Immigration redux

With the recent introduction of immigration reform legislation, there’s been a flare of the immigration debate that certainly warrants comment. This is quite a broad issue, so I’ll do my best to distill it down to the main points.

First of all, my opinion on immigration hasn’t changed (for reference, go here and here). I’m actually quite pro-immigrant and pro-immigration, as I think most Americans are. What bothers me is the prospect of illegal immigration and those immigrants that do not wish to assimilate into American culture.

There are some on the right that seem to believe that rounding up and deporting the 11 or 12 million illegal immigrants is a viable solution to this problem. This proposal is, as the kids say these days, totally whack. Not only is such a scheme logistically and financially prohibitive, but it would never…ever…ever…pass political muster.

Likewise, on the left, those claiming that open borders are good and that illegal immigrants somehow have a “right” to come to this country are equally tone deaf. People from other countries don’t have the “right” to cross our border anymore than we have the “right” to cross theirs. And once here, they don’t have any “rights” beyond the basic universal human rights — just as an American wouldn’t have full rights if he entered any other national illegally. That’s just how it works.

To be sure, the vast majority of immigrants in this country — illegal or otherwise — are decent, hardworking people. But that’s not enough. If you want to come to America, you should want to become American.

And that’s the problem with many of the immigrants that have taken to the streets in the last couple of weeks to protest the proposed legislation — they don’t seem to want to become Americans. They waved Mexican flags. They carried signs written in Spanish. They chanted ‘Chicano power.’ Not exactly a message of unity and assimilation, and certainly not likely to win many friends in the general American population.

I would venture a guess that most Americans would be more comfortable with immigration if they felt that immigrants were going to “play the game.” That is to say, assimilate into American culture, learn English, play more of a role in the American economy (by this I mean actually reinvest earnings into the economy rather than sending most of them back to their native countries) and in general contribute to American society.

That isn’t to say, of course, that immigrants should abandon their culture or heritage. But it would benefit all parties, both culturally and economically, if immigrants were better assimilated into American public life.

In terms of policy, there is a faction of the Republican party that reacts to the word “amnesty” much in the way that Gremlins react to water. I agree with this sentiment…in principle. If there was a proposal that arbitrarily legalized the millions of people that disregarded our laws to come here, that may very well lead to a revolt among the populace. But to my knowledge, there is no such proposal and such sentiments are misguided.

What many anti-amnesty advocates fail to understand is that earned legalization is not amnesty. Forcing immigrants to pay a fine or series of fines, requiring them to pay taxes and learn English, and placing them on a form of probation where they can be deported for committing a crime is not amnesty. It’s not saying “all is forgiven.”

All that said, however, such a plan is absolutely meaningless if we maintain our porous borders and lax immigration law enforcement. We cannot hope to reform immigration if the flood of illegal immigrants never subsides.

In my opinion, a wall/fence/other prohibitive system should be built on our borders and our immigration laws should be vigorously enforced. I also believe, however, that immigrants already in the country after such a program begins should be grandfathered in and allowed to traverse a “path to legalization,” which would include the payment of fines (that should amount to more than the cost of immigrating legally, so as to provide a disincentive to immigrate illegally), a requirement to learn English and obtain a tax ID number, and probation — meaning, if an immigrant commits a violent/aggravated crime, they are deported, they do not pass go, they do not collect $200 and they relinquish their “grandfathered” status.

This is the only way I can think of to “punish” illegal immigrants without deporting them or simply awarding them amnesty. It also seems fairer to those immigrating legally, as that process would remain less expensive and less strict. And it would also serve as crime deterrent and prevention. At least it does in my head.

Thoughts?