Immigration

It is being reported that 5% of the work force is made up of 'illegal' immigrants. 5% !!!!

Has it ever occured to the conventional wisdom (ie the Public) that maybe, just maybe, the process for 'legal' immigration is too burdensome? too complicated? too bureaucratic?

The public want's lawful immigration. The public thinks it wants fewer immigrants. And yet 5% of the workforce chooses not to follow the 'legal' process. The overwealming majority of those 5% are law abiding (aside from the immigration mind you), tax paying, hard working residents. The kind of people we want right? So what is the problem?

I need to do some more reading up on the actual process it takes for someone to lawfully enter the country. Suffice it to say, it can take months, well over a year even, for a business to secure the proper paperwork to lawfully bring a foreigner into the country to work. The country of origin matters greatly. But still. The problem is that the process is too complicated, too under funded, and too under staffed. Multiply that by millions and you hopefully begin to see why this just doesn't work.

What does the conventional wisdom want? More law enforcement!!!! HUH?

What happened to:

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, your homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

You know back when that was inscribed, there was little to no paperwork required for immigration. You just paid your fare for a boat and showed up. No invite. No lottery. No months of waiting. For some you got shuffled into the likes of Ellis Island where they processed you as best they could with what you brought. They logged your entry and you were on your way. With luck you found a job quickly. For many others it was depart from the boat and there you were.

Now obviously this would seem to be to lax for today's world but the system we got isn't working either. The answer isn't more barriers.

To shut the door, put up a wall, station armed men on the border, to me is just wrong.


On a side note... when travelling to Europe, no one asked us to fill out forms. No one was waiting in customs to check our bags. No lines. This is both before and after 9/11. In contrast coming to the United States, citizens had to fill out a couple forms, visitors had 3 or 4 to fill out. No help in getting these done. You got them on the plane. I felt bad on one flight for some Polish woman who just stared at the papers utterly befuddled. She was clearly singled out as a foreigner. Not so going to Europe. Once departed in the U.S., you get long assed lines at customs and immigration. Naturally the visitor one is painfully long and slow moving. If my line was that long, I would be MAJORLY pissed off. Us.. them. There was a certain indignity to it all. Their bags get checked, ours don't. It is a testament to what people will endure to get here.