Amnesty for the Employers of Illegal Immigrants

This does not need to happen anymore.

The Obama Administration is proposing amnesty to the approximately 11 million immigrants who have succeeded in crossing the border illegally, or who have stayed beyond the time limit of a tourist visa. In addition to amnesty, the Administration is recommending stricter border enforcement and increased raids by federal agents of employers who hire illegals, with increased penalties.

I see major problems with the Administration's proposals, especially as it applies to the crack-down on employers who pay illegals under the table. The path to legalization of foreign nationals currently here without authority will take a long time to complete. What does Obama want these people to do in the intervening period? Steal to eat?

Basically, the Administration is saying that illegal immigrants must not work here illegally, but they can stay and apply for a work permit and possibly citizenship as long as they are here illegally and unemployed.

The fact of the matter is that illegal immigrants cross the border because they know that there is huge untapped demand for their services in a range of industries where U.S. citizens prefer not to work, or where the wage that would have to be paid to attract a U.S. citizen would make the product being produced too expensive to sell competitively. Are you going to pay $8/lb. for California grapes? Because that might be what they would cost if you didn't have illegals picking them for you.

The Obama Administration is drawing attention to the rates of capture of illegal immigrants, which declined dramatically during their first term in office. However, this decline was not due to more border agents but rather to the worst economy since the Great Depression. During Obama's first four years many Mexicans went back to Mexico because they could not find work in the U.S., and this trend discouraged others from risking the sometimes dangerous crossing.

So, the issue is not illegal immigration, per se, but rather jobs and who is going to fill them.

RATHER THAN AMNESTY FOR IMMIGRANTS HERE ILLEGALLY, I PROPOSE AMNESTY FOR THE EMPLOYERS THAT HIRE THEM.

As I mentioned earlier, there are numerous industries in the U.S. that would suffer or fail if the supply of willing low-wage laborers were cut off. I recommend that the federal government expand existing visa programs so that these employers can request certain numbers of workers from different countries, to work LEGALLY at their facilities in the U.S. If these workers are already working illegally, upon approval of their application the employer could decide if they want to keep these workers and initiate a process of documentation of these workers without risk to the employer of prosecution.

Obama's proposal is a formula to put workers on the street while they wait to see if they can stay here legally or not, while my proposal is a way to codify the status quo and insure that the U.S. businesses that truly need these workers can prosper without fear of prosecution.