But trust me, this will not keep Donald Trump and the Trumpettes quiet or even give it a serious thought.
This piece put out by the editors of National Review is one of the best regarding the illegal immigration crisis I have seen in a long time.
Unlike so many talking points and positions, this actually is about the one thing that most reasonable people agree about in regards to this debate.
Border security.
The problem with the so-called "comprehensive immigration reform" approach is that it takes on way too much all at one time. Sort of like so-called "comprehensive health care reform" or any other big government schemes.
What excites the Trumpettes is that their leader, the Donald, says he will build a wall along the Southern border of the United States and Mexico.
A wall is good in theory if there is one long line. But there is not. As we see there are hills, valleys and even a river that divides the two nations. It is probably impossible to build an actual wall. But as I have pointed out, mostly on Facebook, is that there is a multi-pronged approach. The editorial addresses that subject. There are parts of the border where an actual wall is possible and a good idea. But there are other parts that would require more of a barrier approach. And, this is most important, actually letting the Border Patrol do their job and arrest those crossing the border illegally. What upsets many Americans, myself included, is the way that the Obama administration has tried to essentially legalize millions of illegal aliens by executive order. And seeing just how easy it is to enter the United States pretty much with ease.
However, that is just a part of the problem.
Another part of the problem is that many people do come to the United States legally but simply overstay their visas. And that there is no effective way to enforce our immigration laws at the workplace.
Here is where the Donald's supporters need to understand that even now, he is still essentially an open-borders dude. Interviewed by CNN, the Donald started with the canard that illegal aliens are doing the jobs that Americans won't do. Uh, Americans will not work for little if any wages. The reality is that illegals are often paid off the books, with cash. There is no discernible way to really track illegal workers. Really, if there are no illegals to clean the toilets and Americans will have to be paid a decent, market-driven wage, they will do it. And then there is the "plan" to deport the supposed 11,000,000 illegal aliens to the nation of origin (sorry but they are not all from Mexico). Then he would put most in the front of the line for an "expedited" reentry process.
Huh?!
As the editorial notes, it's amnesty-laundering and is in fact and indeed a much more costly process. As well as a true slap in the face to those that are trying to actually become American citizens the right and legal way.
What the the Donald and his Trumpettes are falling into the trap of is giving credence to those that want to approach this problem in the wrong way and worse. This is why the so-called "comprehensive immigration reform" folks will gain traction. Because they want to do something. Even if it screws up a system even worse than it is now.
Now I wish in the perfect world that we can have a humane policy of repatriating illegals back to their country of origin. But there is not. And the editorial points out what to do about those already here is secondary to solving the immediate problem of border security.
So here is the plan the editors of National Review advocate:
1) Build and supplement border barriers where appropriate, and see to it that they are patrolled.
2) Develop an effective system for those who overstay their visas, deport over-stayers, and impose heavy sanctions on them, and impose heavy sanctions , up to and including a lifetime ban on future travel to the United States.
3) Mandate the national use of E-verify or another system for checking employment eligibility, and then take the necessary additional step of making sure that records are current and complete so as to avoid the use of hijacked Social Security numbers.
4) Reform employment laws to impose much heavier penalties on those that employ illegals, and make those cases easier to prosecute.
5) Decline to renew the legal status granted under President Obama's executive amnesty; and then, when that's done, on the matter of the illegals who are already here, do . . . more or less what we've been doing, at least for a while, deporting those illegals who come into custody as we do under current protocols.
That is a solid plan that can lead to a serious decline in illegal immigration. And there is a serious policy for border security.
One aspect that I would add is to penalize so-called "sanctuary" cities for defying federal law by withholding any federal funds. I'm not asking the local police to become ICE agents or Border Patrol agents. But when they do have a suspect in custody and it is clear that person is an illegal alien, hand them over for deportation processing.
Here is also a reality we who live in border states do not realize.
That even in much of the United States, the perception is that illegal immigration is not a major problem. In almost all polling data, immigration issues are at the bottom along with global warming, aka climate change. No candidate is tying illegal immigration with the increasing possibility of the easy access of terrorists to the United States via illegal immigration and or legal immigration and simply overstaying a visa.
But those of us that live on the front lines of the problem, the border states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas see the problem first hand. And that is why so many people do not get why illegal immigration is not a much more serious and or higher-ranking problem that needs to be responsibility dealt with.
The GOP candidate that can take this and articulate it in a coherent manner will be the one that has a real handle on the issue and can frame it in solving the immediate problem now and work on the other aspects once we can verifiably know our borders are secure.
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