I grew up in a staunchly Republican family. My mom grew up during the Great Depression and knitted hats and scarves for our troops overseas during WW2. Yet to her dying day she referred to FDR as that ‘damn democrat.’ When I became a father, and absent the influence of my family, my political alignment shifted decidedly to the left. I am today a Liberal Democrat, and yet the topic of illegal immigration is the one area where I skew from Democrats.
Even before Donald Trump gave license for hate to come out of the shadows and into the light, illegal immigration has been a hot button issue. Still to this day I get upset when I hear people complain about our immigration system as broken because the solution they often present is simply to offer amnesty to those who have broken the law. And make no mistake, those who enter or stay in this country illegally are criminals. Amnesty can only be given to those who have broken the law. Regardless of how noble a reason.
The Trump border wall is not now nor was it ever meant to make America safer, it is a monument to hate. And by itself is useless. General George S. Patton once told his staff that “fixed fortifications are monuments to the stupidity of man.” He was referring to the Siegfried Line, a 390 mile long construct on Germany’s western border meant to prevent Allied forces from crossing into Germany in WWII. It proved fruitless. When the Allies encountered the Siegfried Line they used modified tanks as bulldozers to push dirt on top of it and simply drive over it. History would repeat itself during the Gulf War when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein constructed a similar defense along the border of Iraq and filled it with burning oil, Coalition Forces took a page from history and had combat engineers just fill it in with dirt and drove across.
Though taller and stronger than previous border fencing, the Trump border wall is still little more than a speed bump. Illegals use metal saws and torches to cut through it, ladders to climb over it, or in some places simply walk around the end of it where it was never finished. By itself it can only slow down illegals from entering, it won’t stop them. Even when paired with ICE sensors, cameras, aircraft, border agents and check points, we will never fully stop illegals from coming here. At least not the way we are approaching the problem now.
This past April on Capitol Hill, Democrats agreed to a strict immigration bill put forward by Republicans. They gave Republicans everything they were asking for, but this is not what Republicans expected. They expected Democrats to balk and reject the bill, thus giving Republicans, and Donald Trump, what they wanted, a cudgel to use against Democrats. A campaign issue they can fund raise with and use to scare voters, to make them afraid of immigrants and keep them voting Republican. More importantly, keep them donating to Republicans. This has been the Republican attitude toward illegal immigration for as long as I can remember, complain about it but don’t fix it.
Regardless of any of the myriad of reasons that anyone claims as the basis for their coming to America, there is one common thread, one thing they all want, a job. The one thing that draws illegal immigrants is economics. The only real way to stop illegal immigration is to take away this lure. It is a crime to work in the U.S. if you are not a citizen or do not have a federal work authorization number. So all we have to do is not employ illegal aliens. This is the 21st century, we have technology that can do this. Sounds simple enough, right? In practice however it is more complicated.
The I-9
As a former employer I’ve had to fill out for prospective employees a federal form I-9. A document that that must be filled out stating that the employer has verified that the applicant has presented certain documents or forms of identification showing that they are either US citizens or have the legal right to work. This is meant to serve as a deterrent to illegals trying to break the law and seek employment, but it is literally a paper tiger. To start with, this form is never transmitted to any government oversight agency. It sits in the employees personnel file if or until such time as the government requests to see it. Secondly, all the employer does is write down the information from the documents submitted by the applicant. If the applicant is using false documents or a stolen identity, there is no way for the employer to know.
E-Verify
Introduced in 1996, this federal service allows employers to take information collected on the I-9 form, enter it into an online database, and be told within seconds whether the applicant is eligible to work in the US. By using this service employers would receive some level of assurity that the applicant is legally allowed to work in the US and at the same time some level of immunity should there be an issue with the applicants legal status. But much like the I-9 form itself, the Achilles heel of this system is that it relies on the honesty of the applicant. Sadly, it also is susceptible to the honesty of the employer.
Take the case of a Texas construction firm who had some 40% of their workforce who were illegal aliens. They showed ICE records that they had fired all the undocumented workers, while at the same time conspired with a local staffing firm to hire those same illegal workers and put back on their construction sites. Or a Florida case in March of this year where staffing firms knowingly hired illegal aliens to work in the hospitality industry. Criminal prosecutions with prison time are rare, typically these cases end with financial settlements.
Republicans in the House in March of last year introduced the ‘Secure the Border’ act which would mandate the use of E-Verify nationwide. It strangely received bi-partisan push back. Surprisingly, a group of Republicans, the party which normally rails against illegal immigrants as criminals and ‘poisoning the blood of America,’ pushed back against this legislation on the grounds that enforcing federal immigration laws could adversely impact the agriculture industry in their states.
And none of this addresses the collateral damage done to legal US citizens when illegals steal their identity. As of 2022, 54% of illegal aliens were able to defeat E-Verify by simply using forged documents and a stolen identity. Fixes have been proposed to strengthen the system and close the loopholes, such as connecting the system to a photo database or using bio-metrics. But all such efforts have been blocked to date.
States Are Not Helping
I was listening to an interview on NPR of supporters of giving Wisconsin drivers licenses to illegal immigrants on the grounds that they were contributing to the states economy. How I wondered? Title 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(a)(1)(A) “makes it unlawful for any person or other entity to hire, recruit, or refer for a fee, for employment in the United States an alien.” Currently 18 states provide drivers licenses to illegal aliens. By providing drivers licenses, social services, and preventing state and local law enforcement from enforcing federal immigration laws, even operating so-called ‘sanctuary cities,’ states are providing an additional inducement encouraging illegal immigration.
Solving the Problem
A problem which is as complex as illegal immigration can not be solved simply by erecting a steel wall on our Southern border. It will take a multi-faceted approach with multiple solutions working together.
- Border Security – One step we can take is border security. But it can’t just be a wall, because walls and fences can be defeated. It has to include border agents, check-points, and electronic defenses including sensors and cameras. And Border Security alone will not stop the problem.
- E-Verify – This is the 21st century and we have the technology to combat illegal immigration. The primary lure that bring illegal immigrants here is the ability to find illegal work. We need to strengthen this system for the 21st century, to include a photo database and bio-metrics. We have to close the loopholes in the system.
- Legislation – We need to finally update our laws. We need to change the asylum laws and require all asylum seekers to make their requests for asylum and be approved BEFORE entering the U.S. We need a federal law to prevent states from issuing drivers licenses to illegal immigrants and to prevent banks from allowing illegals to have bank account and credit cards.
- Put Americans in Prison – Finally, we need to acknowledge that it is Americans who are the largest drivers of illegal immigration. Unscrupulous business owners who employ illegals, staffing firms that give fake documents to illegals to help get them jobs, and those who traffic in fake documents and stolen identities. Americans are the problem. If you want to stop illegal immigration you are going to have to start putting Americans in prison.
In the end, we have the ability to fix this problem. What is yet to be seen is if we have the will.