Illegal Immigration/Aliens

The US immigration system is so broken that it threatens the integrity and resilience of our democratic republic. What's more, the US government is the primary culprit in this debacle.

Let's keep these concepts in mind as we focus on resolving immigration's core issues:

• First, if you are in the US illegally, you are not an immigrant - you are an illegal alien. Immigrants intend to come to America to be Americans. Aliens intentions are to "cut in line" ahead of those seeking legal immigration status. This takes up social services and other opportunities that would otherwise go to legal immigrants and natural citizens.


• 12 million illegal aliens – the number most frequently bandied about – is equivalent to 10% of Mexico's population (15% of the Mexican workforce) living illegally in the United States. There is no way US taxpayers can or should sustain this burden.


• By a large and increasing percentage, Mexico is operated by illegal drug cartels. If this seems incredible, just hide and watch - or research news stories from the past several years. War-like conditions inevitably crop up in Mexican border towns every time there is a shake up in the Mexican drug hierarchy and law enforcement seems powerless to stop it.


• Drug cartels in Mexico and other South American nations are expanding their wealth and power by letting terrorist and other illegal smuggling operations capitalize on established drug distribution routes and networks in Mexico and the US. See here: http://www.house.gov/mccaul/pdf/Investigaions-Border-Report.pdf


• Although it seems counterintuitive - assuming a reinvigorated government effort to secure US borders since 9/11 - illegal entry into the US has actually increased by 40% since 9/11. Based on demographic statistics of those who are caught, an estimated 6% of this illicit traffic is from "countries of interest" – terrorist or terror-sponsoring nations. See here: http://www.house.gov/mccaul/pdf/Investigaions-Border-Report.pdf


• Illegal aliens are responsible for siphoning approximately $24 billion in cash each year off the US economy by wiring money outside the US. This money is gone; it does not get recirculated here from one retail merchant to another. In some Mexican states, these funds comprise a top economic resource, right up there with US tourism. What's worse, the federal banking system offers a special program to help non-english speaking people wire money to Mexico. “Directo a México” is a service mark of the Federal Reserve Banks in the United States and of the Banco de México. See here: http://www.frbservices.org/Retail/pdf/FedACHiMxManual.pdf


• By the way - when illegal aliens earn wages, what happens to tax withholding?


• If the worker is paid completely under the table (no withholding), that is tax evasion on the part of the worker and the employer - isn't it?


• If an employer withholds taxes, but pockets the cash, isn't that fraud, theft, or graft?


• If an employer withholds taxes and submits the funds to the Treasury Dept. - which has no valid account against which to apply the credit - and does not prosecute and seek to arrest the worker, isn't that fraud and governmental collusion in harboring illegal aliens?


• And, since we are in a "war on terror," and we are convinced that 6% of illegal aliens are from terrorist nations, isn't anyone who aids an illegal alien in entering or hiding in the US potentially guilty of treason?

Enough about the problems ...

Here's how to fix the broken US immigration system:

• Secure the US border. (Duh!) If we can't control our borders we will inevitably lose them, if only by the process of natural selection. It is incomprehensible that so many who have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution could so completely fail in what must be one of the top three priorities of any sovereign nation – securing the borders.
  
  This means all points of entry into the US - especially airports. Immigration officers have suggested that relatively few aliens cross a desert into the US compared with professed Disneyland visitors who obviously don't have the price of admission who then disappear into the streets permanently.



• Limit immigration visas into the US to 200,000 people per year. Yes, things are very bad for the working class in Mexico. Things are very bad in very many other places around the globe. Conditions in some countries are much worse than in Mexico. No matter how super his power, Uncle Sam cannot help everyone in the world who needs help; it is a mathematical impossibility. We used to grant about 178,000 immigrants entry into the US each year, plus a relatively low number of asylum seekers. In 1965, Congress inadvertently changed the law so that now about 1,000,000 people a year come into this country, changing our society's future dramatically and for the worse. See here:http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4094926727128068265&q=roy+beck&hl=en



• Decriminalize drugs in the US. To address the root of the US illegal immigration problem, we must eviscerate the power of the drug cartels in Mexico by decriminalizing drugs in their biggest market - the United States. This approach also features the virtue of elevating our own social consciousness. We must stop overflowing our prisons with troubled souls who self medicate while sustaining a lucrative market for the social predators who prey on addicts. The consequences of substance abuse will be most effectively handled where we treat drug abuse as a medical and educational issue.



• Revamp the immigration process to make it practical and accessible. By limiting immigration numbers to 200,000 people each year we can contain immigration to a manageable level. This protects a sustainable quality of life for all Americans - now and for generations to come.



• Make illegal immigration a felony offense. Currently, illegal entry into the US is a misdemeanor offense, carrying only minor penalties, although it often is the basis for deportation for people who are caught. A felony conviction carries substantial monetary penalties and can result in jail time. Also, a felony conviction can ban a person from future attempts to enter the U.S. See here: http://www.workpermit.com/



• Amend the Constitution to modernize the 14th Amendment. In part, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution says:
  

  All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

  This language was adopted at the end of the Civil War and should be updated so that citizenship is only conferred upon people born in the US if at least one of the baby's parents is already a US citizen or at least in the country legally.



• Enforce US laws. Those who say it is impossible to evict 12 million illegal aliens are about 20% correct.
  
  The other 80% of illegal aliens will leave the US on their own and at their own expense if we simply upgrade and enforce our laws, denying illegal aliens the lifestyle that attracted them to flee the drug cartels that are running the show in Mexico. We should penalize those who employ illegal aliens, starting with the largest offenders and progressively prosecuting anyone who aids and assists in the commission of this crime. This will quickly eliminate the condition that gave rise to our immigration problems and the problem will largely reverse itself.

The result of these edicts for the US will be:

• A lower crime rate, making our communities safer by dramatically reducing the number of terrorists and criminals who invade our society


• General economic improvement for all Americans will prevail through better wage distribution. When 8 million or more workers become unavailable for labor positions, people who perform demanding physical work will be offered better wages.


• Broadly reduced stress levels from eliminating a hugely divisive issue from public discourse