US immigration amnesty

I saw a short clip on CNN about the US immigration amnesty introduced by Obama. It will give between 12 and 20 million illegal immigrants living illegaly in the US, citizenship. They also said that there have been "one time only" amnesty given before, the largest one in 1986 where 2.8 million got citizenship.


As a European i don't understand how anyone can walk over the border (from a democratic country) in such a large scale. How can any one expect to maintain border security if the price is a amnesty sooner or later? It also seems like an accelerating problem. The Latino community in the USA votes and support the move. The community groves, the border crossing accelerates and so on.

 

The program is neither amnesty nor citizenship, but simply a two-year deferral of deportation and offering temporary work permit for any person brought here as a child (under 16) and has since graduated high school (and other criteria)...about 2 million young adults who are contributing to society.

More illegals (mostly those caught in other criminal acts) have been deported in the last three years than any recent period. But we cant deport the 10-12 illegal immigrants currently in the US and we need to think seriously how to fully integrate those who have not committed other crimes, many of whom pay taxes and contribute in other ways, w/o rewarding them with amnesty (i.e. they must pay fines and back taxes) And we need to strengthen the borders. It is a complex issue fraught with political undertones.

 

Our immigration policy fails to acknowledge the reality that agriculture utilizes a migratory workforce. Also, you have a wealthy nation right next door to what is essentially a failed narco-state.

We make noise about protecting our border, but the fact is that so many cross illegally you can't really tell who is a violent criminal, drug/weapon smuggler, or merely a fieldhand looking to make some bread to send back home.

Lettuce pickers make < $8/hour for backbreaking work that Americans simply will not do. Think about the conditions in MExico that make it ATTRACTIVE to these folks to come pick crops in 100 degree heat, to risk arrest and deportation, etc.

Also, I completely agree with redux's point that this program is not what the OP seems to think it is. This is directed at people who were underage and came with their parents illegally. They want to better themselves and should be given the opportunity.

 

Want the younger immigrants, if granted citizinship have a right to have the rest of the family in to the US?

I just don't see how it's possible to secure the borders if it's possible to study, get some free healtcare (California) or work.

 

We are trying to secure the border, and trust me, if we had to secure it, it would be done.

However, this is just a small part of what we really need to be doing to fix the problems on the Mexico-US border. US and Mexico should be having big conferences with the people who can make decisions and fix the problems. Some of it is poverty, some is crime, and some is racism. We have no problems with floods of Canadians coming across the border to shop or hang out for a few months in AZ/CA/Texas in the winter. If any Mexican citizen can prove they own a house, and have enough money it should be easy for them to visit. There are plenty of temp jobs for the poorer Mexicans here, and we need to come up with a easy path for them to come here and work the jobs that are offered to Americans but don't pay enough to live a 'normal' American lifestyle. They should be protected by OSHA and against crimes without fear of being deported. It should be just as easy for Americans to find work in Mexico in hospitals, banks, offices, or factories. Americans should be able to purchase modest homes, even if they have to lease the land that it is on. Mexico needs to deal with the drug trade, and the US needs to deal with the drug issue. I don't care if people do drugs, but I want them to grow their own or buy it from non-criminal sources.

And there's a lot more... Tourism in Mexico should be 10x what it is, it is a great place to visit. But with the crime, pollution, and over population, it is a problem.

 

If you want to see how badly a governing body with plenary power can fuck up, look no further than the U.S. Immigration Code. It's based off of nepotism, for christ sake.

This is just a stop-gap measure put in place. Although, in reality, it's probably more of a pander to get votes.

 

I think ASU has touched on a number of key issues. Money and effort needs to be made to make it easier for migrant workers to come into the US. They would need some form of identity card that gives them the right to work in the US and pay some form of taxes, but limits their access to certain programs (programs that would be available to full citizens).

Making this process easier and making deportation of illegals harsher, should find a balance.

 

I agree with the first statement completely. The current immigration quota system is biased to the extreme...towards Europeans and Asians at the expense of Mexican/Central & South American and African.

And I agree the Obama plan is stop-gap with a dose of pandering, but also makes sense in terms of allocation of deportation resources and bringing productive, law abiding young adult immigrants who are eager to further their education, serve in the military and/or contribute to the economy out of the shadows.

We almost had a good bi-partisan and comprehensive immigration policy in last years of the Bush era, based on an earlier McCain/Kennedy plan until McCain disavowed it to show his conservative creds and get himself nominated.

 

First, comparing border security in the US vs. Europe is apples and oranges. When the border with Mexico alone is longer than every single European border, you start to realize the scale of the problem. France's border with Spain to the west and Germany, Italy, Switzerland, etc. to the east is roughly 1/4 of the Mexican border. It's a lot easier to secure a smaller area than it is a larger one. So the OP and follow up, on their face, don't take physical reality into account in any way. And that's not counting the folks that come in via the coasts or over the Canadian border.

And, solaris, I think that you're still confused about what this is. It is not citizenship. It is simply says they won't be deported.

Also, California does not have free healthcare. I don't know why you think it does, but it doesn't. They have the same thing that every other state has, which is basically that emergency rooms cannot turn people away based on ability to pay.

 

100% agree.

Not to mention that this would put to death the cottage industry of dangerous illegal activity that has grown around human smuggling.

 

I love that joke.

I'm wondering if a parole board type of set up would work. They come forward and register and have to check in periodically to prove employment, housing, etc and after a set time, they get fast tracked for citizenship. Slip ups mean longer wait to get fast tracked. Enough slip ups and they get sent back. They can be provided with some official ID so if they inadvertently get rounded up in an INS raid, they can prove they are working on citizenship.

 

France has no land border security, being part of the Schengen area. But obviously you could pick a different example (non-Schengen) and your point pretty well stands.

The OP is probably all the more baffling in that light, actually. So long as someone is granted entry into one country belonging to the Schengen area, they can cross borders within that area freely without hindrance. Surely that's easier than sneaking over a border by foot and trying not to get caught.

SuburbanZombie's idea is a pretty good one. I think once you accept that there are a lot of people wanting to go to the US and live out their lives there legitimately, and there's also a lot of demand in the US for those people, the solution to this "problem" is actually really straightforward.

 

The policy is not that hard, it is the politics of US immigration reform that is the bitch, especially with no compromise extremists.