House acts on immigration reform
The House acted Friday to stem the tide of illegal immigration by taking steps to tighten border controls and stop unlawful immigrants from getting jobs.
But lawmakers left for next year the tougher issue of what to do with the 11 million undocumented people already in the country.
The House legislation, billed as a border protection, anti-terrorism and illegal immigration control act, includes such measures as enlisting military and local law enforcement help in stopping illegal entrants and requiring employers to verify the legal status of their workers.
It authorizes the building of a fence along parts of the U.S.-Mexico border.
But it put off consideration of a guest worker program, which President Bush and many in Congress say must be part of a lasting solution to the illegal immigrant crisis. [Emph. added]
The vote was 239-182. Roll call.
And as for the millions of illegals already here?
Nobody is advocating the deportation of 11 million illegal immigrants, said Republican Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona, sponsor of a guest worker measure.
Without a temporary worker program, he said, “We simply won’t enforce the law, and that’s the dirty little secret here.”
We don’t have to deport them, Rep. Flake. We can induce them to deport themselves. Launch a massive guest worker program but open it only to those who make application from outside the United States, just as several lawmakers have proposed. Give illegal immigrants competition and then put them at a competitive disadvantage, i.e. offer their employers the easy choice of cheap, legal labor from a guest worker program, or the prospect of time in the penitentiary for hiring the undocumented.* People at a competitive disadvantage usually go out of business.
(*The bill passed yesterday provides criminal penalties for hiring illegals.)
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