Immigration Issues: Sorting Out the Candidates

Mike Scruggs
Part 1 of a Series

There are about 22 million Americans who want a job and can’t find one. This is according to the Department of Labor’s broader U-6 unemployment category, which includes discouraged workers not counted in the more familiar but less accurate U-3 category. Yet approximately eight million illegal aliens hold American jobs. Recent research by the Center for Immigration Studies indicates that the problem is not only illegal immigration. The United States is taking in a record one million legal immigrants each year, approximately double the 500,00 maximum number recommended by the Jordan Commission in 1994 and more recently by several prominent labor economists. The recommended maximum is to avoid displacing U.S. workers or having a negative impact on their wages and standard of living.

Excess immigration of any kind is especially unwise considering the severe recession and high unemployment rates we are now facing. Flooding the U.S. job market with new immigrants—whether illegal or legal—is not sound economic policy. It not only displaces American workers, but the excess competition by a new and cheaper labor supply also drives down their wages. This is a large part of the problem of why American wages have not kept up with inflation and is a significant factor in our continued economic recession. Are jobs important? Is the economy important? Then sound immigration policies are important. You cannot honestly talk about jobs and the economy without addressing our immigration problems.

Unfortunately, a huge part of our immigration problem is that we are not enforcing absolutely necessary policies that are already on the books. President Obama also has plans to give hundreds of thousands of “administrative” amnesties without Congressional approval. This is an inexcusable disregard for American law and the public good.

NumbersUSA has developed a rating system for Presidential and Congressional hopefuls that sorts out positions on twelve important immigration categories. These issues were addressed by the Jordan Commission in 1994 but get little attention by the mainstream media. The public is therefore not well informed on them, and politicians are allowed to avoid critical policy positions and well-informed public scrutiny.

Here are the 12 categories:

1. Amnesty and Legalization. Neither long-term work permits nor a path to citizenship should be offered to people not legally in the United States. This includes not only blanket amnesties but also so-called “earned legalization,” a frequent political flimflam. People who have violated our immigration laws have usually also committed document and tax fraud. They should not be rewarded for it. If they are not sent home, it is a form of amnesty.
2. Mandate E-Verify. E-Verify is an automated quick-response Federal system to insure that employers do not hire illegal immigrants.
3. Reduce overall immigration levels. Excess legal immigration is having a significant negative impact on American wages and employment. The current level of one million per year considerably exceeds the traditional level of 250,000 and is double the level considered the maximum that can be absorbed into the U.S. economy without harming American workers. Immigration is such a sacred cow, however, that few politicians want to address this major problem.
4. End Chain Migration. Family based immigration should be limited to spouses and minor children. The abuse of family migration began with the 1965 law that has allowed special preference to siblings, in-laws and other relatives whereby whole villages from Mexico and India have moved to the U.S. It is a major culprit in runaway immigration numbers.
5. End Visa Lottery. 50,000 permanent work permits are given annually by random lottery selection.
6. Limit Unfair Worker Competition. Implement national safeguards that would prevent import of foreign labor any time it would threaten the jobs or wages of American labor.
7. Secure Borders. Implement border security measures already passed by Congress and strengthen security against terrorist, criminal, and organized crime entry. Most politicians pay lip service to this, but why has it not been done? Securing the borders is necessary but not sufficient to prevent massive illegal immigration. Nearly half of all illegal immigrants do not sneak across the border. They enter with tourist, student, or work visas and then go illegal.

8. Implement Entry/Exit. Monitor those who enter and leave the country. This is

   important to prevent terrorism and illegal immigration due to massive unchecked visa violations.

9. Support Local Enforcement. Federal cooperation with and assistance to state and

   local law enforcement agencies to remove illegal immigrants.

10. Punish Business Violators. Remove economic incentives for businesses to hire illegal foreign workers. This would include tax policies, fines, and possible incarceration.

11. Refugee Fraud. The “Temporary Protected Status” of refugees is being badly abused and should be reformed.
12. End Birthright Citizenship. Nearly all advanced nations have ended this much abused policy resulting in over 350,000 births to illegal immigrants per year. This is a substantial burden on healthcare facilities and taxpayers and retards the exit of illegal immigrant parents.
    

NumbersUSA has a tough political grading system that penalizes equivocal answers or failure to address the issues. Many are failing to address the issues, and some candidate positions are rather slippery. Obama gets and F-, but so far not many of the Republican hopefuls come close to NumbersUSA standards. Many candidates talk tough on border security but avoid straight-forward positions on amnesty, reducing legal immigration, and enforcement measures. Presidential hopeful ratings are currently: Bachmann with B-; Cain and Romney with C-; Palin with D; Gingrich, Huntsman, and Perry with D-; and Christie, Santorum, Johnson, and Paul with F. See www.numbersusa.com for specific comments and details.

If jobs and the economy are important, then immigration policy is important. Voters should not let politicians get away with shallow or evasive answers or not taking a stand on important policy questions.