Is it possible to have an immigration debate without having a flame war, troll rating war,
pie war, or any kind of war? Without calling people racists and bigots? Let's try!
Lou Dobbs had an article on the front page of CNN a few days ago:
Democratic hacks embrace lunacy of amnesty
This seeks to portray all democrats as in the pockets of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
and the Catholic Church, and others, and says that we are letting industry write the
new legislation. Some of this is accurate, some inacurate.
Regardless of this, if we can't come to a consensus (or even have a civil discussion),
the issue WILL be taken out of our hands, and solutions put in place written by industry that no-one likes.
So I have a question for the community: What are YOUR solutions to the issue? (I am assuming everyone thinks there are some issues with our current system)
Continued Below...
Some possible steps to reform immigration:
Increasing Border Security
Increasing Enforcement / Increase Penalties for illegal immigrant hiring
Increased Penalties for immigrant exploitation
Amnesty
Deportation
Migrant Work Visas
H1B Visas
Denying Benefits (Schools, Hospitals) to Illegal Immigrants
Open Borders
Changing the rules for citizenship (Being strongly suggested by some)
Demanding proof of citizenship for commercial transactions such as
renting an apartment (This was made a law by Farmer's Branch, Texas recently, still under legal review to the best of my knowledge), getting a credit card, etc.
This is a huge issue, with LOTS of different reforms possible, and lots of impassioned feelings.
A LOT of Americans feel that this is a big issue, and the Democratic Party can't just ignore it
and hope it goes away. And I don't think we want to take a stand that ignores the concern of the American public with this issue.
Of course, people don't agree on the consequences of illegal immigration. There are studies about LEGAL immigration that support the idea that it creates more jobs, but I have not seen studies on ILLEGAL immigration.
Are there any good studies on illegal immigration? (And how can there be when people will be hesitant to identify themselves as being here illegally.)
Common sense would suggest that copius amounts of labor willing to work for low wages would
depress prices in certain professions, and anecdotal evidence here in Texas that I have seen supports
that, but there is little PROOF. I happen to believe that there are NO jobs that are "beneath"
anyone, and that people would not do, IF it paid well, and had good benefits to support a family.
Whatever reforms we come up with needs to address the following key issues:
How much immigration is beneficial immigration? I guess I have to assume that there is some point where too many new people / workers would be bad for the employement prospects for the people already here. If you think that is not true, why not? Can we really let anyone come here that wants to? Should we TRY to enforce background checks / employability checks?
Once "how much we should allow is decided", we need to handle the people that are already here. Should Amnesty be given? Should they be given a work visa, and be put at the end of the list for immigration, so we do not penalize those already legally on the immigration list? Should / Can they be deported? How are the innocent children in the family treated humanely?
Once we deal with the "already here" problem, how do we enforce restrictions on immigration in the future? Increased Border security through increased manpower, fences, technology? Or try to catch everything on the employment side, with increased checks for employment, increased penalties for illegal hiring? What should the correct process for migrating legally to our country be, and would should the penalties be for violating that process?
There are so many issues, and so much detail, that I think we need to be very generous with our fellow Democrats, and listen to what they have to say, and not have a closed mind on this issue.
I definitely do not have all the answers. I don't even have all the questions.
It is probably too big for one diary. There needs to be a series of diaries about many aspects of this. Anyone willing to take this on? :)
Can we PLEASE talk civilly about this issue without flaming each other?
If we don't start, and try to start leading on this issue, I think we could be seriously hurting
our chances in the future, with so many people frustrated with this issue.