ORDERLY
IMMIGRATION
INTO THE UNITED STATES
SYNOPSIS:
If one billion of the inhabitants of the planet Earth
would like to move to the United States of America,
only a small percentage
of these will have this dream fulfilled.
Every country has the right to limit immigration.
How shall we in the USA choose new immigrants?
OUTLINE:
1. CORRECTING PRESENT LAWS AND PRACTICES
A. KEEP FAMILIES
TOGETHER.
B. REGISTER ALL
RESIDENTS OF
THE USA.
C. SIMPLIFY THE RULES.
2. SELECTING NEW AMERICANS
3. NEW IMMIGRANTS CAN BECOME CITIZENS
AFTER
FIVE YEARS
ORDERLY
IMMIGRATION
INTO THE UNITED STATES
by
James Leonard Park
Is the USA the most desirable country on Earth?
If all borders were open, how many people would move to America?
Where would these millions of immigrants live?
How would the USA adjust to such a population explosion?
Completely open immigration does not seem likely
to be the result of any immigration reform in the USA.
Accepting one billion new people would completely change
America.
We are now over 300,000,000 people.
Adding 1,000,000,000 people would make our new total 1.3 billion.
The USA would have as many people as China.
That is just not going to
happen.
Long before the USA had the same population as China,
immigrants would stop coming
because of overcrowding in America.
Under present immigration laws and practices,
the USA accepts one million authorized
immigrants each year.
Any immigration reform is certain to start with this number.
Should we increase or
decrease the number of
new residents in the USA?
Many foreign nationals also move to America without
permission.
The exact numbers are difficult to determine
because all secret migrants want to remain unknown.
Becoming a citizen of the United States of
America
is a privilege not a right.
One implication of this recognition is that
people who entered the USA without permission
do not have an automatic
right to live in America indefinitely.
And this fact is not likely to change under any immigration reform.
Does anyone seriously
advocate completely open borders?
So, if we are going to continue to control the movements of population,
what new laws and practices should we create?
1. CORRECTING PRESENT LAWS AND PRACTICES
The very idea of "immigration reform"
begins with the present patterns.
Some of the most dramatic problems with our present practices
result from the rigid applications of rules,
which sometimes results in breaking up families.
When a family now living in the United States
is made up of some members who are U.S. citizens
and some members who are citizen
of other countries,
then sometimes the foreign nationals have been deported,
without regard to what this does to the whole family.
A. KEEP FAMILIES
TOGETHER.
When a household has members who are citizens
of various countries,
then an immigration judge should determine the citizenship of each
person,
including their connections with other family members living in the USA
who do not live
under the same roof.
These immigration judges will be operating under
whatever new rules
we put into the revised immigration laws of the United States.
And, of course, the wishes of all persons involved will be considered.
Thus, the first step in deciding what should happen
to each family
is to create a list of all
family members with their citizenships noted.
And it will be relevant to know how each citizen of the USA
gained that citizenship—by
being born in the USA or by naturalization?
What citizenship does each person claim?
What proofs of citizenship
exist for each member of the family ?
If some might be citizens of other countries,
do their homelands acknowledge them as citizens?
Once the full family picture has been
established,
including the legal citizenship of each member,
then the most appropriate country for them to live in
will be decided by the immigration judge,
following whatever new rules
of family preservation exist at that time.
The most common form of family structure
consists of a father and mother and their dependent children.
But many other variations should also be taken into account.
We certainly want to avoid tearing apart nuclear
families
just become some members have no permission to be in the USA.
Here is one possibility not usually mentioned:
Even tho some wish to stay in the USA,
it would be possible to keep the family together
by having them move as a
family group back to the country
where most of them
are legal residents or citizens.
If (as is often the case), the children are U.S.
citizens
by
birth,
they would not lose their rights as U.S. citizens
simply by moving back to the country where their parents are citizens.
When these children become adults
---old enough to
live on their own
(which would have to be decided by each family)---
then these new adults would be permitted to re-enter the USA
because of their well-established U.S. citizenship.
Or they could choose to continue to live in the country
where their parents are citizens.
They might apply to become naturalized citizens of their parents'
country.
Or they might seek dual
citizenship.
And later, all could apply to emigrate to the USA,
using the revised procedures then in effect.
And this prospective immigrant family would include in their
application
the fact of having adult children who are already American citizens.
B. REGISTER ALL
RESIDENTS OF
THE USA.
Many of the problems of current immigration law and
practice
result from a mass of people
living in the shadows.
Millions of people who are not citizens of the USA
but who are living in the United States at least part of
each year
want to remain hidden from all authorities.
As a part of comprehensive identification of all
people living in the USA
(or as a step toward creating a National
Identity
File for each person),
everyone should be
registered with the U.S. government.
