Posted by
Compassionate Conservative on Sunday, April 26, 2009 9:20:48 PM
I've seen all sorts of proposal for immigration reform, none of them more foolish than the one I commented on in my last entry, in which a deluded individual thinks that renegotiating NAFTA will solve the problem. On the other hand, how much more foolish was that idea than the attempt to slip an amnesty bill through Congress last summer before the American people realized what was going on?
Still, it's clear that we need to do something. Our country is flooded with illegal aliens from all parts of the world, but the majority come from Latin America and sneak across the 1800 or so mile border we share with Mexico. This situation can't continue, because while I believe - as do most Americans, I think - that we should welcome immigrants who come here legally, there has to be an orderly process to do so. We don't know if illegal immigrants might be criminals, mentally ill people, or carriers of contagious diseases. This latter possibility has become more worrisome recently with the news that there is a swine flu epidemic raging in Mexico that has killed at least 86 people down there. Deadly swine flu is not what we need here now, or ever; we have enough of our own problems.
So how do we discourage lawbreakers - yes, they're lawbreakers, in the most literal sense of the term - from jumping the immigration line? The current system, whereby captured illegals are simply returned to their countries of origin at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer, simply invites them to return again as soon as they can raise the money. That is, after all, the only penalty they'll have to pay. However, I think that we do probably owe people one warning, so that the first time they come here illegally, we should just go ahead and fly them home with the warning not to come here again without permission, or else.
Or else...what? Well, the first time illegal aliens are caught, they can surrender a sample of their DNA. That way, when illegals are captured, their DNA can be compared with a database of previous lawbreakers to see if this is their first time. If it isn't, they can be deported again - just as soon as they pay back the U.S. taxpayer. They can repay their debt by working it off in a labor camp. There is precedent for this in our country. Many states, particularly in the South, have required prisoners to work off their debts to society by building roads, for example. I've heard numerous politicians and other public figures state that we desperately need to rebuild our infrastructure, including highways and other roads. These illegals could work on these kind of projects until such time as it is deemed that their debt to the U.S. taxpayer has been satisfied. Then, and only then, they can be sent back once again to their country of origin.
This plan kills several birds with a single stone: it deters illegal immigration (I believe the prospect of spending a year or more in a work camp with no money to send home is a deterrent) while providing needed labor at low cost for rebuilding highways and other roads. It seems like a good, workable plan to me, which probably means it has little or no chance of ever becoming reality.