[QUOTE=elucidator]
Begging your indulgence, Eva, I am not well informed enough on these issues to ask the intelligent questions. (Hey, I’m only one guy, brilliant, sure, but still…) I would be interested, therefore, in your take on the issues due to the high probability that I am likely to adopt them as mine own. I realise this will put you in the unenviable position of defending your “take” from many directions. In a way, its kind of like drafting a candidate: “Eva knows her shit, lets listen to her!”
And if I can’t convince you that stern duty demands, I’m not above resorting to flattery to have my way.
[/QUOTE]
So basically you are asking me to come up with an intelligent, airtight, criticism-proof comprehensive immigration reform program? Thanks for the flattery, indeed, by the implication that I (or, indeed, anyone) would be capable of such a thing. I’m much better at poking holes in other people’s opinions than I am at fixing entire systems that are as dysfunctional as this one is, and hey, there’s definitely a good reason I’ve never gone into politics.
Where to start? Well, I believe in starting by first defining the problem(s). Do you think it’s a problem that so many people are sneaking into the U.S. illegally or remaining illegally? Do you think it’s a problem that so many U.S. employers, knowingly and/or unknowingly, hire people who are not legally authorized to work in the U.S.? Do you think it’s a problem that U.S. employers have apparently found it in their best interests to do so, and/or that the regulations on determining who is legally eligible to work in the U.S. legally (or who can work in the U.S. legally if an employer petitions for them, etc.) are so complicated that even most lawyers (and for that matter, those who have drafted and/or are charged with enforcing the rules) don’t understand the rules? Do you think that immigrants displacing U.S. workers is a problem? If so, do you think it’s across the board, or just in certain occupations or at certain skill levels? If you believe there is a shortage of U.S. workers for certain jobs, do you think the immigration system should address that shortage from within the U.S. at the same time that it addresses remedying them by bringing in foreign workers?
Do you believe that it’s a problem that people here legally, either as permanent residents or U.S. citizens, need to expend many years and often thousands of dollars to bring their relatives to the U.S. legally, if it’s even possible at all? Or do you think that leaving one’s family behind, for years on end or even forever, is a sacrifice that one must be willing to make in order to enjoy the benefits of living in the U.S.?
So basically, I am the first to acknowledge that U.S. immigration policy is an immensely complex system even when it works as it’s intended, which it hasn’t been doing in living memory, if ever. There are myriad interests and incentives, legitimate and not-so-legitimate, at play against each other, and I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I will do my best, however, to help anyone who is truly interested in understanding the facts and forces at play. So go ahead, shoot (metaphorically, of course). And I’m not above a bit of flattery now and again, for that matter. 