The Word: “Unspecified Fines”

June 14, 2007 by Alpha.

Stuck’s last post mentioned a personal hero of mine: Jim Gilchrist. What a great American! In spite of all of the evidence, both statistical and ethical, that his stance is wrong, he goes right on ahead “defending our borders.” With guns and white supremacists. Who but a giant among men could stand in the face of all things that are good and say “No more! I’ve had it with all these brown people!”

A new poll from the LA Times that has been making the rounds (ah, that ‘new poll’ smell!) shows that 63% of Americans and 65% of Republicans (!) support a path to citizenship including the standard set of hurdles: fines, learning English, and “other requirements.” You know, all that stuff that us natural-born types had to do to be citizens.

The issue of immigration reform hits me close to home. Well, it hits in my home. My mother is foreign-born, but moved to the United States at the age of 16. Earlier this year, after living (legally) in this country for more than 40 consecutive years, she finally got to take her oath as a citizen.

She did it the way you’re supposed to. She got her green card when her family moved to the US and she renewed it as required. In early 2006 she was finally persuaded it was time for her to start speaking her mind, and making her voice count. She wanted to vote.

The processing of her paperwork took some 14 months. The various fees cost her in excess of $4,000. Her husband, children, in-laws, nieces, nephews, colleagues and friends (mostly) are all American citizens. If that makes me one of those awful “anchor babies” Mr. Limbaugh talks about, then I’m damn proud to be one.

Now maybe my mom isn’t a fair test case. After all, she’s fair-skinned and is a native speaker of English with advanced degrees and a good income and a strong set of professional and personal resources. She’s not a Guatemalan single mother of two who doesn’t speak English well enough to get directions to a bus stop. Does that mean that my mom is worth more to America than our fictional Guatemalan family? For that matter, why aren’t we asking which of these two women value America more?

Simply put, it is because this debate isn’t about the preservation of the inherent value of American citizenship, as Rep. Tancredo would have us think. It’s about the preservation of the inherent value of people.

63% support Bush’s plan. 63% support a plan that requires people to pay an unspecified fine to clear their illegal status, return to their countries of origin, learn to speak English, then come back to the US and get in the back of the citizenship line, all for the privilege of paying thousands of dollars to become an American.

How many currently illegal immigrants have legal access to that kind of money? We’re talking about at least $4,000 per person before the fines and costs of returning to their native countries. This path to citizenship is a largely impractical carrot at the end of a relativistically long stick.

So what happens in the interim? Mr. Bush’s wonderfully creative Guest Worker Program! Under this program, illegal immigrants would get to apply for a special new kind of work visa. What’s special about it? How about being put to work at a job where getting fired means getting kicked out of the country? How about being required to pay unspecified fines before entering the program?

So where are all of these illegal immigrants going to come up with the kind of money they’ll need to get into either one of these programs? Especially with all of those undoubtedly hefty unspecified fines running around! They won’t. These folks are mostly working for little more than subsistence, and I anticipate that most of them won’t be able to raise the funds they would need to “go legit.”

So what happens when you offer 12 million undocumented workers access to programs they can’t afford to get into? Nothing. Nothing changes. Whether or not a deal can be struck to pass this so-called “immigration reform” we’re still going to have 12 million undocumented workers.

But if immigration reform really does blow your skirt up, I have two ideas. First, a huge number of illegal immigrants are actually paying tax on their income. These taxes go to Social Security and other social welfare programs, which non-citizens do not benefit from. I propose that all of these payments be credited against the cost of entering either one of Mr. Bush’s programs. Not only would doing so eliminate one of the most fundamentally unfair conditions imposed upon the undocumented worker (taxation without representation?!) but it might also drive up the number of people seeking legal status.

Second, and this one seems like a no-brainer, enforce the law as it stands concerning the employment of persons lacking legal authorization to be employed. Specifically, reinstitute the IRS worker status verification system, which simply looked at how many hours a week a given Social Security Number was taxed for and flagged anomalous ones. “574-10-2405 was taxed for 200 hours of work last week? Better talk to the employers.” Then, fine the shoes off of anyone who knowingly employs someone without status.

Alright, folks. I must have made someone out there in Blogistan angry. Let’s hear it.

Posted in Washington, Rural, Presidential, National, Rants | 1 Comment »