Solving the Republican immigration dilemma

The recent presidential election loss has many Republicans talking about immigration reform and?the changing demographics of America. Several conservative commentators have suggested?that the GOP should agree to an amnesty bill in hopes that will give the Republican Party an opportunity to compete for the Hispanic vote. This would be a fatal mistake.?Giving illegal immigrants amnesty would come off as pandering and would not actually address the issues Hispanics voters have with the Republican Party.

The current problem isn?t Republican opposition to illegal immigration, but the tone of our opposition and demonization of the party by Republican opponents on this issue. Hispanic voters don?t even rate immigration as one of their top concerns.? The reason this issue has become so important is Hispanics, with the help of the Left and the media, interpret Republican positions on the issue as a sign that Republicans don?t like them.? Once Hispanics come to that conclusion, they refuse to vote for Republicans despite possible agreement on the majority of the issues.

Democrats have benefited from a broken immigration system by demagoguing the issue. They portray attempts to enforce the law as racist, while themselves pandering by acting as though these laws should be ignored. There are millions of Hispanic immigrants that want to come here legally and have not been given the opportunity. Those people are essentially ignored in the current debate.? Democrats purposely conflate legal and illegal immigration so they can paint Republicans as anti-immigrant. But that really prevents us from dealing with either issue. Legal immigration includes ridiculous waiting times and huge restrictions for people who want to come here legally and become American citizens. Meanwhile, illegal immigrants are skipping those lines and disrespecting our laws.? In addition, none of this addresses the national security and criminal problems caused by an unsecured border.

However, the problem isn?t just with Democrats. Republicans have made serious mistakes in how they present their solutions to illegal immigration.? We have to recognize that many illegal immigrants are just trying to secure a better life for their families. The key is not to spend time demonizing those people, but to figure out how to fix a broken system.

The Republican message should really focus on promoting legal immigration ? which is something that we want ? and providing opportunity for those immigrants who follow the rules.? Furthermore, Republicans should emphasize that immigration is not an issue that is limited to Hispanics, and it would benefit everyone to solve the current crisis. This messaging would allow Republicans to move past the perception that we don?t like Hispanics and instead focus on how our proposals would benefit those voters.

Since I have been critical of some other immigration proposals, it is only fair that I propose a solution that addresses immigration reform in a way that all sides can respect:

1)???? Significantly cut legal immigration waiting times for skilled labor and non-citiens with immediate family members already in the U.S.

2)???? Create a guest worker program for unskilled labor with temporary year-long visas.

3)???? Provide a path to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants who are under 18 and have been here for more than five years.

4) ? ? ?Allow illegal immigrants with no criminal history to come forward and pay a fine in order to become legal residents for a six-month period.?Their eventual path to citizenship must also include getting in the back of the line of the immigration process in their respective home country.

5)???? Create free education programs that promote assimilation and help new immigrants learn English.

6)???? Provide a shorter path to citizenship for recently legalized immigrants that are willing to serve three years in the military.

7)???? Require employers to use an e-verify type system to check new employees. Impose severe fines on any business that hires illegal immigrants who have not achieved some form of temporary legal status.

8)???? Illegal immigrants who are convicted of felonies are automatically deported once their criminal punishment is complete.

9)???? ?Provide zero government benefits to anyone who has not received some form of legal residence.

10)?? Invest significant resources into border security, especially to prevent drug trafficking on the southern border of the United States.

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Congress should make it a priority to discuss this issue and solutions similar to the ones I proposed above in the 113th Congress.

Source: http://redalertpolitics.com/2012/11/12/solving-the-republican-immigration-dilemma/

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