GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump has made significant hay over his tough talk on illegal immigration. Not only does Trump seem hellbent on deporting every single individual who is in the U.S. illegally, he also believes he can successfully challenge how the 14th amendment has been enforced for nearly 150 years (i.e. children born in this country to non-citizens are considered American citizens).
Despite Trump's plans being pure fantasy, he has consistently maintained his lead atop the race for the Republican nomination. Because of this, other GOP candidates have had to tread lightly on this issue for fear of being labeled "pro amnesty." This is something I have ranted and raved about for some time. Since many right-of-center politicians realize the impracticality (and near impossibility) of deporting all illegal aliens, such ideas as "path to citizenship" legislation or "guest worker" programs have been bandied about. Typically those proposals have entailed illegal aliens paying back taxes and fines as penance for violating our laws. Sorry, but that's not "amnesty." However, it still doesn't stop some of the Trump-kins from labeling anything short of mass deportations as such.
Definitely check out Allahpundit's piece over at Hot Air, as he addresses this issue better than I ever could.
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First, birthright citizenship has become something never foreseen by the Founders, now that populations are far more mobile, and it depends on that language that parents are "subject to the jurisdiction" of the US. Foreigners are citizens of their own countries and NOT subject to US jurisdiction. Until they have some legal authority to be here, their kids are, at least arguably, not citizens.
ReplyDeleteTrump may not be be able to "round up" and deport illegals, but there is a lot to be said for "self-deportation" and proven to work. The notion that people will "come out of the shadows" and pay fines, etc. has already been tried and failed miserably. Why would I pay taxes to do something I can continue to do without paying them?
The solution here is to start where Trump does, by saying that illegal immigrants are illegal, then "compromise back" to some sensible position, like the "wink wink" system of voluntary self-deportation (after making it illegal to knowingly hire an illegal) and a large temporary quota for legal entrants with knowledge of a job waiting, or MANDATORY "temporary guest worker status" for the 90% of criminal illegal entrants we know of. By definition, "amnesty" is forgiveness of crime and overlooks the tremendous ADDITIONAL lawlessness caused by such, as well as the multitude of crimes committed incidental to illegal presence. Seal the border, make Mandatory the "temporary guest worker" status, deport the criminals, and guarantee no path to citizenship unless you leave and come back at the end of the line. Oh, and straighten out our legal immigration system; it's a mess.
And mind you, I LIKE most of these people.