Such registration would include a picture of each and every person,
whether or not that person is a legal resident of the USA or a citizen.
This universal registration would explicitly include
all citizens of other
countries settled in the USA.
And it would include all relevant family relationships.
Such a registration would only be possible after
revising our laws
so that citizens of other countries settled in the USA
would not be automatically deported
upon
being discovered.
Instead of taking citizens of other countries into
custody,
we would create a temporary File in the National identity
Bureau
for each citizen of another country found to be living in the USA.
Such foreign nationals would be permitted to remain in the United
States,
continuing their everyday lives as before,
until a comprehensive
decision is made about their whole family.
A reasonable time for completing such investigations might be 12
months.
Further investigation of these family relationships
would result in
additional residents being registered with the National
Identity Bureau.
Just the fact that such persons formerly living in
the shadows
have now been officially registered with all levels of
government
will allow them to live more openly without fear of automatic
deportation
if ever they seek medical care, register their children in local
schools,
require public assistance, or need to call the police.
Many problems for citizens of other countries
settled
in the USA
are created precisely by our current laws and practices.
For example, many foreign nationals are exploited by employers
because the bosses can threaten the employees with deportation
if the foreign nationals complain about anything.
Some foreign nationals work in the underground
economy
because they cannot get regular jobs,
which would require them to be legal residents of the United States.
Universal registration of all people living in the USA
—including
their places of employment—
would bring much of the underground economy above ground.
When citizens of other countries are registered and
identified
without being automatically deported,
they will be able to leave
the underground economy.
They will come under all laws with regard to employment:
They will be paid at least the minimum wage.
They will establish legitimate records with the Social
Security Administration,
which will allow them to collect social security benefits
when they reach retirement age.
Their working conditions will come under laws protecting workers
from unsafe and unhealthy conditions.
They will no longer be held in virtual slavery,
constantly under the threat of deportation
if they do not comply with the demands of their employers.
Complete registration of all citizens of other countries is explored
here:
"Register all Foreign Nationals: Carrots & Sticks":
https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/CY-REG.html
How to register foreign nationals without deporting
them is explored here:
"Registration without Deportation:
Bringing Millions of Foreign Nationals Out of the Shadows":
https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/CY-REG-D.html
C. SIMPLIFY THE RULES.
Under our current—very
complicated—immigration
rules,
special lawyers help citizens of other countries to
'game the system'.
When immigration lawyers help citizen of other countries
to take advantage of small exceptions in U.S. immigration law,
this is a sign of the need to change such provisions
so that everyone will be
able to understand the new, simple principles
for entering the USA and for applying for citizenship.
Claiming fictitious family relationships
is one area of immigration
fraud that should be prevented
by any revision of our immigration laws.
Birthright
citizenship is probably the greatest change we might enact.
We might decide not to grant
automatic citizenship
to children born to foreign nationals while they were in the United
States.
Such a change of citizenship-law would not affect the citizenship
of people already born under the old law.
But it would remove one significant means of 'gaming the system'.
Then, children born to foreign nationals
would have the same
citizenship as their parents
---just as now happens when American women give birth outside the USA.
Children born to American mothers (no matter where they give birth)
are automatically American citizens.
[Click
this link: Born
in the USA for more discussion of birthright citizenship.]
Should we
eliminate national quotas?
Under present law and practice, each nation of the world
has a quota of permitted immigrants for each year.
What sense does this make?
Might such quotas for immigration be based on race?
A more rational system of immigration
would publish a list
of the occupations in need of new
people.
And this list would change from year to year,
depending on changing circumstances in the United States.
When new immigrants are permitted to emigrate to the
USA,
it should be stated clearly in advance
exactly what family members (with their names and pictures)
will be permitted to emigrate with the parents.
This will permit each nuclear family to come to the USA as a unit.
The father, mother, & all dependent children will come as a family.
But they will not be permitted later to claim additional family members.
Persons granted permission to emigrate to the USA
could later become citizens according to the established procedures.
And then they might act as sponsors for more distant family members.
But these additional family members would be admitted
according to the same
principles as apply
to all other applicants for emigration to the USA.
2. SELECTING NEW AMERICANS
As a democratic society based on the rule of law,
the United States of America has a right and a duty
to create new criteria for choosing
who will be given permission to
come into the USA.
Our Congress and President will create new laws
that reform our present immigration laws and practices.
Because so many millions of people would like to
come to the USA,
we can afford to be selective:
We can choose those individuals
who have the most to
contribute
to our society.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security
would establish criteria for the most desirable immigrants.
In the past, we have already had lists of occupations
that did not have enough people already living in the USA
to fill all of the positions available.
For example, sometimes there are not enough people
with the technical expertise needed by industry.
