by Timothy Justice

Created on: August 02, 2008

We are a nation founded by immigrants. Even our "indigenous" population immigrated to the continent at one point long ago, according to most reliable anthropologists.

At issue here is the idea of imperialism, the idea of nation building, versus the rights of the individual. As a country founded on the rights of the individual, it is completely disingenuous to deny citizenship to anyone who wants to obtain it. We are made stronger by immigrants, and as the baby boomers age into retirement, we have a need for workers that population growth is not filling.

Basically, a political response to immigration can fall into one of three broad categories: complete amnesty, zero tolerance, or a plan that offers opportunity to citizens already here. Complete amnesty is a joke, and an insult to those immigrants who went through the legal process to get here, spending thousands of dollars of their own money and years in the paperwork process to become legal citizens. Zero tolerance is not only impractical, it is inhumane. While there are criminal elements in the illegal population as with any population, there are also many good and decent illegals who come here for nothing more than opportunity. And opportunity is the very same reason most of our ancestors arrived on these shores.

The problem with our current policy is that it doesn't provide a reasonable plan for those who want to be citizens but cannot afford the legal immigration process. We can, and should, provide hope for those aspiring American citizens in our immigration plan, and here's how I propose we do it:

Allow US corporations to register at embassies on the Mexican border for a set number of workers. This is allowing that they have already attempted to fill these jobs with American workers with the same pay and labor conditions and have been unsuccessful. Anyone wishing to cross will register with these embassies, and be granted a visa for the duration of employment. Employment will be verified every six months, and the employer serves as the sponsor, responsible for reporting when an immigrant is no longer in their employ. If an employer violates the rules, they drop off the registry and are ineligible to hire more immigrants.

Once an immigrant is no longer employed with their host employer, they have six weeks to find a job with another employer or return home. The new employer must be a registered employer.

After two years' continued employment, the immigrant may begin applying for visas and initiating the path to citizenship.

All illegals currently in the US have six months to legalize their status by registering their employment status. If they fail to comply, they face deportation.

And one more thing: criminalize employers with a proven history of hiring illegals after the third or fourth offense.

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