My case for immigration reform.

Ok, so I was having some trouble coming up with a general theme for this blog. I didn't want it to turn into a recap of my day to day activities because that's really boring. I decided to give it a shot with a political theme. This could consist of an idea I have to fix a particular problem, or I could just rant about politicians I can't stand. If you have a critique, please share it.

Immigration is an issue in which the status quo will simply no longer work. It has not worked in the past and will only become worse in years to come. The failure to act by the federal government has led to a massive population of illegal immigrants in the United States. It has also led to misguided and incomplete immigration responses at the state level. The recent Arizona law is an example of this. On the other side, you have illegal sanctuary cities. It's hard to find an elected official or anyone else for that matter that wouldn't agree that something has to be done. Where the agreement stops is on specific policy measures on how to fix this problem. You have some on the hard right that want to be isolationists. You have some on the hard left that want completely open borders. Neither one of these solutions is desirable. To those on the right, the United States is a nation founded by immigrants. The rich cultural diversity is one of the greatest things about this country. It is also one of the main reasons why the United States is the global economic leader. To those on the left, borer security is a national security issue. The fact is that there is a brutal drug war going on along our southern border. We must secure our border, and control who is allowed to enter the country.

I believe my solution is a practical, sustainable response to the valid concerns on both sides. The process to become a legal American citizen must be made easier. This will both bring in more tax revenue and remove incentive to enter illegally. This takes care of the majority of those that want to enter the country with good intentions. That being said, there are those who want to smuggle drugs over the border, and terrorists that would like to be able to enter to hurt innocent people. Border security has to be increased through an increase in border agents, building the wall in places, and using technology like smartgrids in others. This type of increase will cost money, and has to be paid for somehow. I propose that newly naturalized citizens pay a slightly higher than normal tax in order to fund these increases. Increased border security like the above mentioned has been scored by the congressional budget office in 2006. According to the CBO analysis, this would cost 9.6 billion dollars over the first five years. If we naturalize 1.1 million citizens a year over the first five years (a very modest increase over recent numbers), this averages out to about 1800 dollars per citizen. This is not an overwhelming burdon, it's also not permanent. This plan would also call for increased audits on workplaces to check for hiring illegal workers. There would be very stiff penalties for each illegal immigrant hired.

So there's my idea in a nutshell. Please share any opinions.