The hottest issue in the United States today is immigration.
A bipartisan immigration reform bill, the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005, was recently introduced in Congress to address that controversy.
The bill would:
Workers would be required to register, but they wouldn’t have to hide in the shadows of America.
Employers wouldn’t have to skirt the law anymore, but they would have to make legitimate efforts to fill jobs with American workers, and to track the immigration status of foreigners they hired.
The program’s cornerstone recognizes something unusual about this immigrant generation – ultimately, most want to return home. The bill provides incentives to do just that, asking foreign governments to provide retirement credits for the years workers spend here and allowing workers to contribute some of their earnings to tax-sheltered savings accounts.
That idea reminds me of a former client who took his earnings home to Chihuahua City, Mexico, and invested them wisely. He’s a millionaire now – in Mexico.
Earlier immigrant generations came to the United States in search of the American Dream. These immigrants want to come to the world’s best economy to work, then take their money and ideas home to make their countries better. What greater way is there to assist our neighbors than to help them to build better economies?
The U.S. Congress is the only government agency that has authority to deal with immigration. That makes Congress responsible for the lack of enforcement that has produced our present situation.
As many as 3 million immigrants break our civil laws annually to come here. And more than 1 million employers count at least 10 percent of their workforces as undocumented.
It’s time to dispel the idea that undocumented workers are “illegals” or “criminals.” In fact, immigration is a civil law – much like the ones that govern minor traffic offenses or even worker’s compensation claims. Making immigration a criminal matter would mean giving immigrants constitutional rights that they currently lack – rights to a jury trial and to a public defender – that would cost billions to provide.
Here’s another difference between a civil infraction and a crime: If a whole neighborhood ignores a civil law, say a speed limit, police raise the limit to a safe but credible – and therefore enforceable – level. But when millions of immigrants cross the border, it’s time to acknowledge there’s something wrong with the countries they came from, and help.
When employers repeatedly violate the law to hire immigrants, it’s time to concede there are jobs U.S. workers can’t, or won’t, fill.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the United States is home to 10 million undocumented immigrants. But Bear Stearns, a respected investment banking and securities firm, offers much higher estimates. It analyzed “remittances” – the money U.S. immigrants sent to Mexico – as well as social services caseloads, housing and school enrollment statistics, to place the number at 20 million people.
That’s a population the size of New York – a number that would be hard to control with the most rigorous enforcement. If Colorado is any indication, the government doesn’t have those resources. The state has an estimated 250,000 immigrants – and 400 detention beds.
Equally important is the fact that we need the workers and Mexico needs the money.
There are 12 million to 15 million undocumented workers in the U.S., according to Bear Stearns – a whopping 8 percent of those who are employed.
Immigrants use an estimated $30 billion in government services, according to Bear Stearns. Make them pay income tax and the U.S. would collect $35 billion.
Finally, there are moral reasons for change. Let’s look at Mexico, which pays to educate workers until they come to the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 25. Our employers get help without paying for training. The workers, in turn, send $300 each per month – a total of $13 billion a year – home. That is Mexico’s second-highest revenue source, after petroleum. Should America pay for foreign aid, or invest in productive workers?
The bill now before Congress acknowledges the real issues. It is a responsible response to this most difficult political problem. It addresses security, economy, family unity and, most of all, the need for circular immigration – helping immigrants go home.
The bill needs your support now.
Anne Allott is a Littleton immigration lawyer.
