Don's Tuesday Column

                THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson  Red Bluff Daily News   3/08/2016

         Rational Immigration Law Renewal

It appears that what I consider to be common sense regarding the replacement of Mr. Allen for education supervisor is likely to occur: The voters had their say in an open election in which Allen’s qualifications were fraudulently overstated, to the point of disqualification from holding the office. At the very least, had the voters been fully informed of the facts, they would most certainly have chosen Harley North outright, rather than as a close also-ran.

Last summer’s columns provided many weeks worth of valid, well-researched and supportable analysis of the deleterious role of illegal immigration on America’s economy and national and state budgets. Even the arguably laudable legal immigration system was shown to have a depressing affect on wages for workers in numerous sectors. The impact on electoral representation was meticulously presented and even used the words of Democrat officeholders to prove that Democrats expect, and rely on, immigrants to win national and local elections.

Local, you ask? Witness the latest effort to turn non-citizens into voters in New York City, where an estimated 1.3 million reside. Yes, “New York values” apparently extend to allowing and encouraging non-citizen voting in municipal elections. Unions are hell-bent-to-leather to turn millions of foreign-born, legal permanent residents (LPRs or Green Card holders) into voting citizens by November, in a thinly veiled play for newly-minted Democrat voters.

I applaud columnist Susan Stamper Brown for writing, and the editor for printing, last Saturday’s “For Democrats, immigration is about winning elections.” A highlighted segment went, “To the left, it seems immigration is nothing more than a game, and illegal immigrants are the pawns they use to manipulate the system to win elections.” There is no driving legal guideline that supports an allocation of 40 percent to legal immigrants from Mexico and Central America. It is observable that they come from authoritarian political cultures that place relatively little value on our Bill of Rights or other rules of American self-governance.

The current Republican front-runner is Mr. Donald Trump, whose “bonafides” in the minds of many supporters include a hard line approach to immigration—particularly a “deportation-centered” policy for the estimated 15 million or so illegals. His promise of having a wall built with Mexican money has drawn cheers and jeers.

I say that simply placing a sizable transfer fee on all of the money sent by Mexican nationals in America to their southern relatives would easily do it. Were Trump, or any Republican, to accomplish that feat, they would be applauded by most Americans, their children and their children’s children for having protected America’s border, abundance and political freedom from alien, malign influences, and from budgetary benefit drains in perpetuity.

          Then we find that Trump has expressed “flexibility” on immigration issues. It turns out that his Mar-a-Lago Club resort was staffed with only 17 American citizens, out of hundreds of openings that went to foreigners. It turns out that he was fined for employing illegal aliens in the building of Trump Tower. Now we find that “Trump Tower was Funded by Rich Chinese Who Invest Cash for Visas,” (Bloomberg.com, Jesse Drucker).

Here is my offered solution: Whereas Americans and America's legal immigrants have no justifiable faith that our immigration laws are being faithfully enforced without preferences, the following is a common sense proposal to reinforce and renew said laws:

All who have either entered, or remain in, America illegally are subject to deportation without notice upon contact with law enforcement at any level. To that end, all law enforcement officers at federal, state or local levels are deputized to inquire of any person contacted whether they reside here legally—all other laws, regulations or court decisions notwithstanding.

All who are illegally present in America and who have committed any violation of law, minor traffic citations excepted, have no legal or judicial recourse against immediate deportation. Said deportation shall be enforced upon serving prison sentences with no allowance for probation or parole.

Upon registration with federal authorities, illegal residents who have no criminal violations beyond minor traffic citations can, by admitting and agreeing to the above, be allowed no longer than 2 years to leave America. Illegal residents not complying with said registration will be subject to immediate deportation upon contact with any officer of the law. Registered illegal residents waive any legal recourse to protest 1) their 2-year reprieve from deportation and 2) their immediate deportation upon violation of any law beyond traffic citations.

Illegal residents who are otherwise law-abiding may apply for legal permanent resident status (LPR/"green card"), during the balance of their 2-year reprieve; however, said reprieve shall not be extended. Illegal residents qualifying for reprieve may, upon authorization by Congress, receive $2000 per family member for the purpose of relocation to their country-of-origin; those eligible for relocation funds waive any legal rights against the removal and relocation process and must pursue their LPR card from abroad.

The above proposals can 1) restore the faith that Americans deserve to have in immigration law enforcement and 2) become a transition to a "zero tolerance" atmosphere for illegal entrants, visa over-stayers and unauthorized workers. Future immigrants will likewise arrive with the knowledge that America's laws are not suggestions and will not be set aside out of sympathy for their plight, beyond the extent that the people's representatives enshrine it in lawful immigration policies. Also, they will not be allowed to vote for at least 25 years.