Immigrations Solutions Could Work
Rep. David Dreier was in the district last week, pitching his plan to put faces and electronic signature strips on Social Security cards to help employers stay on the immigration straight and narrow. His proposed Illegal Immigration Enforcement and Social Security Protection Act, however, have some folks crying "Big Brother.'
Indeed, while the Glendora Republican denies the card is a national ID, it would eventually be required for every American and would identify that person at least to prospective employers. Dreier notes that the card doesn't qualify as identification because it won't have to be carried at all times. That seems a good compromise.
However, the cards will be backed up by a national database that will track the citizenship of all working-age Americans. It can be argued that the card will also track the whereabouts of those on work visas and green cards as well.
If it's as tamperproof as the congressman says and if it's at least as difficult to counterfeit as the California driver license with its holographic images and "water marks,' or even newly issued U.S. currency with its embedded threads and images, we don't see why it shouldn't at least be given a trial run.
California seems ripe for a pilot plan with the daily influx of Mexican nationals and others from Central and South America using the border between the state and Mexico as a gateway.
Dubbed the Bonner Plan after T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the plan's intent is to curb illegal entry into the United States by reducing the availability of jobs.
It sounds good, but will it work? Won't those employers who now break the law by hiring illegal aliens continue to do so? Probably. We already know that there's no enforcement of existing laws. Fifty-thousand-dollar fines on businesses that hire illegal labor ought to cause unscrupulous employers some second thoughts. Dreier's proposal includes $100 million for enforcement. Seems like these get-tougher measures could be implemented right away, without the new cards.
Our central criticism remains: The Bonner plan fails to address the hundreds of thousands of people already in this country illegally and already employed. Some even have their own businesses. We'd like to see a comprehensive plan for these folks. Perhaps legal status will have to be granted for those who have been here for a number of years and are working, but it ought to be coupled with tax payments and either a limited amount of time, such as regular visas for those who do not desire to become Americans, or a means to citizenship.
It's time Congress facilitates legal migration from Mexico and devises a plan to allow cross-border employment. Because nothing short of electrified fences and an army of border patrol agents will stop the steady stream of folks coming across our southern border.
It's simple, really: There's work here, however grueling or low paying. There's little work in Mexico or other Latin American countries. Until those labor scales balance, we're the lifeline. The Bonner Plan in conjunction with a guest worker program and economic aid to Mexico ought to be given a chance and it's success rate tracked.
