
The only obstacle to getting something like this passed is that businesses who like abusing their illegal workers will lobby against it. Which means that it would never get through congress. Oh well.
...and we finally cleaned our room. Whoo!
Businesses want cheap, available labor. Immigrants want to come to this country to work without risking their lives and without prohibitively difficult paper messes or wait. Americans want secure borders and an end to a system of human trafficing. A lot of people, especially immigrants, want working immigrants to avoid being abused by the american companies that hire them. The government wants to be able to keep track of where immigrants are and what they're doing. All of this needs to be accomplished without creating an overburdoned immigration system.
So here's what you do: first, you establish a revised visa system that lets immigrants enter the country quickly and easily, but requires that they get employed within the first month of their residence in the country. That way there won't be an incentive for aliens to enter the country illegally. Secondly, you set up regular raids of businesses to check whether their employees have proper papers. The ones who don't are kicked out of the country, and the business that was harboring the illegals gets a gigantic fine. That way there's incentive for the immigrant to get documents, and for businesses to make sure their workers are legit. The result: legal entry of documented workers and the collapse of the human traffic system, without putting undue strain on the US government. Businesses can't abuse workers who aren't afraid of getting kicked out of the country.
The only obstacle to getting something like this passed is that businesses who like abusing their illegal workers will lobby against it. Which means that it would never get through congress. Oh well.
...and we finally cleaned our room. Whoo!