Let’s Fix Immigration – Voters Demand It, And It Can Be Done

by Tom Balek, Contributing Author: Americans are worried as hell that our country, like many other Western nations, is hurtling headlong toward third-world status or worse by failing to control our intake of legal and illegal immigrants, asylees, and refugees. I attended a Trump rally last night at a jam-packed arena, and when he promised to deal with the immigration crisis the place exploded. It is unquestionably the priority item on voters’ minds this election year.

Most of our elected leaders, and some citizens, believe that it is impossible to solve our immigration and refugee problems, and we have no choice but to accept whatever happens. As long as we have the current bunch of knuckleheads in Washington, DC, I agree, there is probably no hope.

Their standard line is, “Even if you could build a wall on the southern border, you can’t round up 10 million illegals at gunpoint and bus them out of the country.”

That kind of talk is shallow, cynical, and lazy. Nobody in his right mind would attempt an armed roundup. And there are many illegal immigrants who have been here for many years, raised families, and have become responsible Americans – we can’t treat them the same as the border-hopping drug dealers. It will take a little bit of time and work to straighten this mess out.

By the way, there are probably at least 50 million illegals in the country now, not 10 million (that statistic is at least ten years old and was grossly underestimated then). Just wait until the birth rate of the immigrants and their extended families exponentially kicks in.

The DC knuckleheads can’t do it, but if we can elect some officials who will actually listen to what the American people want, and take some firm but basic steps, it’s not impossible. Here’s what I, your humble correspondent, would do.Stop Illegal Immigration

• Build the wall.
• Tighten security on the Canadian border
• Abolish the TSA and turn security responsibility (including identity information technology) over to the FBI, who would contract and oversee private security companies to protect borders, airports, marine ports, and any other egresses. Build stiff financial penalties into their contracts for any security failures. Make the contractors compete for the best performance at a reasonable cost. Reward the successful contractors and terminate the weak ones. Allow them to profile travelers and use any new technology or innovation that works.
• Require any foreign nations with passengers/freight to the US to cooperate and meet our standards, or refuse them direct access to our ports.
• Establish a security clearance process so that US citizens who travel frequently can be vetted one time and can then move through our ports easily.

Fix Legal Immigration

• Revert to the proven effective legal immigration policies of the past that favor limited numbers of immigrants, based on economic conditions, who are self-sufficient, bring needed skills and talents, and will assimilate to our American language, laws, and customs. No more floods of needy third-world, predominantly Muslim, refugees who end up in monolithic ghettos on benefits. Stop using immigration as a forced-charity program, and stop allowing asylum to anyone with a lame story who asks for it. No more H1-B mid-skilled foreigners who take jobs away from Americans.
• Establish a sensible work visa system for needed temporary labor, such as seasonal agriculture workers. Enforce minimum wage laws and appropriate working and living conditions.
• Have the FBI contract and oversee private IT companies to establish an electronic control system that rigidly tracks all non-citizens on US soil. Non-citizens do not have Constitutional rights and must comply with restrictions and monitoring, utilizing chipped ID cards, GPS, surveillance, or any other methods.

Deal With Illegal Immigrants or Visitors Currently Here

• No more government-paid benefits of any kind to non-citizens. Period. This policy change alone would make a huge difference.
• Non-citizens who are employed must obtain renewable work visas. Perform rigid enforcement and stiff penalties against non-compliant employers and non-citizen employees, enforced by the FBI. Foreign employees will pay income tax but not social security or any other benefit-related taxes.
• Any non-citizen convicted of any serious crime will be deported, along with family members, and permanently barred at the borders and ports.

A few key points: Our government has proven it can not perform any real work with efficiency and effectiveness, so we must turn over the critical tasks of information management and security enforcement to private contractors with firm oversight by Congress and the FBI who should publish performance statistics on the internet. The TSA is a bloated, inept, expensive failure. It must be eliminated. Private businesses who compete with each other for profit have no problem finding process improvements and cost reductions at the same time.

It is metaphysically impossible for the United States citizens to even make a dent in the poverty and insecurity of the entire planet by bringing the poor to our country – follow this link to an amazing video for proof. Forcing taxpayers to participate in the dangerous and ineffective relocation of third-world populations to our own county in the name of charity is just plain crazy. If we think it is in our national interest to help foreigners, it makes so much more sense to use our knowledge, wealth, statesmanship, and military capabilities to help eliminate poverty and oppression where it exists.

And (against my libertarian nature) I believe it’s time for everyone on US soil, citizens and non-citizens alike, to possess a national ID card and use identification technology like other modern nations do.

We have the opportunity to learn from the current and ongoing immigration disaster in Europe. Let’s not miss it. Show me where I’m wrong. Argue the details. But don’t say there’s nothing we can do about the immigration and refugee crisis.
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Tom Balek is a fellow conservative activist, blogger, musician and contributes to the ARRA News Service. Tom resides in South Carolina and between playing in weekend bands, he seeks to educate those too busy with their work and families to notice how close to the precipice our economy has come. He blogs at Rockin' On the Right Side

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Tags: Tom Balek, Rockin' On The Right Side, Fix Immigration, Voters Demand It, Foreign Policy, Immigration, Our Economic Mess, border security, H1-B visa, illegal immigration, legal immigration, Mexican border, refugee resettlement To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!