Question

How should immigration law be reformed? Does the United States have any ethical duties to undocumented (illegal) aliens who come here to work? How can the law be fair and balance the rights of immigrants, their families, the companies that employ them, and U. S. citizens?

Answer 1

• US should stop pressuring immigration officials to not enforce the law and to end the procedural gimmicks that allow illegal immigrants to stay in the United States.The immigration officers are in a tough spot; they have sworn an oath to enforce the law, but their official orders and unofficial pressures from their president, secretary and directors are to not enforce those laws.
• Violating them should carry a mandatory year in a federal work camp, maintaining the border. Violating them twice or more should get you two years.
• Deportations should happen within a maximum of 60 days after the prison sentence has been released - when enough people being deported exists to fill up a C-5 with enough room for 1 - US Marshal for legal security, 2 squads of US Marines for physical security upon exiting US airspace and while on the ground in the capitol of each nation to which we’re returning their cities (or near the capitol, as we’re going to leave them with the first government official who can be found once the plane lands), and one lawyer to present the bill to said official for the housing, feeding, legal costs, and transport and security of his country’s citizens.
• Technically the Marshal could handle this, or the marines, but hey, it’s an actual useful thing for a government lawyer to be doing for a change.
• Priority for immigration should go to skilled immigrants (merit-based immigration), and chain migration definitely should be restricted to first order relationships of permanent residents or those on a work visa who have been here for more than five years. First order relationships would mean spouse, children, or parents in the care of the person on the visa.
• Rescind those instruments of executive policy making that directly contradict the stated goals, spirit and letter of the laws.When exercised on a case-by-case basis, prosecutorial discretion is an important tool for advancing justice in murky and complex criminal situations.
• The president should provide the proper infrastructure and technology at the border. The number of border-patrol agents has dramatically increased since 2000, but the border patrol now needs the right infrastructure and technology to make it more efficient.
• The administration should use the judicial and administrative tools already available to efficiently deport unlawful immigrants.
• The United States must remain committed to engaging with international partners and focusing on citizen security and democratic governance in the Western Hemisphere. High levels of crime and corruption elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere help “push” people to come to the United States illegally.The administration should work more closely with Mexico and Central American governments on security issues.
• The administration must support the role that states play in enforcing immigration law. Around 1 million state and local law-enforcement officers are spread across the United States.
• The United States should verify the success of these reforms through Census data. If these reforms are undertaken, then the United States will see a decline in the unlawful immigrant population, which is measured by several census surveys.
• Eventhough its debatable but US does have a moral and social obligation to ensure that all people living within the communities they serve, including undocumented immigrants, have access to affordable health care and education.
• Since employment is the magnet that draws illegal immigrants into the U.S., it follows that the best way to reduce illegal immigration is to shrink the employ­ment magnet. To accomplish this without resorting to the method of routinely rounding up and deporting thousands of illegal workers only to have them return and obtain another readily available job, policy should focus on the businesses that hire illegal immigrants and let general employment rules rather than individ­ual arrests drive the reduction in illegal immigration.
• The policy should be based on the principles of empowerment, deterrence,and information. It should empower honest employers by giving them the tools to determine quickly and accurately whether a new hire is an authorized worker.