(08-22-2018 10:30 AM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote: If we really wanted secure borders, we could get them a lot more easily if we didn't weaponize ICE and CBP against minorities, provide a reasonable mechanism for people fleeing violence and for family reunification, and helped other countries mitigate their security and human rights issues. Go ahead build a wall, but know it won't do any good.
I agree. But I want to see the problem actually solved. Unfortunately, we have two political parties who both want to keep the problem going in order to feed red meat to their respective bases.
Here's the way I would do it:
1) First, we have to deal with everybody already here illegally. If they are here and working, they and their families get permanent guest worker status. I've seen it called a red card, so I'll call it that. Red cards entitle you to stay here as long as you meet certain standards, make progress in learning English, and stay out of criminal activities. There is no path to citizenship, without going back home and doing it by the numbers, but you can stay here as long as you keep your nose clean.
2) Anybody who serves in the military and gets an honorable discharge becomes eligible for citizenship.
3) The process of granting legal entry and citizenship is streamlined and numbers increased significantly. If you have a useful skill and are not a terrorist or criminal, you get in.
4) The only way to quiet the immigration pressure is to make things better back home, so make that a big part of our foreign policy.
5) Never fight a war that we don't intend to win. Fighting a war wit a hand tied behind our back guarantees a lengthy quagmire that produces one product--refuges by the thousands.
