Immigration
Polipundit - polipundit.com
The Hedgehog Blog has some questions for people who oppose President Bush’s suicidal immigration “reform” plan:
* What is your plan, and how will you get it enacted?
* Do you really think the American public has the stomach to see 10 million people deported, many of whom have been here all their lives?
* If the public is not ready to do that, are you prepared to see the Republican Party spend the political capital necessary to convince them?
* What if we fail to convince them? Where will the party be then?
My answers to these questions are as follows:
What is your plan, and how will you get it enacted?
I have repeatedly proposed a simple, cost-effective, humane, two-step plan to end illegal immigration:
Step 1: A fake Social Security number is necessary to get a job. Implement a computerized system for employers to check if a Social Security number is valid and matches the name provided by the employee.
Step 2: Crack down on employers who employ illegals. Once you throw a few high-profile executives in jail, employers will become sticklers for checking Social Security numbers using the new computerized system. That’ll force illegal immigrants to “deport” themselves because they’ll be utterly unable to find work.
The first part of the plan is already being implemented by the Social Security Administration. Their web site talks about a pilot program for an Internet-based Social Security number verification service:
SSA is currently piloting an Internet option that will provide immediate or next business day response to name/SSN verification requests. The pilot is only open to a small number of pre-selected companies. It is anticipated that this option may be open to all employers by 2005.
In other words, step 1 will have been completed by 2005! If you’d like to see how easy the system is to use, read the manual. Verifying up to 10 SSNs is instantaneous. Verifying up to hundreds of thousands of SSNs takes 24 hours.
This plan enjoys the support of prominent Congressman, like J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ). It could be pushed through Congress. If the Democrats were to vote against it, they would pay a heavy price at the polls.
Do you really think the American public has the stomach to see 10 million people deported, many of whom have been here all their lives?
Absolutely! Polls usually show 70 pecent or more Americans want all illegal immigrants deported. Among conservatives, the numbers are even higher.
Besides, the key advantage of my plan is that there won’t need to be trainloads of immigrants being carted across the border by government guards. They will “deport” themselves because they will be unable to find work.
If the public is not ready to do that, are you prepared to see the Republican Party spend the political capital necessary to convince them?
Yes, yes, yes! And I’m not the only conservative who feels that way. In fact, a very recent online poll at Free Republic ranked illegal immigration as the most important issue for the president to tackle.
And stopping illegal immigration wouldn’t “spend” political capital; it would accumulate it. If the Democrats stood for illegals, they would end their existence as a political party. Hillary Clinton knows this better than anyone, which is why she now says she’s “adamantly against” illegal immigration.
What if we fail to convince them? Where will the party be then?
That is a laughable question, barely worthy of a response. Illegal immigration is an issue aching to be resolved. An overwhelming majority of Americans wants something to be done about it. And they want something to be done about it right now! If the Republicans don’t deliver on illegal immigration, voters will turn to someone who will.
As a recent legal immigrant, I have a particularly unforgiving attitude towards those who clog the immigration bureaucracy by breaking the law. But I’m not alone in my attitude towards illegals. If anything, native-born Americans probably feel much more strongly about this issue than I do.
I have been a strong supporter of President Bush, but I nearly dropped my support for his re-election when he announced his suicidal immigration “reform” plan. The president risks destroying the entire Republican coalition unless he comes out in favor of a plan, like the one I’ve proposed, which would end illegal immigration.
-- PoliPundit |
