Immigration Reform Bill

While Immigration reform has been under way for some time now, it seems that both sides of the Senate have finally agreed on a new “point” system of deciding who gets to come in and who doesn’t along with who, that is already hear, gets to stay (at least for the moment) and what requirements they must meet in order to stay on a more permanent basis.

Based on the reformations being reported, the portions that seem practical are almost negated by the requirements of the process. In other words, it sounds good but I don’t believe it solves anything, I’m not even sure it band-aides the problem.

1. We’re first going to require that illegal immigrants, who can’t afford to live, pay a $5,000 fine to even “get out of jail” and “pass go” to get on the road to legalization only to
2. Temporarily stay and work legally as a “guest worker” for a period of two (2) years then
3. “Require” [force] them to go back to their home country for one (1) year and
4. Apply for a renewal of their “guest worker” permit for an additional two (2) years. Permits are only renewable twice with one entire year between each renewal.
5. After the expiration of the initial and two renewal permits, the immigrant must return to their home county until the “permanent residency” process is completed and we say “ok you can come back and stay permanently,” which could take anywhere from eight (8) to thirteen (13) years to complete.

How exactly does this help? An immigrant is here with a spouse and child, they work for two years, then uproot the family go back to the home country and do what? If the illegal immigrants could find lucrative work in their home country, would they be here working for minimal money, putting themselves and their families at risk? Meanwhile, what is the U.S. employer to do for that year? Obviously the employer isn’t going to wait a year for the immigrant’s return only to be faced with this same quandary two years down the road.

What do you think, you tell me?

Read more here.

Cheers ~