The Solution To Illegal Immigration Is Legal Immigration

First of all, there are no undocumented aliens. Undocumented aliens are Japanese (or any nationality) tourists who came to the US and lost their visa at Disney World. Let call them what it is - illegal aliens. And it is a travesty that they are illegal aliens and not legal aliens. The current issue we have concerning illegal immigrants did not not appear out of the blue. The massive numbers of illegal immigrants did not cross the border yesterday, they came in the period of many years. And like it or not, they came because there is a demand for unskill jobs due to our unprecedent economic growth.

But the demand for labor was predictable and should have been anticipated. Therefore the current problem is mainly the fault of Congress and the President - not only this one but previous ones as well - going back at least 10 years. They should have anticipated the labor demand in our economy and adjust their immigration policy accordingly. They should have granted more working visas or came up with a guest worker program that meet our labor need. That means we could have had the same number of immigrants - but legal instead of illegal. We could have picked and chose the best of them base on skill, language, and education - as well as the lack of criminal record. We could have had a much more diverse immigrant population - representing the world at large instead of one single ethnic group. We could have had an immigrant population who are waving the Old Glory instead of a foreign color.

I think the current problem is more complex than people realize and requires several approachs. Building a fence alone does not solve the labor need. Amnesty will not end the incoming flow of illegal immgrants. The problem requires a multi-prongs solution beginning with tightening control of the border. Let make illegal tresspassing into the US a felony with some prison times. Next we have to deal with the illegal immgrants that are here and it is a complex solution. Deporting all of them at once is not a feasible and practical solution. There are too many of them; and who would do the work if they are gone? People who favor deportation will change their mind quickly when there are no fruits in the supermarkets. The practical solution would be slowly deporting people at the sametime rapidly increase the number of authorized employment visa - equal to the rate of people we deport. Let also distribute those visas equally across the globe so that we can have a more diverse population and increase the chance of assimilation. We can also lowering the labor demand by implementing free trade policy. Many of the jobs that illegal immigrants are performing would disappear if we have a sensible trade policy. Let start with ending the agriculture subsidy. It is much better to import fruit from Mexico than importing illegal aliens.