Lean Left

I am torn about this

President Bush will propose a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws on Wednesday that could give legal status to millions of undocumented workers in the United States, senior administration officials said Tuesday night.

Under Mr. Bush’s proposal, which effectively amounts to an amnesty program for illegal immigrants with jobs in the United States, an undocumented worker could apply for temporary worker status here for an unspecified number of years, with all the employee benefits, like minimum wage and due process, accorded to those legally employed.

Workers who are approved would be permitted to travel freely between the United States and their home countries, the officials said, and would also be permitted to apply for a green card granting permanent residency in the United States.

Administration officials said that Mr. Bush would also propose increasing the number of green cards issued each year, which is now about 140,000, but they did not provide a specific number. The administration officials, who briefed reporters in a conference call on Tuesday night, said only that Mr. Bush would ask for a “reasonable increase.”

On the one hand, I am the child of an immigrant (my mother came to this country from Poland in the 1960s), and I have almost always lived in areas with large immigration populations, so I understand the value of immigration. On the other hand, I don’t like the way our current program is set up. Too many people are tied to their jobs, giving them little or no leverage in dealing with their employer. That, in turn, weakens all labor positions, and increasing those numbers would only exacerbate that situation. I would like to see an increase in immigration, but an end to guest worker – if you re coming here, you should be treated just as any other resident. I would go so far as to demand that anyone who has not applied for citizenship after ten years face removal. if you are going to be a part of a country, then you should be fully part of that country. (I would, of course, make exceptions for political refugees)

More importantly, this will probably result in a de-facto amnesty for the employers of illegal aliens. The reason coming to the United States is so popular is because there are so many firms willing to employee illegal aliens. until you punish those firms enough to make them stop the practice, you will never make a dent in the number of illegal aliens coming to the nation.

I like the concept, but this doesn’t seem like real reform to me.