We need true Immigration Reform
Imagine an immigration policy where every person coming to America eases the tax burden on ordinary Americans while bolstering our economy and creating opportunity for more Americans.
I propose that people desiring citizenship already in this country pay a fee that directly goes to support Social Security. Then they must begin to satisfy the requirements to become a citizen, including learning English if not already spoken and getting a job along the way. After a suitable period of time as law-abiding residents, they can become eligible to be full citizens of the United States.
Prior to citizenship and as an employee, they will further contribute
by paying local, state, and federal taxes including payments
to support Social Security and Medicare. Plus their status as
consumers will help support the economy which means more investment
by businesses both large and small. As an example, Latino entrepreneurs
and consumers added billions of dollars and tens of thousands
of jobs to Oklahoma’s economy. In fact the 2009 purchasing power
of Latinos in Oklahoma was $5.8 billion.
This is a practical game-changing proposal to update our immigration
policy. It starts by giving Customs and Border Patrol all of
the resources they need to secure the border, enforce
immigration laws in the interior, and stifle illegal immigration.
It continues by removing the people who commit serious crimes.
It is bolstered by requiring employers to verify employability.
The disincentives to leave would be removed.
The broken quota system would be changed. Finally, it works by giving people a path to citizenship while having them positively contribute to American society, saving valuable taxpayer dollars instead of wasting them on counterproductive efforts.
The Dream Act is a related bipartisan initiative to give qualified graduating high school students the opportunity to become a citizen by fulfilling rigorous requirements including college graduation or two years of military service, and the display of exemplary moral character. The six year path would end with U.S. citizenship. These are 21st century solutions for 21st century problems.
The face of immigration is too often that of a Mexican immigrant. However, of the estimated 12 million people here from other countries, the majority of them are actually from other countries and have simply overstayed their visas. People from different cultures often meet and sometimes get married to American citizens only to find that deportation proceedings are initiated against the non-citizen spouse. Our immigration policy must find a way to keep these families together, instead of breaking up families through deportation.
