If Bush ever wants to get serious about solving illegal immigration here is what he could say:
You have 60 days to arrange your affairs and leave. If you leave during this exit amnesty period and have committed no other crimes against the American people, you will suffer no penalty or recriminations. You will not be harassed or persecuted in any manner while you depart from our nation. You may show your appreciation for the better wages and working conditions we have provided you by obeying our laws.
If you leave voluntarily, you will be free to enter the U.S. in the future without prejudice or discrimination. You will be allowed to apply for lawful immigration to the U.S. in the future. However, you will be given no special privileges and will have to wait in line like every one else. And you will have to wait in your country not ours.
I would say 90 days, but the rest is pretty much perfect.
In fact the letter above lays out a centrist position that is more reasonable and more defensible than any other I’ve heard. Centrist? But doesn’t the media call anyone and any position short of open borders “far right”? Why yes, they do. That doesn’t mean it’s true. But as long as we’re casting aspersions allow me to critique some other popular positions:
The Anarchist/Libertarian: Relax. Do nothing. Problem? There’s no problem.
The Capitalist: I need guest workers to be profitable. It doesn’t trouble me what everyone else will pay for what I stand to gain.
The Socialist: Amnesty for the exploited and oppressed undocumented worker! Che Guevara is my hero.
The Activist: What would hurt Bush? He’s sorta for stuff alotta Republicans are against. Hmmm. I know! Let’s protest!
The Priest: I need to fill my flock. Let us all be brothers in poverty.
The Racist Reconquista: This is stolen land. We will take it back and then you will be the oppressed minority you dirty anglo gringo.
The President: Americans just won’t do these jobs. We need to turn the underclass that came here illegally into citizens, and we need a new underclass to take their place. Until we can get that done I’ll send a few thousand soldiers down to keep an eye on the vigilantes.
So go read that supposed extreme right position again and decide for yourself who the extremists are.
The Far-Far Right Winger: Brown people are breeding like rabbits on our side of the border. White people better start deporting or breeding. Lets tack an amendment onto the new immigracion bill that renders abortions and contraceptives illegal.
Viva Los blancos!
Might I add…
Employers who hire II will be deported. (No 90 days to leave voluntarily).
Increase the NG involvement 10x to 60,000. (If not for Iraq, this would be a good time to push civil servitude to graduating seniors ala JFK)
Start a guest worker program, but put the kiosks in Tiajuana and foreign embassies – not in the US proper. That would give the Mexican army something to do (other than patrol their 200 mile southern border).
Build two fences, with a mine field in between (Im not joking). As long as Halliburton doesnt get a no-bid contract, Im all for closing the border. If we use a 10 million-man chain gang, we could have the work done in two weeks.
The Pence Plan…
Sound familiar?
http://mikepence.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=44113
As usual, the Congress will fail to keep tabs on the guest workers, though. Dont they realize we need to change our entry policies? Im sorry the rules change, but you must give us fingerprints, DNA, a pint of blood and your firts born (for the military) before we give you a temporary visa.
This isnt rocket science.
Flippity Floppity for Congress.
1st post: right on my friend. Uhhhhhh, I mean you flippity, not Mr Far-Far Right Winger. Thanks for filling the gap in positions. Any more?
Good link. Pence has it exactly right. Except the part about the guest worker program. How about we say we’ll have one, then just forget it or cut its funding? Like what happened (zippo) with border enforcement and business crackdowns after the 1986 amnesty, like what today’s pro-illegals want to do again. We can use their own tactics against them. Good faith, smood faith. Nobody expects govt to actually do what they say they’re going to do.
What we need is 51 senators to grow some cojones and recognize where their duty and loyalty lies.
Thats the power of Congress – funding. Your recommendation makes perfect sense: Spend the money on the kiosks and then understaff it. I think Pence’s suggestion is absurd that II’s can leave the country and come back in a week with new papers, but certainly we need to start the process get the flow going and then control the flow. Remember, we want people to leave the country as quickly as they came (or quicker).
I sent Pence an email that also suggested a 2-year visa is too long. There should be renewal requirements every six months or even three months to keep tabs on them – although this creates a bigger beauracracy, we dont need people running around for two years without any oversight. This may coincide nicely with the growing seasons as well.
Another good view point is Babe Buchanan – http://www.teamamericapac.org/
If you can get past all the stars and stripes blahs. I heard the Babe on a talk show and she declared she wants the borders secured, the employers to stop hiring II’s and attrition the II outflow over a decade.
But of course the devil’s in the details.
I thought the FFR was close (without the viva remark). The breeding comment came straight from the lips of John Gibson on Fox and the abortion/contraceptive comment is right out of the conservative handbook.