Immigration

There is no question that we have a significant immigration problem in America. There are many people who wish to close our borders and equally many who want to allow every illegal alien currently in the country to be granted full citizenship. These two sides have very firm beliefs and both have well established points.

On the one hand we are a country that is made of immigrants and that proud legacy should be able to live on.

On the other hand we have millions of people who are in the country illegally, some committing crimes, and all taking advantages from a system which they did not contribute into.

There are many people who focus on the fact that the act of overstaying a visa or crossing a border is illegal. Therefore the person is a criminal and must be deported. The real issue here is not that a person overstays his or her welcome. The problem is that person is flying under the radar, not accounted for, not paying taxes and reaping the benefits of our society (medical, educational and other welfare like benefits) without contributing to it.

We could spend millions of dollars, build large fences, increase border patrols, raid more places which harbor illegal migrant workers or we could change our laws to conform to how society actually is. We can make the act of getting work visa's easier at the same time apply the appropriate taxation to the individuals who are currently not contributing to the system. We can also put rules in place that make taking advantage of the system more difficult. For example, someone unexpectedly coming into the country in search of health care or education could be required to contribute for a short period prior to obtaining any significant service. People who go through the normal process of getting green-cards and sponsorship would continue to have benefits upon arrival, but the unplanned individual (illegal by today's standards) would have a waiting period.

The system needs to be changed so that every person entering the country must be accounted for and must contribute. This will assist our law enforcement as well as our immigration and revenue departments. It will allow our country to be open while ensuring that individuals who have spent their lives contributing into a system are not being taken advantage of by newcomers who are only searching for the dream our forefathers had.