Immigration Reform

It appears our politicians and court system don’t understand that the word illegal means a situation is unlawful, prohibited, banned, or criminal when it comes to immigrants. Recently, a Federal Appeals Court ruled against the part of Alabama’s immigration law requiring schools to check the immigration status of students and report undocumented ones (in order identify illegal parents). By the way, the first person charged with violating the new immigration law was a Yemen national. On October 22, it was reported that a federal judge dismissed Arizona’s lawsuit accusing the federal government of failing to enforce immigration laws.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) enacted November 6, 1986 reformed the US immigration law. In brief the act: required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status, made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit unauthorized immigrants, and granted amnesty to certain seasonal agricultural illegal immigrants and those who entered the US before January 1, 1982. The US has 3 types of Foreign Worker visas, immigration documents that allow foreign nationals to temporarily live and work in the country. The L-1 visa can lead to a green card; in 2010, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services approved 74,719 out of 91,086 applications (82%). However, the Obama administration decided to stop deporting illegal immigrants that have not committed a crime. Apparently, a case to case review with an offer to apply for a work permit was given to the current 300,000 illegal immigrants clogging the court system (these are only the ones that got caught). The Department of Homeland Security’s Janet Napolitano said - we’re freeing up resources to work on other safety priorities. I’m assuming resources were freed up after the anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy as on September 29, it was reported that the federal government did arrest 2,900 immigrants with criminal records. There was a time that we needed lots of immigrants. That time is not now. We need to deport the illegal immigrants and put our people to work. I did hear that an Alabama tomato farm was losing it crop because Americans can’t handle the work (I find it hard to believe that someone can’t create a machine to pick tomatoes before they’re too ripe to ship) and a chicken factory told many unemployed Americans they weren’t qualified to work in their factory but did eventually fill the positions. We can’t have it both ways. We can’t get rid of illegal immigrants and not be willing to do what it takes to do the jobs that these people do.

On November 16, 13 people were arrested outside the Alabama Capitol protesting the immigration law. I don’t understand why we think foreigners are any different than our people traveling to other countries. Our people are arrested, tried and jailed unless the country chooses to deport them; they are not allowed to roam freely and get under-the-table jobs. When I went to Europe in the 1990s and visited 6 countries, I had to carry my passport and identification everywhere with the expectation that I would be asked to show it at anytime. I don’t understand the fuss over any state asking us to show identification. Americans should be carrying their driver license or identification card and any other documents necessary to do business. If stopped by a cop I’m supposed to show a driver license and registration when driving. When using a credit or debit card I’m supposed to show supporting identification to avoid identity theft. When walking or jogging I should have identification in case I’m in an accident so law enforcement knows who to notify. The only times I would think someone wouldn’t have identification is if he/she is too young and should be with someone older who would have identification or if he/she is doing something illegal and doesn’t want to be identified.

With the national unemployment rate (was 9.1% - 13.9 million Americans - in August 2011) dropping only .1% in 4 months, in the November 22 debate, Newt Gingrich said illegal immigrants with family ties in the US should be allowed to stay; he says if they’ve been here 25 years and paying taxes, they should stay. Taxes are tied to Social Security Numbers (SSNs) and I believe we don’t legally give them to illegal aliens so I have doubts that any taxes paid were under their own SSN (not stolen). We’ve had several amnesty programs in our history. I think we need to enforce the IRCA and strengthen it by adding a requirement for people from other countries to have sponsors; someone that can be contacted in case something is in question. And, perhaps we should ask for itineraries from those visiting so we have a place to start looking should they fail to return home; maybe this would assist in locating home grown terrorists as well. Support of amnesty should not be about getting votes. I want someone who will fight for our freedoms and civil rights and provide opportunities for Americans.