Immigration Bill: Good Principles, Questionable Enforcement

It took me an hour just to scan the text of the proposed Immigration Bill. Reading, studying, analyzing it all would take dedicated weeks at a minimum. There’s the first problem with it: It’s being rushed through Congress without due deliberation and understanding. For an issue that not only affects the 12 or so million illegals here but the other 300 million Americans, and the future economics and culture of the country, that’s too hasty.

My first impression of the Immigration Bill is that it contains most of the principles, or parts thereof, that conservatives have sought: Qualifying for citizenship rather than automatic amnesty; Shifting priorities toward those with education and skills that can contribute most, rather than the uneducated and elderly who cost more than they contribute; Stricter enforcement of employer hiring; Increased border security. Notably missing is restriction of automatic citizenship to those born here, which is an enormous loophole for those seeking to stay along with their children. In the border states, many pregnant Mexicans purposely come across to give birth here.

I’m struck that most of these principles are dependent on future appropriations or mere administration certifications. There’s little reason to have faith in these future requirements occurring with adequacy or stringency. Some portions may occur, but less than even the minimal included in the Bill. I could go along with the Bill if these requirements were sufficiently pre-funded in the Bill, with a 2/3rd’s or so vote by Congress required to reduce the appropriations and, similarly, to find the certifications adequate. Short of that, I do have to fall in with skeptics who expect much less enforcement than promised.

As to the 12-million illegals here now, they’re here and there’s no prospect of expelling them. The uneducated have less prospect of meeting the new qualifications of obtaining regular qualifying employment, but there’s little prospect of their leaving as long as there’s a huge off-the-books economy for the unskilled, and as long as even that is better than where they come from. They will continue to arrive in droves.

The educated and skilled may have arrived illegally, but their normalization at least will contribute to our competitive economy.

This Bill, as it appears, seems to have its primary justification in fixing politics, for the varying benefit of Democrat and some Republican politicians (pandering to or insulating from Democrat-leaning pro-illegals lobbies, respectively), than in actually solving the problems of too many ill-suited uneducated immigrants whose impact on our economy is less desirable, and of their economic impact on citizens whose opportunities and wages are consequently depressed.

Will I go bonkers if the Bill passes as presently written? No. Even having the shift in principles is better than now. But, it doesn’t seem by much, without included funding guarantees. And, Republican officeholders who hypocritically say otherwise are transparently denigrating themselves and further reducing the allegiance of those voters who esteem integrity.