Dramatically strengthen the enforcement of current laws and reduce the level of legal immigration.
Reform immigration law to match the needs of the economy – bring in more highly-skilled immigrants and create a guest worker program for low-skilled immigrants.
Reform the system to take advantage of the enormous contributions immigrants make to the U.S. and give decent, honest undocumented workers a clear path to citizenship
Our immigration system is out of control. With about 11.7 million illegal immigrants living in the United States and nearly half a million new ones arriving each year, the current system undercuts American workers and risks allowing dangerous criminals and terrorists into the U.S. It’s just wrong to tolerate the widespread breaking of the law.
About 15 percent of U.S. workers are immigrants, and over the last decade they have accounted for about half of the growth in the work force. Our economy just won’t function well without them, but we need to adjust the system so that we really do bring in the people who can help us most.
The United States is a nation of immigrants, and our whole society benefits from having a humane policy that recognizes the vast majority of undocumented workers have become valued members of our society. Plus, the country basically allowed illegal entry for decades. To suddenly pull the rug out from under people who have built good lives here is just wrong.
Dramatically strengthen the enforcement of current laws and reduce the level of legal immigration.
Reform immigration law to match the needs of the economy – bring in more highly-skilled immigrants and create a guest worker program for low-skilled immigrants.
Reform the system to take advantage of the enormous contributions immigrants make to the U.S. and give decent, honest undocumented workers a clear path to citizenship
What should be done?
Employ more Border Patrol agents, build high-tech barriers along the border and make illegal immigration a felony.
Pursue and punish employers who hire undocumented workers and require that employers check the status of all new and current workers in a government database. Employers who do not fire workers without valid Social Security numbers should face very serious fines.
Require that illegal immigrants already here pay stiff fines, learn English and apply for citizenship. If they are unwilling to do this, they should be deported. We cannot round up and deport 11.7 million people, but we can make sure that those who stay here have a genuine commitment to becoming Americans.
Give notice that all future visa violators and other illegal immigrants will be prosecuted and deported.
Reduce the level of legal immigration until we get a better handle on its impact on the economy.
Creating a guest worker program, so that employers who need agricultural and other low-skilled workers can bring them into the U.S. in a legal, but temporary way.
Adjusting the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country annually to fit the existing job market. The number would be increased or decreased each year depending on the jobs available.
Bringing in more highly-skilled science and technology workers, as long as employers say they need them. Our schools are just not producing enough people who are prepared and want to go into these fields, so these immigrants would give our economy a competitive edge.
Passing a compassionate and fair-minded amnesty program that gives undocumented residents without a criminal record the opportunity to legalize their status. We can’t round up and punish 11.7 million people who are our neighbors and co-workers. It just won’t work.
Increasing the number of slots for legal immigration so that foreigners will not be so tempted to enter illegally.
Providing driver’s licenses and identity cards for all those who enter the country for more than six months so that we can strengthen security and law enforcement.
Ensuring that legal immigrants receive educational benefits -- including real opportunities to learn English -- and have good access to health care and other basic rights.
Arguments For This Approach
It is dangerous and wrong to make it so easy to slip into the country illegally. The 9/11 Commission Report noted that several of the September 11th hijackers could have been detected and removed if immigration officials had enforced routine immigration checks.
We’ve let immigration get out of control, and we need to establish a system where our laws will be respected and people who violate them will not benefit from their law-breaking.
People are coming here for jobs. Cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants, whether they are large companies or private individuals, will remove the economic incentive to do so.
We need skilled foreign workers. Companies like Microsoft, GE and IBM can’t get the highly-skilled engineers and specialists they need, so we simply have to bring them in from abroad. Our economy depends on it.
We also need workers willing to take on the tough, low-wage jobs that most Americans do not want. Our economy cannot run without them, and a guest worker program is the the best way is to invite low-skilled immigrants here Immigrants who come here to work pay taxes that are vital to keeping our government programs like Social Security strong.
For more than a hundred years, immigrants have come here and aspired to build a better life for their families. How can we deny to others the opportunity that brought our own families here?
The United States is a beacon of hope around the world. Though we struggle with our share of prejudice and racism, we have managed to mold a united country with shared values of freedom and equality. It's something to take pride in, not something to fight against.
Legal immigrants pay taxes and contribute to Social Security. Because of immigration, the U.S. is substantially better off than many European countries where the population is aging so dramatically.
Most immigrants show a genuine appreciation for this country and want to be part of it. Often, immigrants understand the true value of freedom and opportunity better than many native-born Americans.
Arguments Against This Approach
Drastically cutting the number of immigrants will derail the economy. Employers rely on well-educated immigrants for scientific and technical help and on less-educated immigrants to do jobs that Americans won’t take. It’s just irresponsible to ignore this reality.
This massive crackdown will be costly and will end up punishing good people who are contributing to our society – both immigrants and employers.
This violates a basic principle of our country. We have always welcomed immigrants, and our country is stronger and more dynamic because of it.
Many Americans are struggling economically. The government should not make things worse by inviting millions of immigrants to work for low wages and no benefits. It would be better to raise the minimum wage and guarantee benefits for all. Then Americans would be happy to take these jobs.
A guest worker program just lets American companies get by on the cheap labor and creates an underclass of poor immigrants who will be a drain on local schools and health systems.
Unless we really crack down on enforcement and border control, illegal immigration will continue to flourish. This approach does almost nothing to address this problem.
Providing immigrants with basically an open-door policy and generous public services will turn the United States into a magnet for the world's poor.
This choice does almost nothing to address the lax border enforcement. We live in a dangerous world, and no country can afford to let tens of thousands of people enter each year illegally.
We aren’t even taking good care of the educational and healthcare needs of our own citizens. We just cannot afford to help everyone who wants to come here.
Amnesty programs have been tried before and only encourage more illegal immigration. What message are we sending when we reward people for breaking the law? Is it fair to those people who have followed the rules and are still waiting their turn to get here?
Talk It Over