Thoughts on the Current Immigration Mess by Charles Lamm

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Thoughts on the Current Immigration Mess
by Charles Lamm

1. 12 million illegal immigrants did not appear overnight. Actions by Congress - or the lack of action - created the environment for illegal immigration to exist.

2. The main drive behind legal immigration is family reunification, a holdover from WWII. Is it time to give preference to nurses and computer engineers over brothers and sisters of U.S. Citizens? What we need is not what we get.

3. Actions by Congress always have unintended consequences. Congress put annual limits on the number of H-1 visas that could be given to temporary professional workers. Registered nurses were split off into H-1A and others were put into an H-1B category. The H-1A program ended in 1996, and now we have a nurse shortage just as the Baby Boomers need more health care.

4. At the time of the last amnesty, employer sanctions were imposed as a compromise. Let the last group of illegals get green cards in 5 years, but make it tough for the next group. As we have seen, sanctions don't work. Fake documents are cheap, and many small employers don't keep the paperwork anyway. But the fundamental question was never addressed:

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Posted on: August 29,2006

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