We in the United States have been trying to figure out what to do with the approximately 12 million illegal aliens living here. Maybe you call them "undocumented workers" or some other politically correct term. That fact is that every one of them came into our country via back roads and other means, thus violating our current immigration laws. That's why they are here "illegally" - get it? Maybe our current policies are not fair. Maybe we should just have open boarders and allow everyone and everything to come in.

Maybe.

But here we are with a very large population of foreign nationals living outside the normal parameters of society.

What to do?

Many conservatives have suggested that we "kick them all out" or "send them home." That certainly sounds good on the surface and is probably the best case scenario. "Sending them home" would remove the illegal people and show those folks who have been trying to move here through proper channels that we mean business.

Others have suggested we give them "amnesty" and just make citizens out of them all. Currently,  our fearless leaders in Washington are trying to pass some sort of package deal that includes some amnesty, some fines, some time back in their country or origin (a time-out, if you will), followed by legal entry into the U.S. again.

Huh?

Let's assume we can completely seal our boarders with fences and guards. Now we're safe from sneak terror attacks, right? Let's also assume all our current illegal immigrants are law abiding (except for that pesky fact of being here illegally). How do we specifically round them all up and herd them across the boarder? Which boarder? They aren't all from Mexico, although we blame Mexico for most of them. Do we fly them home? 12 million times $500 for a one-way flight to anywhere in the world... Uh, does anyone have a calculator?

While I admit I prefer the idea of sending criminals "home" I can't imagine exactly how we would do that. I keep thinking of Elián González. Can you imagine that 12 million times over? Maybe we just round them up a few at a time. We can use the National Guard to go door to door, inspecting everyone's papers. If they find an illegal, that person or persons would be immediately arrested and brought to a special holding location for further processing. We do have some experience in this.

Another issue is the fact that our Constitution allows for what has become known as "anchor babies" - Anyone born within the United States is automatically a U.S. citizen. How can we kick out the mother but not the child? Will we create state run orphanages for our little citizens or force them to live as expatriates? Do we revoke their citizenship?

One sticky part is giving all these people due process. Remember due process? That means they'll be tied up in our court system for years because, you know, we don't want to deport any real U.S. citizens by mistake.

But is the free love approach much better? Certainly many of our guests are living quiet lives, working and supporting their families back home. Others have their families here and are model citizens - or would be if they were actually citizens. I'd have no problem giving these folks a slap on the wrist, wave the magic wand, and declare them full citizens. But what about the others? A sizable portion of our illegal guests are not playing by any rules. They drive cars with out insurance or registration, they use fake social security numbers, cause a large portion of violent crimes, and are generally dangerous individuals. We have a lot of home grown thugs as well. Can we deport them too?

It seems to me that there is no good solution to this mess and that adding any more laws and policies will just muddy these waters even more. The new proposal being bantered around in Washington D.C. is over 1000 pages long. Who will ever read that and how can we enforce it?

If I were to make some suggestions, I'd try some of the following:

1. Seal the Boarders as best as possible. National Security is extremely important and this is certainly one step. We need to know who is entering our country and when.
   
2. Overhaul our immigration policies. We can allow more people in and make the process easier. Give priority to highly skilled workers and their families.
   
3. Enforce penalties for companies that hire illegal immigrants. If jobs are fewer, less people will attempt to come here, right?
   
4. Increase job availability in other countries. My union buddies won't like this one, but I'm convinced that if good jobs are available at "home" then more people will stay "home." U.S. investment in other countries promotes democracy, stability, and eventually increases that country's demand for our products and services. It's always win-win, except those times that it isn't.
   
5. Overhaul our policies on migrant and seasonal workers. We need to keep better tabs on temporary workers and make sure they are only temporary. Again, an easier process will automatically increase users.
   
6. Reduce availability of social programs for illegal aliens. Our local governments are notorious for handouts.

Are my ideas simplistic? Of course, but they aren't any worse that what's currently on the table. I don't think most conservatives have really thought through the how's of "kicking them out" and I'm afraid it won't really work. The current plan tries to address some of these issues but I don't think it does a very good job.

Most importantly we need to remember that these are people. There must be at least a little compassion for those desperate enough to come here and work outside the protections provided by our government. Those that prey on illegal workers are only a half-step above slave traders. Shame on all of us who view them as less than "us".

I'm James Drury and I approve this blog post.