Thoughts on the Current Immigration Mess - August 2006

1. 12 million illegal immigrants did not appeartime and money doing the U.S. Government's job
overnight. Actions by Congress - or the lack ofof controlling immigration?" 5. A recent trend is a
action - created the environment for illegaltest of a system where employers can call a
immigration to exist. 2. The main drive behind legalnumber to see if an applicant is eligible to work in
immigration is family reunification, a holdover fromthe U.S. Do we really expect massive mistakes
WWII. Is it time to give preference to nurses andnot to be made here? Who protects the legal
computer engineers over brothers and sisters ofimmigrant when immigration authorities give the
U.S. Citizens? What we need is not what we get.wrong answer? 6. All of this is leading to a place
3. Actions by Congress always have unintendedthat politicians and bureaucrats have wanted to
consequences. Congress put annual limits on thego for years but which has been resisted by the
number of H-1 visas that could be given topeople - a national ID card. Internal passports.
temporary professional workers. Registered"Give me your papers." Security after 9/11.
nurses were split off into H-1A and others wereCitizens should not have to prove their identities
put into an H-1B category. The H-1A programunless involved in crime. Bet that this will be our
ended in 1996, and now we have a nursenext loss of privacy and personal liberty. 7. If the
shortage just as the Baby Boomers need moregovernment cannot stop illegal immigration at the
health care. 4. At the time of the last amnesty,border, why are we forced to put up with all the
employer sanctions were imposed as ahassles of airport security? Are they just trying
compromise. Let the last group of illegals getto fool us in to believing they can do something?
green cards in 5 years, but make it tough for theThe 9/11 hijackers all came in with legal visas.
next group. As we have seen, sanctions don'tCongress is so divided on the subject of what to
work. Fake documents are cheap, and many smalldo about 12 million illegal aliens living in the U.S.,
employers don't keep the paperwork anyway. Butworking, attending school, and creating new U.S.
the fundamental question was never addressed:citizen children. Congress is as much a part of the
"Why should employers be forced to spend theirproblem as the solution. More to come.