Immigration – Unsolvable Issue or a Political Football?
Rick Olson
January 15, 2019, published in the Prior Lake American
January 15, 2019, published in the Prior Lake American
Last Saturday I moderated a second National Issue
Forum on immigration. It is interesting to see where people from all across the
political spectrum find common ground and where they differ. While the sample
is small and certainly not randomly selected to create a fair representation of
the U.S. population at large, it has allowed me to draw some tentative
conclusions.
Everybody appears to agree with “having 11 million
undocumented immigrants in the U.S. is not a good thing”. Where they differ is
whether (1) the undocumented should be legalized in some manner or (2) the
people here illegally should not be here at all. But all wish this issue be
resolved.
Few believe that the approximately 700,000 children
brought here as youths by their parents illegally should be penalized. Many
believe that the Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) is a reasonable approach for these individuals.
DACA is an American immigration policy that allows some individuals who were
brought to the United States illegally as children to receive a renewable
two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a
work permit in the U.S. But, they appear to recognize that an unconditional
amnesty for these could encourage future illegal entrants to bring their
children illegally into the country under the hope that these future “dreamers”
would also receive the same treatment.
Few believe that it is practical to deport the
remainder of the 11 million undocumented immigrants. So, the questions revolve
around what should be done about them. Should there be a pathway to becoming
permanent legal residents? Should that pathway lead all the way to citizenship?
Under what conditions? Should those conditions vary depending on the
circumstance? I.e., should it vary by length of time in the U.S.? Lack of
criminal record? Whether employed? Although much detail would be needed, the
participants appeared to believe that people dealing in good faith could find
reasonable solutions to these issues.
Most understand that some industries, most notable
agriculture, construction and the food processing industries, rely on
immigrants for their labor supply. They also believe that the existing laws
should mean something. However, clamping down on employers to more stringently
verify (by E-Verify or other means) the legal ability to work in the U.S. would
be quite disruptive in those industries resulting in an insufficient work force
and higher costs to consumers. Most believe that an effective phased-in Guest
Worker program combined with stringent enforcement of the laws may be the
answer to this problem.
Also, it is well recognized that there are many
positions needing highly qualified employees that are currently be unfilled due
to lack of qualified applicants. About 65,000 H-1B (temporary work permits) are
issued per year, far short of the number employers would like to hire. At the
same time, many question the desirability of the lottery program which makes
available 50,000 visas to people from
countries that have previously had few people emigrate the U.S. Might not these
50,000 visas be reallocated to people who this country needs to grow
economically? And, many question whether it makes sense to educate foreign
students and then require they leave after completing their graduate work in
highly technical fields in which there are worker shortages.
Most concede that every nation has the right to
control who comes into their country. And, most agree that securing the border
is therefore a legitimate goal. Where disagreement exists is what is the most
effective border security – a continuous wall along the entire 1,954 miles
southern border with Mexico or a combination of walls where they make sense and
more electronic monitoring in other places.
Immigration is obviously a very complex issue.
However, most attendees believe that this is not as big an issue as it has been
made out to be. They seem to think that this is an issue held hostage by the elected
officials as it is an issue that can arouse emotion among the voters which can
be exploited in the next election. My sense in listening to the participants is
that, absent politics, these are issues that could quickly be resolved.
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