GWB on Immigration
Some of the President's ideas on the border issue were:
1. Put up fences and barriers, stand up technological impediments to border crossing and send in the National Guard
2. Stop catch and release by expanding detention centers so that no one is left loose on American soil awaiting a court date for deportation
3. Increased funding for local law enforcement who participate in targeted border missions
4. Guest worker program to allow workers in and keep track of them - criminal background checks and biometric ID cards
5. Financial penalty for illegals already in country and the opportunity to get in line for citizenship - stiff penalities for employers who hire illegals
Okay here's the question I have. How do you compel the 12 to 20 million illegals already here to come forward? They're already here and reaping the benefits of the US economy without getting caught. Why would they come forward and volunteer to pay a fine and start paying taxes? Sure, many would because they want citizenship but what about the others? You've got to turn off the tax-payer funded tap by requiring paperwork for school enrollment and for eligibility for ANY kind of government benefit. There has to be a tangible and painful consequence for not coming "out of the shadows". Incentives to stay illegal must go in order to push people toward legitimacy.
There need to be harsh disincentives for hiding out in America - not as a punishment - but as a driving force toward assimilation.
