Immigration reform should not include amnesty for
all foreigners
who entered the United States of America without permission.
But it should include new
pathways to U.S.
citizenship
for most citizens of
other countries who are already living in the USA.
What new processes of screening and evaluation
should be used
for selecting new Americans from among the foreign nationals
already settled in the United States without permission?
In order not to encourage additional unauthorized
immigration,
the in-country pathways to U.S. citizenship might be more demanding
than following the established means of emigrating to the USA.
OUTLINE:
1. HOW LONG SHOULD IT TAKE TO BECOME A U.S. CITIZEN? 2.
NEW, ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS TO U.S. CITIZENSHIP
SHOULD BE MORE DIFFICULT,
NOT EASIER.
3.
REGISTERED FOREIGN NATIONALS
SHOULD BE
MONITORED WITH SPECIAL CARE.
4.
FOREIGN NATIONALS SHOULD PAY TAXES
DURING THEIR
YEARS OF PROBATION.
5. SHOULD FOREIGN NATIONALS PAY A FEE
WHEN
REGISTERING WITH THE
UNITED
STATES?
6.
SHOULD SOME FOREIGN
NATIONALS BE INCARCERATED?
7.
NEW PATHWAYS TO AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP
SUGGESTED BY
FOREIGN NATIONALS.
CREATING
NEW PATHWAYS TO AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP
by
James Leonard Park
1. HOW LONG SHOULD IT TAKE
TO BECOME A U.S. CITIZEN?
When we enact immigration reform,
we should be careful not to create pathways to citizenship
that are easier than
the pathways already in use.
The established pathways to citizenship in the
United States of America begin in the home countries
of would-be immigrants.
Citizens of other countries—while
still living in their
original homelands—
decide that they want to move to America and become U.S.
citizens.
So they begin the process by completing the
appropriate applications
at the U.S. embassies or consulates in their home countries.
For every person who ultimately becomes a naturalized U.S. citizen,
there are hundreds of
others who had the same wish
but who were not
accepted for immigration.
Several
years of waiting are required for normal
immigration. The
exact length of time depends on the quota for each country
and the particular characteristics of
the person (or family) applying.
2. NEW, ALTERNATIVE
PATHWAYS TO U.S. CITIZENSHIP
SHOULD BE MORE DIFFICULT,
NOT EASIER.
If the USA creates easy new pathways to
citizenship,
beginning with foreign
nationals already living in the United States,
then millions of people who would like to become Americans
would ignore the standard pathway
and move themselves and their families immediately into the USA.
For example, the length of time required to obtain
U.S. citizenship should always be shorter if
the immigrant follows the original rules.
Those who entered the USA without
permission
must be required to fulfill even
stricter requirements
than those who apply from their homelands.
Specifically, if it takes 10
years following the established rules,
then it might take 11 years
for those who broke the law
and entered the USA without permission.
The time-line for naturalization
should be measured from the date of official application
---for example, the date of
the
first visa
application to enter the USA.
For naturalization after
unauthorized immigration,
the date for measuring the length of time for naturalization
might be the length of time between
the first official
registration with
the
U.S. government
and the date of naturalization.
In short, the time residing in the USA without
permission should not count.
The naturalization clock only begins to measure the time
when the applicant puts his or her signature on the
registration form
and has his or her official portrait taken.
The basic reason for this longer probationary period
is to prevent the new pathway to citizenship being called "amnesty".
The violation of immigration laws is taken into account
by assigning a longer and
more difficult pathway
for immigrants who broke the various laws related to immigration.
Put another way, coming into the USA without
permission does not put the immigrant
ahead of those who followed the
rules
and applied to emigrate while they were still living in their
homelands.
As unauthorized immigration is curtailed by
immigration reform,
there will be opportunity to increase
authorized immigration.
In recent years about one million immigrants
have been added to the U.S.
population each year.
Half of these followed the rules and came with immigrant visas
obtained while they were still living in their home countries.
The other half entered the USA without authorization.
In the past, it was immigration policy to return all unauthorized
immigrants to their homelands,
where they could line up with the others at the U.S. embassy
and apply to come into the USA with official authorization.
But such a policy was too disruptive for the immigrant and the family.
And people sought ways to get around this requirement
of returning to their countries of origin.
And such requirements for returning to one's homeland
have been somewhat eased by administrative actions (2013).
It is now possible to apply for a waiver (an exception)
to this requirement to return to one's country of origin.
Will new pathways to citizenship allow
applicants to remain in the
USA
while they prove that they will become good American citizens?
A longer probationary period required for
in-the-USA naturalization
would give all levels of government more time
to separate those foreign nationals who can earn American
citizenship
from those who will be returned to their
homelands.
3. REGISTERED FOREIGN
NATIONALS
SHOULD BE
MONITORED WITH SPECIAL CARE.
Foreign nationals who entered the USA without
permission
will be registered with their whole families.
Such family connections might be quite complex and extended.
And no attempt will be made to force families into preconceived patterns —except
that only one marriage-partner will be recognized.
The Department of Homeland Security will create a
new division
(or expand an existing agency)
for the purpose of following each registered family of foreign
nationals.
Because of birthright
citizenship,
some younger members of the family might already be U.S. citizens.
This very careful supervision of registered foreign
nationals
will include home-visits
to make certain that all persons are registered
and that their pictures and other identifying details
are correctly recorded by the Department of Homeland Security.
Who owns the place of residence?
Are all vehicles properly registered?
Do all drivers have valid licenses to drive?
The social workers from the Department of Homeland
Security
will also visit the places where all employed persons work.
Are these legitimate businesses?
Are all required taxes being collected and paid?
Are any other employees not yet registered with the DHS?
