Could we get pragmatic for a workable immigration strategy for the United States?
Could our national politicians dump the partisan rhetoric and ideological thinking in favor of a real solution?
Both parties have been working for decades to wring a partisan advantage out of an unsolved issue that affects many families and the U.S. economy. That has to end somehow, some way. Here are some realities and pragmatic policies that need to be weaved into an intelligent national policy:
- Shut down our borders, as President Biden moved to do at the end of his term in office and as President Trump has continued in his first five months in office. Migrant in-flows have slowed to a trickle. It has become a bipartisan cause. No other steps on immigration make sense until our borders are secure. This has to be a priority.
- Economic reality is that the United States has a severe labor shortage, and it’s not going to get better. Birth rates are plummeting. Ergo, we need a steady flow of foreign labor to operate our farms, our hospitality industry, our long-term care, construction and landscaping businesses.
- To solve the low-skill labor shortages, offer work permits to existing undocumented workers. Get this hidden iceberg of a problem out in the open. Those with clean records can stay here as workers, but never get citizenship. Because they are undocumented and therefore illegal, they should never get the right to vote. Such a grand compromise would mean that Democrats would lose their strategy of turning new citizens into party-line Democratic voters.
- We also have a shortage of skilled employees in sectors like information technology, health sciences and STEM research. Instead of sending foreign students back home, and because we need their brain power to stay ahead of the world, and because we have educated them, give them a green card along with their degrees and give them a path to citizenship. America should attract the best and brightest in the world. They will grow our economy, and that’s good for everybody. They will engender job creation far beyond their own numbers.
- The few immigrants who are guilty of real crimes (not traffic tickets) should be promptly deported. But a judge needs to oversee the deportation process, so that human rights are not trampled in a rush to a harsh judgement.
Long and short, massive deportation is a lousy answer to the immigration issue, especially when better, pragmatic options exist.
Despite most of his public rhetoric on the need for mass deportations, Trump conceded that some economic sectors rely heavily on foreign labor. He did a “TACO” – Trump Always Chickens Out – after the reality of his impulsive orders hit home. He wants exemption for undocumented workers in agriculture and hospitality.
(Note: his family owns hotels and golf courses.)
