**OFFICIAL** Illegal Immigration Reform Thread.

[BigRedChief]

You know its coming. As soon as the fiscal cliff is finished, illegal immigration is next.

Sen. Graham and Sen. Shumar have already resumed their illegal immigration talks from two years ago. Both were on the sunday shows talking about the plan. Both are seeing a possible huge bi-partisan deal is now possible based on their earlier work form two years ago.

Main points of the deal:

• Lock down the border. Spend whatever money and political will to truly stop the flow of people over our borders.
• A nationwide verification of employment. The idea is to come up with some kind of non forgeable document. A E-Verify for immigrants.
• Increase legal immigration, especially for scientists, engineers and other fields that benefit America or workers are in short supply, i.e. workers who pick our produce in the fields.
• Stiff and severe penalties for businesses that hire illegals after the "E-Verify type" system is in place.
• The Dream act is part of the total package.
• Every illegal in the country is possible allowed to stay legally in the country. The conditions are:

1. They must enter into that "E-Verify type" system.
2. They are allowed to apply for citizenship but they go to the back of the line of people that already have green cards or have already applied for citizenship.
3. They must pay a fine for entering the country illegally.
4. They are allowed to stay as long until their citizenship paperwork is finalized, as long as they commit no crimes and pay all taxes that everyone else pays. Failure to so that = immediate deportation.
5. What crime is deportable is TBD.
6. Size of the fine is TBD.

The Gang of Six bipartisan proposal.

Today a group of powerful U.S. Senators announced they have agreed to a framework on comprehensive immigration reform. The bipartisan group includes Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Michael Bennett (D-CO), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), John McCain (R-AZ), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ). The fact that both parties have agreed to the deal gives it much better prospects for passage.

Path to Citizenship

• The bill would include a “tough, fair, and practical roadmap to address the status of unauthorized immigrants in the United States.” At the same time, the framework states that this path to citizenship would be “contingent upon our success in securing our borders and addressing visa overstays.”
• The bill would require those currently living in the United States illegally to register with the government, pass a background check, and settle their debt to society by paying a fine and back taxes. Individuals with a serious criminal background or those who “pose a threat to our national security” would be ineligible and subject to deportation.
• Current restrictions keeping non-immigrants from accessing “public benefits” would also apply to those who are on the path the citizenship.
• Once they have passed the background check and paid their “debt to society”, those on “probationary legal status” will be placed at the back of the line for prospective immigrants. These probationary immigrants will then have to “pass another background check, pay taxes, learn English and civics, demonstrate a history of work in the United States, and current employment” in order to apply for lawful permanent residency.
• Exemptions would be made for minors who did not knowingly violate U.S. immigration laws when they entered the United States and agricultural workers.

Border Security

• The Bill would increase Border Patrol efforts by “providing them with the latest technology, infrastructure, and personnel needed.” The legislation would increase the number of Border Patrol agents and the number of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, monitoring the border.
• The bill would “strengthen prohibitions against racial profiling and inappropriate use of force” by increasing the training of border patrol agents and increasing oversight.
• The bill would create an “entry-exit system” that would track whether all persons entering the United States on a temporary visa leave the country as required by law.
• The bill would create a commission of “governors, attorneys general, and community leaders living along the Southwest border to monitor the progress of securing our border and make recommendations.”

Skilled Worker Immigration

• The bill would develop a “rational legal immigration system” to reduce the backlog of visas which force families to live apart and keep specialized jobs unfilled.
• The bill would also award a green card to immigrants who receive a PhD or Master’s degree in science, technology, engineering, or math from an American university.

Employment Verification

• The bill would implement a “fast and reliable method to confirm whether new hires are legally authorized to work in the United States.”
• The bill would place stiff fines and criminal penalties on employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers.

Low Skilled Workers

• The bill would allow “more lower-skilled immigrants to come here when our economy is creating jobs, and fewer when our economy is not creating jobs.”
• Employers who want to hire lower-skilled immigrants would have to demonstrate that they could not successfully recruit an American and that the hiring of the immigrant will not displace American workers

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by patteeu

How about preference for skilled/educated people over the unskilled/uneducated?

yes, I can get in front of this, Defintely without a doubt, these people should move to the front of the line.

Originally Posted by patteeu

Leaving aside whether or not it could ever happen, do you guys think it would be a good thing for our country to give those who have gone to the effort to learn our language preferential position when it comes to legal immigration? If not, why not?

