My Immigration Reform
(Or, my brilliant master plan that would decrease illegal immigration and increase legal immigration....)

Everyone is talking about immigration reform now, so I’ll add my two cents. I’m not all of one mind about this, but I’m certainly opinionated. On the one hand, I tend to be a “bleeding heart liberal” (I learned that phrase from a professor last fall, and I like it because it fits my tendency to empathize with people affected by unfair social conditions…). I sympathize for people who are doing whatever it takes to survive. On the other hand, having gone through the immigration process with Jeff, and having spent much time, effort, and money on it, it seems somewhat unfair for others to skirt around it. On the other hand, we have had a tough time with it, being white, literate (college educated!), people raised in this culture, with family and friends who have gone through the process as resources. I can’t imagine how a stack of immigration documents looks to a person from rural Mexico with a 5th grade education, unfamiliar with the culture and knowing no English except perhaps how to say hello and how to ask for directions. See how I go back and forth on this?

However, for reasons I will get to soon, I think that it is in everyone’s best interests that immigration happens legally. Illegal immigration leaves those immigrants open to abuses because they are reluctant to turn to authorities or to use public services for fear of being deported. So, the pragmatist in me says, “Well, how would you solve the problem?” Here’s what I think:

Most attention in immigration issues is focused on the immigrants themselves – do we use INS to catch and deport them, ignore them, give them guest workers permits, grant amnesty? I don’t think that’s the root of the problem though – it’s like trying to cure a disease by treating the symptoms, rather than the source of the infection. Furthermore, deportation won’t work. These people come because they are desperate to survive. If they are desperate enough to literally risk their lives crossing the desert to get here, one deportation won’t stop them. And why do they come here? Because there are jobs and people willing to hire them.

I think if we really want to stop illegal immigration, we need to hit the source – companies that hire illegal immigrants. There are many companies that hire illegal immigrants in order to be able to save money – because they aren’t reported, they can pay them below minimum wage and deny them benefits, such as health care. I’ve read reports that some not only hire illegal immigrants, but are even involved in trafficking to keep their pool of cheap labor full. What I think would work is legislation that places heavy fines on companies that knowing hire illegal immigrants, assuming it is enforced. Ideally, the company would have to pay at least as much in reparations to total as much additional salary they would be required to pay American workers, plus a penalty fine on top of it. The company would have to be affected financially. The money could go to some worthy social service or toward hiring more USCIS workers to process immigration paperwork in a more timely manner.

Granted, I’m sure there are some places that hire illegal immigrants unknowingly because they don’t know to check paperwork and others that are hiring them out of some altruistic desire to give these people jobs. I’d bet, though, that the majority just want cheap workers. Knowing they’d pay expensive fines, companies would stop hiring illegal immigrants. That would leave blue-collar jobs open to unemployed Americans, who according to some people, actually want the jobs that illegal immigrants take. I’m sure they’d take some, at least. Then what about the other jobs that aren’t filled? Well, big business have big lobbyists in Washington, so if they needed more workers, they could pressure Congress to allow more immigrants into the country per year and/or make the paperwork more user-friendly so as to allow more to come. They’d probably have more success than all the social groups that try for immigration reform, solely because they are rich and have the power. So I’m relying on the amoral/immoral/money-grubbing companies to do “the right thing” for me? Well yeah, because I think it would work.

Of course this is all a pipe dream because my proposed legislation would never pass…as I said in the last paragraph, the big companies have the big lobbyists, and they don’t want to pay. It’s sad that it seems nowadays that congressional representatives listen more to lobbyists than to their constituents. But for what it’s worth, I think it just might work.