It appears Congress may be close to resolving a major sticking point regarding immigration reform: What to do about the 12 million–or more–illegal immigrants now in the country. Although one wing of the GOP will call anything that allows them to have even temporary legal status “amnesty” (we’re looking your way, Russell Pearce), it appears that the Senate bill will likely be similar to U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake’s STRIVE Act, which would force undocumented workers to pay a $500 fine to allow them to stay in the United States for up to six years. If they don’t have a criminal record, they can start on a path of citizenship if they return to their home countries to start the paperwork–and go to the back of the line.
Nicole Gaouette of the Los Angeles Times tells us:
WASHINGTON — With a deadline looming to craft an accord on immigration reform, a bipartisan group of senators has agreed that their final compromise should immediately grant legal status to all illegal immigrants currently in the U.S.
But disagreements still cloud overall progress and as senators met for a final, potentially decisive session later today, some questioned whether they would be able to reach a compromise.
“I’m still not sure we’re going to reach an agreement,” said Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), on his way to a Republican strategy session before the bipartisan group met. He said one problem was that Democrats continually reopen issues that Republicans considered settled.
This article appears in May 10-16, 2007.
Can anybody — anybody — tell me why there is no enforcement of the laws prohibiting employers from hiring illegal immigrants?
Why is this? It should be easy enough to answer, right?
#1. At the risk of the big someones throwing the big fit, Red Star will tell you that USA has huge and entrenched labor mobility problems when it comes to emigration compared to immigration at low wage levels (one of the key phrases being “…low wage levels”) In other words, it is apparently economically and socially rational to stay put (geographically and psychologically) at $8.00 per hour for USA citizens, so they do that. They stay put (needless to say, resettlement and retraining programs as enacted by Lenin, Stalin, Chairman Mao aren’t viable in USA). On the other hand, it is not economically and socially rational to stay put in another country if there are powerful economic and social incentives to go elsewhere…to immigrate. So they do that. (Little do they know…)
(In other, other words, most of the emigration at low wage levels that was ever going to occur, has already occurred. The economic, social, demographic forces, not to mention decades of public policy choices, can’t be unwound by enforcing laws that were part of long ago badly-premised and shortsighted public policy…so the laws aren’t totally enforced, but rather, “adapted” and the media focus is understandably concentrated on that)
Next, let us complain about all the parenthesis above!