Posted By LambChop
"This is an odd formula for a party to adopt: the fastest-growing demographic in the country and we're losing votes every election cycle, it has to stop," he said. "It's one thing to shoot yourself in the foot -- just don't reload the gun." ~Senator Lindsey Graham on Face the Nation 11/11/12
Graham continued and outlined the key points of the bipartisan plan for immigration reform:
"It means securing our borders which every American agrees with. It means making sure that you stop, make it harder to hire illegal immigrants, verifying employment. We need to secure the borders. Make sure you can't hire an illegal immigrant because you'll have documents that can't be faked. We need guest workers to make it a win-win for American employers when they can't find workers here. And when it comes to the twelve million, we need to be firm and fair--self-deportation is not going to work. Sixty-five percent of the people in the exit poll this election supported a pathway to citizenship. Here's what I think we should do with the twelve million. Fix it in a way that we don't have a third wave of illegal immigration twenty years from now. That's what Americans want. They want more legal immigration and they want to fix illegal immigration once and for all. Have the twelve million, once you secure the border. And you do nothing until you secure the border. Come out of the shadows, get biometrically identified, start paying taxes, pay a fine for the law they broke. They can't stay unless they learn our language, and they have to get in the back of the line before they can become citizens. They can't cut in front of the line."
To date the political debate and the plan is focused on illegal immigrants, the costs and dangers associated with unrestricted, undocumented and unchecked people living here, accepting benefits and education without contribution. Senator Graham and Senator Schumer developed the plan , but the plan did not address the real issues of legal immigration and a viable path to citizenship. After Romney’s loss, immigration issues have catapulted to the front of line as Republicans and Democrats campaign for the "Holy Grail" of election demographics: The Hispanic Vote.
Make no mistake these issues have been a political hot potato, illegal immigrants represent future voters for the Democrat party and have represented a threat to national security, fair wages, fair competition, and education to Republicans. Southern Border States’ budgets are strained with healthcare needs, welfare, crime prevention, and low worker wages with the influx of folks from South of the Border. The cost to the United States is soaring and the unintended consequences have far -reaching negative effects economically. But what about legal immigrants? Does legal immigration hurt the economy as well?
In a word, yes and here’s why (it’s not what you would think). A couple of years ago, I met a Czech immigrant who was in the United States on a student visa studying education. After graduation with a Bachelor’s Degree (prior to completion of his Master’s degree) the government required him to have a full-time job sponsoring him for a green card or he would have to leave the country. He could not qualify for a teaching job without the certificate and school at the Masters level would be difficult with a full-time job outside of his profession of choice.
Business Week, in an article by Moira Herbst, reports on another “skilled immigrant” whose efforts to live in and prosper in the United States have been thwarted by nonsensical policies of legal immigration.
‘Kapil, a 33-year-old software consultant for IBM (IBM) in Silicon Valley, shares Vilcek's frustration. (Kapil asked that his last name not be used out of concern for his job.) He joined IBM in 2001 with the hope of gaining permanent residency in the U.S. so he could ultimately start his own company. IBM filed an application for his green card for permanent residence in 2004, and he has yet to receive it. Due to limits that allow for just 9,800 green cards per year per country, the wait for people from India and China can be up to 10 years. Kapil estimates that his five-year wait could stretch into 7 or 10. In the meantime, he remains on an H-1B visa tied to IBM, where he must keep the same position to remain in the green card queue. He's earning six figures now, he says, but suspects he could earn more if he had the freedom to change jobs. "I'm not allowed to advance, and it's really frustrating," says Kapil. "At this point, I'm losing my patience." Kapil is eager to found a startup. He has developed the technology for an online job-search engine that taps into social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. He says he is considering launching it from India. "Most likely, I am heading back," he says. "In a way, I feel cheated. I've contributed, paid taxes, and even picked up a California accent. But it's not enough."’
Legal immigration is hurting the United States economy by preventing entrepreneurs, those pursuing high levels of education or those who want better employment opportunities from becoming legal in a timely fashion. They are unable to switch companies from their sponsor on the original green card application. Imagine the start -up companies, the talent and contributions we are missing. Imagine the cost to our economy by forcing this talent back to their country of origin.
The cost to the economy for legal immigration is this: if we do not fix the immigration process and recognize and reward talent accordingly, we will continue to experience an exodus of those with the capacity, aptitude and intelligence to move this country forward.
Read full article here:http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jul2009/db20090724_178761.htm
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