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by Patrick Mulligan | June 13th, 2007
The Employment Eligibility Verification Basic Pilot Program is the perfect way to attack illegal immigration at the choke point.
A mere 20 years after the 1986 illegal immigration reform bill to end all illegal immigration reform bills, followed by the 1990 and 1996 illegal immigration reform bills to end all illegal immigration reform bills, the Senate has just drafted – you guessed it – yet another illegal immigration reform bill to end all . . . well, you get the idea.
The savvy might ask why, after 3 such bills, each creating new legal redundancies with the last, we need yet another clone of the 1986 IRCA to handle a problem that was fixed thrice in the course of 10 years. And the reason they might ask that is because they are ignorant, xenophobic, racist hate-mongers. Who else, after all, would insist on an instant, all-inclusive, Nazi-style round-up of honest, hard working, Catholic lettuce pickers for deportation? And how could we possibly track down and deport 12 million people anyway? It’s absurd!
The only REAL solution to this crisis is to make it legal to break the law. And, of course, recycle some border security and law enforcement language from the ghosts of immigration reform bills past in the hopes of placating “the base.” Or is it?
Along with a whole myriad of facts about illegal immigration, including how our current immigration laws actually read, a secret weapon in immigration law enforcement seems to have escaped the notice of George W. Bush and his administration, along with our entire Senate and House of Representatives. It is a program that already exists in a fully-operational state, but that remains entirely unutilized by any of our immigration enforcement agencies. It’s called the Employment Eligibility Verification Basic Pilot Program.
The program allows employers to check their employees’ and potential employees’ identification documents against federal databases online to ensure that the employee or applicant has legal status and is eligible for employment. The program is currently available in all 50 states, and is ready for use. The only problem with the program is that no one is using it, because it isn’t mandatory. Only about 1% of employers participate. By expanding the program and making it mandatory, employers would be virtually unable to “unknowingly” hire illegal workers, and would be subject to the fines and possible jail time already established by current immigration law.
Basic Pilot is the perfect way to attack illegal immigration at the choke point: if illegal immigrants can’t get jobs, they will be quite disinclined to come to America, or stay here. This eliminates the need to break out the armored trucks and take to the streets rounding up lettuce pickers like cattle and shuttling them over the border on the American dime – a cost we certainly can’t afford (though the addition of 10-20 million new workers into the Social Security beneficiary pool we can easily sustain).
Another key reason why Basic Pilot is such an important tool is another illegal immigration secret that nobody ever told you: not everyone in the country illegally is Pedro the Catholic lettuce picker from Mexico. About 40% of people in the country illegally never sneaked across a border. They came on legal temporary visas and then simply overstayed them.
That’s easy to do in the U.S., because we have absolutely no systems in place to keep track of immigrants once they’re here. We know when they come in, but leaving is left basically to the honor system. You could build a 50-foot tall fence across the entire southern and northern borders, but it can’t keep out the people who enter legally. However, the Basic Pilot Program can prevent them from being illegally employed and throw up red flags with law enforcement when they try to get jobs.
Conservatives especially seem unaware of this aspect of illegal immigration. Even in the blogosphere it goes without mention. “Secure the borders first” makes for a good slogan, but it’s not a complete solution. The easiest, fastest, and most efficient way to end the illegal immigration problem is to enforce the laws we already have, and make them even stronger.
The Employment Eligibility Verification Basic Pilot Program is an effective tool to enable that to happen. We could dismantle our borders entirely, and if illegal immigrants cannot find employment, they have no incentive to come and even less incentive to stay. No illegal immigration solution will be effective unless it includes such a program.
I agree that is is a wonderful program and needs to be mandatory to all employeers. However, making it mandatory does not mean that all companies will actually use it. There will still be those who will pay cash under the table, and other means to employ illegals.
So, while the program should be made mandatory, the borders also need to be watched.
Comment by Rev.Jeanene | June 13, 2007
I agree with making this mandatory but it will not work reasonably until SSA and IRS data is integrated to deal with the identity theft issue. In the mean time take the following pledge and share it with elected officials at all levels where you vote:
I will vote for the opponent of any elected official voting for any form of legislation or proclamation offering illegal aliens sanctuary, any form of taxpayer funded benefits including tax funded contributions to organizations offering benefits to illegal aliens, police no ask policy, amnesty, earned citizenship, parole, or other politically correct name for amnesty UNLESS the opponent also voted for the bill or proclamation THEN I will vote for a write-in candidate.
