When immigration reform happens (hopefully sooner than later), there are a set of things I feel we're going to need to make sure the reform sets policies in place that make immigration to the United States under control and sustainable while also respecting the immigrants and their families this reform stands to affect most. Unless you hate the fact that there are immigrants in this country that don't look like they came from Europe, I think we can all agree that we need to fix this broken immigration system and create one which reflects the 21st century society we live in today.
1. Accept reality
We can't deport all the undocumented residents in the United States. It's unfeasible, unrealistic, impossible and unintelligent. Displacing over 12 million people from one country will devastate local economies and communities; not to mention the actual families themselves. Last time that many people were kicked out from their homes and communities was during during the holocaust and uhh.. That didn't go too well. Even the most ardent anti-immigrant opponent must realize mass deportation is not an option. As soon as we have consensus about this in both society and Congress, we're already making headway and progress.
2. Secure the Borders
Like the way I put borderS and not just border? We've got the technology to detect movements over all sorts of terrain; let's put some of that to use in order to alleviate some of the pressures border patrol officers are facing. We've got a great amount of undocumented residents in the United States and in order to first implement something like a guest worker program or amnesty, we need to be able to adequately monitor who comes in and out of the country. I wonder if anybody's mad I think we should secure the border with Canada..
3. Create Guest worker/Path to citizenship program
The millions of undocumented workers in the United States are not here to spite the government; the majority of them are here to give their families and children a better life than the ones they would have in their country of origin. They did in fact violate American immigration laws and as a result, should be accountable for things like back taxes, citizenship process fees and a number of other expenses as a way to make things fair for all residents of the United States; legal and illegal. Undocumented immigrants with a violent criminal record who are hiding in the country should be deported immediately. After this is done, the program should allocate resources for these first generation immigrants to learn English and not naively think they can fluently learn to speak, read and write English by themselves within a short period of time.
There are always complications with programs like these and like we've seen in 1986; nothing in government bureaucracy works as it was designed to entirely do. That does not change the importance of what immigration reform has on so many communities found in the country. With no reform, families stand to be torn apart and social inequalities between immigrants and non-immigrants will continue to be the status quo. There are some in our nation that don't want to see immigration reform because it would threaten the status quo that works just fine for them. Some can't stand the idea of bilingual citizens with an embrace for their non-American culture. The idea of empowering disadvantaged minorities; especially undocumented ones, threatens their sense of security and power they find in their own societies. As a democratic nation of immigrants, it is vital we give this issue the attention and caution it deserves. Without immigration reform, we will be condoning the inequalities that exist in immigrant communities, hurt the American economy and not live up to the standards of the world's greatest nation of Immigrants.
You promised, Obama.
- David Solis
