WHAT IS SENSIBLE AND LOGICAL
This is one issue that is almost radioactive. No politician wants to tackle it, no political party wants to take a position. It is extremely complex and a source for passion on both sides. Well, some have taken a position but that is limited to those racist xenophobes like Tom Tancredo and some Tea Baggers.
We have some distasteful, racist motivated characters opposing anything that has to do with admitting or even making legal the status of millions of undocumented aliens which they call “illegal aliens”. In other words; it is us (WASPHs) against them…the implication is that we are being overrun by foreigners who speak a different language and do not hold our common cultural values. They are outsiders trying to take over our jobs and our country even have the gall to marry our daughters.
On the other hand, we have a group of people who are here mostly for financial reasons because their countries are too poor to provide them with a way to make a living and albeit how menial the job they do, it almost always is better than the ones they would be doing in their country and not as well remunerated. That in itself is a motivator for great waves of migration. As the economies and poverty plague their homelands, these people seek to come to the United States and work so they can send money to their relatives.
That being said, these accidental immigrants will remain under the radar and will perform some of the jobs that nobody else wants to do for wages that nobody with a legitimate Social Security card would accept.
There are some also who entered the country legally and overstayed their visas. These are also working underground and taking on employment that is unacceptable to the rest of us. But these people will eventually become involved with some other person and there is perhaps an offspring, a natural born, American who happens to have parents who are here illegally.
The estimates are that there are as many as 12 million of these people living in our midst. But these people have been here a while, do not break the law and try by all the means necessary to remain undetected. Breaking the law is not in their plans because that would mean getting deported.
What do we do with all these people? Certainly we could not possibly deport or repatriate 12 million of these folks. Some are already so legitimately entitled to remain as is the case of parents of natural born American children they have produced. The word “Amnesty” has become radioactive as well. There is some very mean language now about "ANCHOR BABIES"; which ironically is probably the slowest and most difficult way for an illegal alien to stay here as it takes an average of ten years.
I hate to simplify but what comes to my mind is that we in America do not split families and would be terribly callous and insensitive if we did that. We may not like what they represent: a threat to our cohesive mainstream set of values and culture. But that is not to say that ours is a superior or better culture than theirs. These people come from countries that have very rich cultures and even higher moral standards than ours. So we can’t object on those grounds.
The argument that they are taking away jobs from Americans is also bogus. Once these people are legal, they will have to work at jobs that are also legitimate and that will pay at the very least minimum wage. The general outlook for this is and can only be positive as wages are elevated for everyone; as we would expect, that is something the Republicans don't like much because it is bad for business...they would much rather have all that cheap labor that causes everyone's salaries to come down. This is what I think should include in the criteria to admitting and allowing these foreigners to remain in America legally:
1- These people must not have any criminal records.
2- These immigrants should have been living here at least two years
3- These people should have a reasonable proficiency in the English language. (Not a literacy test like the ones administered to keep the black people from voting)
4- Immigrants who have American born children should be given immediate residency unless they have a criminal record.
5- All of these immigrants would then be allowed to work and be legal parolees of the United States and at the end of a reasonable period of time (ie. 5 years) then would receive their residency. After having their residency for five years then they would be eligible for American Citizenship.
6- We should continue with the present policy that a foreigner who marries an American Citizen can remain legally and eventually obtain citizenship after five years. However, stiffer penalties have to be instituted for those found to have “arranged marriages”.
7- Same sex partners should also be included in this criteria of allowing a foreigner to remain if he or she is the other half of a domestic partnership (until same sex marriage is the law of the land)
8- Documentation required: A valid passport and/or a birth certificate of applicant, a letter from the police authorities of the applicant’s country of origin showing he/she is not a felon. A letter of recommendation from an employer or someone who can ascertain that applicant is known to him/her and has indeed lived in America for this time.
9- Some sort of fee should be collected to defray the costs of processing and administering the program but should not be exorbitant. No fines or outrageous fees for this whole endeavor should be required. It is not blackmail after all.
10- Social Security Cards must be re-issued to include a photo of the person.
Foremost, we have to remember always that America is a country of immigrants; we are all from somewhere else and the only ones who have a real or legitimate claim on this land of our are the Native American Indians…they are the only ones who could cry out: “they are taking away my America”
Unfortunately, the right wing fringes are raising their ugly snake heads to let all of us know how racist they are. The Governor of Arizona just signed into law a very odious and racist legislation that will require law enforcement officials to request that any person they stop produce proof of citizenship or that they are in the United States legally.
The worst nightmare is here and it is not from a Socialist taking over the government and instituting a
police state. It is being perpetrated by the ultra-right racists.