If the National
Identity Bureau has been created,
then on-line access will be able to confirm instantly
that each and every person encountered
during such visits to homes and work-places is a U.S. citizen or a
registered foreign national.
Some of these work-place visits will
register other foreign nationals
who were not yet in the national data-base.
These newly-discovered citizens of other countries
will have their pictures taken and register themselves and their
families.
This should be registration
without deportation.
Local and state prisons will also cooperate with the
DHS.
All registered foreign nationals have at least temporary permission
to live and work in the United States.
If and when foreign nationals are arrested for ordinary
crimes,
their identities will be completely confirmed.
And all valid arrests, trials, convictions, & terms-in-prison
will be permanently recorded in their Identity Files in the NIB.
If the applicants continue to violate criminal laws
while living in the USA,
this will count against
their efforts to become U.S. citizens.
The following might be the standard for denial:
All applicants who must go
to jail or prison for violating criminal laws
should also be removed from the programs leading to U.S.
citizenship.
(But even a record of minor violations of laws and ordinances
will count against naturalization
if the pattern of law-breaking has persisted for a period of
years.)
4. FOREIGN NATIONALS
SHOULD PAY TAXES
DURING THEIR
YEARS OF PROBATION.
As soon as foreign nationals already settled in the
United States
apply for a new pathway to American citizenship
they are also registered with the Internal Revenue Service,
which will expect them to file income-tax returns from then on. (If they
have already been paying taxes, so much the better.
The number of years they have already filed income-tax returns
will count in their favor when evaluating their applications for
citizenship.)
Of course, foreign
nationals who remain in their home countries
will be expected to pay all taxes due in their homelands.
Becoming straight with the IRS might also include
paying past taxes.
If the family of foreign nationals has been working underground,
probably no taxes were paid for those years of earning and
spending.
The Internal Revenue Service already has established protocols
for calculating and paying taxes for past years.
Foreign nationals 'coming clean' with the IRS will follow these
procedures.
Thus, the taxes withheld by the employer will
include
both enough to pay all taxes for the current
year
but also any additional amounts required to pay taxes for prior years.
Not paying taxes while living and working in the
United States
will be a serious mark against
the
foreign national
who wishes to become an American citizen.
And the Department of Homeland Security should check each year
to make sure that each registered foreign national is paying all taxes
due.
This need not be an automatic
audit
of every foreign
national.
But it will make certain that a reasonable tax is being paid
each year.
And if a suspiciously-small
amount of income is reported,
then there will be an audit by the Internal Revenue Service
and perhaps further investigation by the Department of Homeland
Security.
5. SHOULD FOREIGN
NATIONALS PAY A FEE
WHEN
REGISTERING WITH THE UNITED
STATES?
When citizens of other countries apply to emigrate
to
the USA, they must pay significant fees
to have their applications processed.
Should foreign nationals applying
from inside the USA
pay the
same fees?
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
set such a pattern. DACA
registered young adults who were children
when they were brought into the USA without permission.
When they came out of the shadows,
they paid $495 to register themselves with the U.S. government
and to receive temporary permission to live and work in the USA.
As immigration reform expands to include more
foreign nationals,
similar procedures for registration can be expected.
Would it be sufficient to get right with the IRS as
described above (4)?
The new laws created by immigration reform in the USA
will define exactly what money must be paid by foreign nationals.
6. SHOULD SOME
FOREIGN
NATIONALS BE INCARCERATED?
When foreigners have been caught committing
crimes in the USA,
they should be sent to jail while their cases are investigated
further.
The regular criminal-justice systems will do their work.
But while the foreign nationals are still in jail,
they should be registered
with the Department of Homeland Security.
This registration should establish whatever ties
each foreign national has with some local community in the USA.
If they have few social connections with any
local community,
it might be necessary to keep them confined
after their ordinary terms in prison have been completed.
This will prevent them from moving to a new location
in order to fade into the U.S. population once again.
When it becomes clear that they will not attempt to disappear —if
they have well-known ties within their local communities—
then they can be released after complete registration of their whole
families.
Another reason for considering incarceration
is to
check for possible addiction
to drug or
alcohol.
If the foreign national has been taken into custody for drunk driving,
this will be an occasion to register him or her
with the Department of Homeland Security
if he or she is not already registered.
Medical examination will be routinely conducted, since some foreign nationals have
received no health care in the USA. Registration
without Deportation will also integrate them into
the most appropriate health-care systems where they live.
While incarcerated, it might become evident
that this foreign national has a drug or alcohol problem.
Without the addictive substance, this person might go thru
withdrawal.
If that happens, appropriate medical care should be provided.
And the facts of the addiction should be investigated and recorded.
Will this foreign national enter a program to
recover from addiction?
If the addiction can be
overcome,
then temporary status could be continued.
7. NEW PATHWAYS TO
AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP
SUGGESTED BY
FOREIGN NATIONALS.
In the past, requirements for citizenship have been
created by Americans.
But a new approach might ask the population of people who will be
affected
to make their own new suggestions for pathways to American citizenship.
Of course, the present citizens of the USA
will ultimately decide thru their elected representatives
just what new criteria might be applied to foreign nationals
already settled in the United States without permission.
And blanket amnesty without effective new controls
on immigration
is not a workable solution.
Whenever specific suggestions are proposed
that are stricter than the
existing methods
of emigrating from other countries,
they can be linked from here.
How should the in-country
applicants be followed?
What criteria should they fulfill to become American citizens?
The
discussion of all of the issues surrounding immigration reform
takes place in a Facebook Group called:
"U.S. Immigration & Asylum Reform: Reasonable Middle Pathways": https://www.facebook.com/groups/431865303561834
James Park is an independent philosopher
and naturalized citizen of the United States.
Several more essays on immigration are linked below. Earning
American Citizenship:
Be Above Average