Fixing Immigration: It will Never Happen

We will never achieve successful immigration reform until several things change.  Let's stop pretending that the Democrats have all the solutions to immigration.  Let's stop pretending that the Republicans can straighten out the immigration problem.  But the solution is a simple one, nonetheless, if only both sides could admit a few things.

The Democrats need to admit that a border is important.  The idea of a border has been around basically forever.  There is a border between my yard and my neighbor's, and there is a border between the United States and Mexico.  It is there to allow people and ideas to thrive separately, but co-exist with no issues.  For the same reason I can't decide to put a pool in my neighbors yard, all of Latin America can't just freely come into the United States.  I can institute an "eat your veggies or no dessert" policy for my son, but my neighbors don't have to follow that rule.  See?  Co-exist with no issues.  When you don't honor a border, the system falls apart.

The Republicans need to admit that immigration is a good thing.  Past, present, and future, the majority of Americans are here because of immigration.  Putting up a fence does not solve our immigration problem.  There are countless hard-working, motivated people that dream of coming to America.  These people would undoubtedly help put more money into our economy.  They would pay taxes just like every other American.  They would have the freedom to choose who to vote for just like every other American.  Republicans want you to think that every immigrant is a drain on society, but that simply isn't true.

Democrats need to admit that not every immigrant is going to help our country.  There are a lot of bad immigrants.  Some have criminal records, while others have a history of abusing the system.  There are diseases and viruses that could lead to the harm of other Americans.  And yes, there are even people who want nothing more than a free ride from our generous government.  Sweeping amnesty for all is not the solution, no matter what the Democrats tell you.

Both sides need to admit that they are mainly interested in votes.  In general, it takes generations of hard work, good choices, and responsibility to achieve success in America.  Rarely is success achieved over night.  Most immigrants would be just starting that path to success, and most low-wage workers would use any help they could get from the government.  And we all know Democrats love expanding entitlement programs.  Republicans simply don't want their opponents to secure more votes.  When it comes right down to it, this is the most important issue to the politicians in our country.

So now let me explain to you the logical solution to immigration reform in our country.  Firstly, let's secure the border.  Find a company in the private sector to manage the construction of a wall between Mexico and America.  Simple.  Secondly, completely scrap our current immigration process and start from scratch.  The current system takes years to legally become an American.  Again, contract out this process to a company in the private sector with plenty of checks and balances to assure a speedy, efficient immigration process -- it should take less than a month.  And finally, define the criteria to become an American.  You cannot have a criminal background, contagious sickness, or a history of joblessness.  You must have a minimal understanding of the English language.  There must be a time-limit established for those who enter our country and require government assistance.  These criteria make sense, right?  We can all agree that these things are not difficult to achieve -- don't be a criminal, have a job, learn some English.  It is common sense that these are qualities we expect in every American, so why should an immigrant be held to lesser standards?

So when pigs are flying and hell is frozen over, I expect Republicans and Democrats to have come to a successful solution to immigration in America.  It only took me 10 minutes.