Comment by Mickey G | June 13, 2007
I think Mr. Mulligan submits one of the most cognizant and practical propositions towards mitigating the illegal immigration epidemic that has been postulated on this forum, or elsewhere, to date. Obviously the problem of fraudulent documentation has been, and will continue to be, an ongoing problem in any democratic society that values privacy and individual rights to the extent that they are esteemed in our society. Nonetheless, the full implementation and enforcement of the Employment Eligibility Verification Basic Pilot Program, particularly with even more substantial penalties for noncompliant employers, would be a most excellent first step towards alleviating this problem. Additionally, I do not believe that the writer was in any way implying that the borders do not need to be further secured and protected; to the contrary, it is my impression that he was simply emphasizing the fact that without additional measures being taken to discourage illegal aliens from crossing the border, and imposing and enforcing measures to deal with the 12 to 20 million illegal aliens that are presently already in our country, simply strengthening our border security alone will not remedy this enormous problem. If one hasn't had the opportunity to familiarize oneself with the full details and purport of the Employment Eligibility Verification Basic Pilot Program, I believe one would be further enlightened by doing so.
Comment by formaldehyde | June 13, 2007
Thank you, Patrick, for saying what needs to be said.
I find myself continually asking, "Why is there such an imperative to 'pass a bill' on this issue?" What is the urgency? I am at a complete loss to explain Bush's posture on this. He's pursuing it with the abandon of an outgoing CEO who wants to hit the ball out of the park in his last at-bat. Trouble is, he picked a completely indefensible issue, morally and otherwise, on which to stake his legacy. What will he be remembered for? As the guy who eradicated the practical significance of our borders. Some legacy.
Honestly, what problems are solved by making illegals into legals? Will they be less of a burden on our social safety net? No. They'll demand even *more* "rights." Will they suddenly stop behaving badly if they are criminals? No. Will they instantly command 2X-3X the wages because employers can't take advantage of their status? No. Or if they did, what is the difference between that and sending them all back to their home countries and giving those jobs to legal residents? The arguments in favor of amnesty and the catastrophe that will ensue if we don't cave in on this issue all crumble very quickly. Weren't the same arguments about the economy tanking without the cheap supply of labor made in, say, 1865 with the passage of the 13th Amendment? Newsflash: we survived, and so did our economy.
This isn't about rights. It isn't about the economy. It isn't about pragmatism. It is about sovereignty and allowing ourselves to get pushed around by nothing more than a whole bunch of people who want something they are not entitled to.
When I moved to Canada with my Canadian spouse, she had to sponsor me and we had to wait one full year for the paperwork so I could enter the country legally. One full year for her to return to her own country! When we later decided to move back to *my* home country America) seven years later, guess what? We had to wait another full year while we jumped through the USA's INS hoops. I've been on both sides of this coin. I played by the rules and I have a RIGHT to be here. So the next time I hear somebody whining about Mexican illegals being "driven" to do this because the wait for a green card is soooo long (5 years) and soooo uncertain, I think I will:
1. Slug them
2. Remind them that nobody from outside our borders is "entitled" to live on American soil. It is a privilege, not a birthright.
3. Point out that 5 years is a pittance. People wait far longer for things of far less value than American citizenship. For example, country club memberships, season tickets for some teams, and parking place ownership in some cities.
I have yet to hear even ONE rational argument as to why we should do anything other than send illegals back home. Why is mass deportation such a ridiculous idea? People bluster and tell me, "why you just CAN'T." But I ask, "why not?" And breaking up families? Please. That's like saying prison breaks up families and therefor laws should be abolished because they are "anti family."
I'm waiting for even one rational argument. The "I'm from Arizona and want to cater to the large hispanic populace" is understandable, if untenable. But Bush? I simply cannot understand the man's motivation. With one fell swoop he'll destroy his political party and his country.
Comment by nevadamistermom | June 14, 2007
"if illegal immigrants cannot find employment, they have no incentive to come and even less incentive to stay."
I can't agree with you more, but it won't happen because businesses love cheap labor. They always have. I find it strange that nobody here can figure out why Bush is doing this. He is catering to the business community by legalizing the cheap labor force.
Comment by alexkreuz | June 19, 2007