A Simple Immigration Plan

 

I believe that many seemingly complex issues can be resolved with simple solutions. Here is my simple solution to the problem of immigration and undocumented workers.

 

Walls and Round-Ups Will Not Work

 

I also do not believe that legislation can hold back the tide or change the planetary orbits. Nor can it change human nature. As long as there are jobs in the U.S. and people in Mexico who want them, there will be people from Mexico coming to take those jobs. No wall will keep them out. They’ll find ways to go around, or under, or over, just as they are doing now.

 

As for rounding up 12 million illegal aliens and sending them home, it’s a joke. If it were that easy to find them, we would be able to stop them as they come across the border. If we can’t round up all the ones that are within a mile of border, when we know they are there, how can we even consider rounding them up all over the country?

 

A Plan That Will Work

 

My plan has two elements. The first is a simple cross-border process for linking people and jobs, sort of like a huge international temp agency. U.S. companies would pay a small fee to list open jobs. Mexicans would be able to enter their skills and availability. They would be given a photo ID card with a number that identifies them to the IRS for tax purposes. Computers would match jobs with employees, and a temporary guest worker visa would be issued on the spot. Employers come and pick up the employees at a border crossing checkpoint and take them to the work site. When the work is done, they take them back.

 

Guest workers will pay Federal and State income tax, but not FICA.

 

Employers can extend workers’ contracts, or send a worker back.

 

The second element is to make employing an illegal immigrant a Federal offense punishable by a $25,000 fee PER WORKER. This will encourage companies to send their illegal workers home and hire through the legal program.

 

Why This Works

 

This program works because it is in harmony with human nature. It works within the self-interests of both the employer and employee. Most people want to obey the law. The problem today is that there is no legal way for U.S. employers to get the number of employees they need for the jobs they have open. If we make it legal and easy to get those workers, and make it costly to go around the system, people will opt for the legal process. If we give the Mexican workers a process that doesn’t involve possible death in the desert or paying thousands of dollars for coyotes to get them across the border, they will opt to take the safer route.

 

Citizenship

 

This program is NOT a fast-track process for U.S. citizenship. In fact, there is no relationship between this guest-worker program and the already-established process by which foreign nationals become US citizens.

 

Details

 

Details will need to be worked out Congress, but fall into several broad categories:

 

  1. FUNDING: We will fund this program by charging the employers a fee for listing the jobs. The fee should be based upon the expected length of the job. Employers would have the right to extend the contract by paying additional fees. My suggestion is $10 per employee per month.

 

  1. BENEFITS: Employers would be charged with providing medical care for their employees, either through group insurance or paying their medical expenses when needed.

 

  1. BACKGROUND CHECKS: Employees entering the system will be given a background check. People with a record are not allowed into the program. People who commit a crime in the U.S. while working in the program will be sent home and no longer be eligible for the system.

 

  1. LOCAL UNEMPLOYMENT: Employers in any county that has greater then 6.5% unemployment will not be able to list new jobs through the system. In counties with greater than 7.5% unemployment, guest workers must be sent home and replaced.

 

These and other issues will be worked out by the agency handling the guest worker program.