And there might be times in the future
when the USA does not have enough doctors or other health-care workers.
If and when such a shortage is documented
(by the fact that there are openings in such occupations
that are not being filled by legal residents of the USA),
then the State Department could tell all U.S. embassies around the world
exactly what kinds of people we are looking for to fill these
occupations.
The embassies are the locations where citizens of
other countries
apply for visas to come into the United States
---either temporarily as visitors, students, vacationers, seasonal
workers, etc.
or as permanent residents planning to become American citizens.
Exactly what
the United States needs to make our society better
would be public information for everyone in the world.
And the mass media of all countries would inform everyone
whenever a new need is announced by the USA.
And the applications for immigration submitted to
our embassies
would include all of the appropriate information
explaining how the applicants would fill the identified gaps.
Sometimes it would work from the other direction:
A U.S. company might already have identified a foreign national
they would like to hire for a specific position that is open.
And then the visa process should be even shorter and simpler:
This new immigrant already
has a job waiting for him or her in the USA.
When the proper paperwork has been completed,
that person can be admitted immediately to the United States,
where he or she will establish a place to live
and move his or her whole nuclear family to that new place of
residence.
And the new immigrant can take the waiting job
as soon as all of the arrangements can be completed.
If this selected immigrant has a spouse and/or
children,
these additional immigrants would also be admitted as a routine matter.
Unless there are definite reasons not to allow some specific
person
to emigrate with the principal immigrant
(such as a member of the family being in prison for some crime),
then the whole family will come to the USA as a unit.
Probably more distant relatives will not
automatically be included.
But in their separate applications to emigrate to the USA,
they should mention the fact that other family members
already have permission to emigrate or are already living in America.
The spouse and children of the principal immigrant
will not have to show that they will contribute to the U.S. culture.
Some of them will be far too young to have shown
what they might later offer to America.
Thus our system of immigration will take a chance with all
dependents.
But this is not much different from taking the same chance
with all people who are merely born in the USA.
If all people born in the USA had to show
that they would contribute
to the American culture rather than being a drag on society,
not everyone would pass the test.
This means that immigrants are being held to a
higher standard
than the people already Americans by birth.
But since only a tiny portion of would-be immigrants
can be admitted,
don't we have a right to choose the best possible immigrants?
New immigrants can be expected to be above average.
Thus, the process of immigration will enrich the culture
of the USA.
Every new immigrant family should contribute more than it
costs.
3. NEW IMMIGRANTS CAN BECOME
CITIZENS AFTER FIVE YEARS
If everything is fulfilled according to the original
plans
outlined in the first visa admitting this family,
they will apply for citizenship after five years.
During this probationary period, the Department of
Homeland Security
will be responsible to keep
track of this new family.
Those who are old enough to work will have their employment recorded.
They will pay taxes on their income.
Younger members of the family will be enrolled in schools or colleges.
(Some of them might also have jobs.)
If any of them are convicted of breaking any laws,
that will be recorded in their National Identity Files
or in their individual files in the Department of Homeland Security.
Simple offenses will not be sufficient to deny
anyone citizenship.
And the positive things they achieve will be measured against the
negative.
For example, if one member of the family is an alcoholic,
who is convicted several times of drunk-driving,
this will be a factor against
accepting that person as a citizen.
But the immigration judge who must ultimately decide
will also hear all the positive contributions of this person.
In the past, sometime simple offenses,
which do not even warrant any time in prison,
have been used to exclude individuals from continuing to live in the
USA.
The immigration judge will also try to keep all
nuclear families together,
especially when there are dependent children.
But keeping the family together does not mean overlooking
offenses
that would result in returning the offender to his or her country of
citizenship
if that person were not a part of a nuclear family.
Perhaps the immigration judge will keep the whole
family together
by returning them as a group
to their country of citizenship.
A possible exception to this family-unity principle
might be a young adult who committed significant crimes while a
teen-ager.
The immigration judge could approve U.S. citizenship for the parents
while deciding that the criminal child will not become
a U.S. citizen.
And that young adult would be returned to the country of
citizenship.
Each such case would have to be decided on an individual basis,
with all appropriate means of appeal when the case does not obviously
fit
the criteria set forth in the new law of immigration.
Immigration reform will change our basic concept of
"immigrant".
Because of the selection process,
new immigrants will be better
than average
rather than people who need a lot of help to fit into the American
culture.
We will select the most intelligent and best educated of the applicants.
We will look for the people who are most creative and committed.
The new immigrants will begin to contribute to America
as soon as they get settled and begin their new jobs.
The five-year waiting period will present no
problems
for the vast majority of foreign nationals approved for
immigration.
They will show that the process worked well in selecting
the best of the
millions of people who want to live in the
USA.