I would also be good with some system to incentify potential immigrants to better embrace America and its social and cultural heritage.

Something along the lines of the civil service test if you are a veteran, you get more points in the hiring process.

We Dem's need to listen to and address some of the R's legitimate concerns about immigration. This needs to be bi-partisan.

[Direckshun]

Your OP missed out on our immigration system.

Legal immigration is cumbersome, difficult, oftentimes takes years and years and years of waiting if you come from a non-approved country like Mexico.

It's part of the reason people commit illegal immigration in the first place. When your life is very troubled, you often times can't wait the decade of whatever that it takes to get approved to immigrate.

Edit: You did mention it after all -- though you did not mention a potential solution of making legal immigration a faster, easier process.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Your OP missed out on our immigration system.

Legal immigration is cumbersome, difficult, oftentimes takes years and years and years of waiting if you come from a non-approved country like Mexico.

It's part of the reason people commit illegal immigration in the first place. When your life is very troubled, you often times can't wait the decade of whatever that it takes to get approved to immigrate.

I was trying to keep the OP a just the facts post. Here's what these two senators are going to push for. I didn't read or hear of anything from those two on fixing the beauracy or speeding up the immigration process besides those more important to Amerca get to jump the line.

the line would still be there.

[craneref]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Your OP missed out on our immigration system.

Legal immigration is cumbersome, difficult, oftentimes takes years and years and years of waiting if you come from a non-approved country like Mexico.

It's part of the reason people commit illegal immigration in the first place. When your life is very troubled, you often times can't wait the decade of whatever that it takes to get approved to immigrate.

Edit: You did mention it after all -- though you did not mention a potential solution of making legal immigration a faster, easier process.

I still don'tunderstand the point? You say that if you can't wait it is OK to break the law? My wife and adopted son are both naturalized citizens and stood in line for their turn. I couldn't even bring my adopted son to the US to visit for 4+ years. I had to prove that he was indeed living with me and was part of the family. He was born in Nov 1997, and I barely got paperwork in time to bring him back to the States in Mar 2003, in fact the day before we were scheduled to fly out. So I don't buy the I can't wait that long excuse. I am not opposed to simplifying the process, but until that happens, I have no sympathy for those who intentionally broke the law to get waht they wanted. The USA STILL allows plenty of imigration opportunities.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by craneref

I still don'tunderstand the point? You say that if you can't wait it is OK to break the law?

I didn't remotely say that.

[craneref]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I didn't remotely say that.

It's part of the reason people commit illegal immigration in the first place. When your life is very troubled, you often times can't wait the decade of whatever that it takes to get approved to immigrate.

so am I reading this statement wrong?

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by craneref

It's part of the reason people commit illegal immigration in the first place. When your life is very troubled, you often times can't wait the decade of whatever that it takes to get approved to immigrate.

so am I reading this statement wrong?

Well you copied and pasted it effectively.

I'm not excusing illegal immigration or cheering it on. I just explained a reason as to why it so often occurs.

[Iowanian]

drone strikes.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Agree on the first point. Without it, everything else falls apart.

Second point is never going to happen. You know that's not ever going to happen, correct?

Why not? It's required of ALL naturalized citizens.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Your OP missed out on our immigration system.

Legal immigration is cumbersome, difficult, oftentimes takes years and years and years of waiting if you come from a non-approved country like Mexico.

It's part of the reason people commit illegal immigration in the first place. When your life is very troubled, you often times can't wait the decade of whatever that it takes to get approved to immigrate.

Edit: You did mention it after all -- though you did not mention a potential solution of making legal immigration a faster, easier process.

So, you want to make the legal immigration process easier and faster for Mexicans, even unskilled?

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Donger

Why not? It's required of ALL naturalized citizens.

Using incentives like the ones mentioned earlier is a better way to go to accomplish the same goals.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Using incentives like the ones mentioned earlier is a better way to go to accomplish the same goals.

Huh?

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Donger

Huh?

Did you not read the whole thread?

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by Ugly Duck

Reagan did it. Grant them amnesty & hope that they vote for your party.

Impossible. Reagan was a conservative, or so I'm told.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Did you not read the whole thread?

Yes. WHat incentives? Why should any "amnesty" also not include requiring English?