A Real Border Policy

Every president since Ronald Reagan has said the same thing about our border with Mexico: they want to secure it, and then deal with those who are here illegally.

No president has successfully done either.

We have 12 million to 22 million illegals in this country, and shipping all of them back is impossible. There have been 40,000 drug-related murders on our border with Mexico, nearly all on the Mexican side, yet violence and fear has crept to U.S. soil.

Our federal government has put up signs in our own country that parts of it are not safe for travel, yet we worry about safety for those in Syria and Libya. The Latino vote is a swing vote and it is easier politically to do nothing than to risk upsetting a large voting base, so nothing gets done.

Dealing with the illegal problem is the easiest. A national identity card solves the problem. Any employer has to swipe the card before hiring anyone, with a credit card-type reader to show that this person is here legally. A felony and large fine for those employing any that are here illegally is enough deterrent to stop this practice.

What to do with the illegals that are here? Very simple -- what every president since Reagan has supported. The illegals have to check in, and if they don’t have criminal records they get a work permit, after applying for one. This way they will end up paying taxes to support the social services that they use, and won't have to live in a shadow society.

Asking that every illegal has a sponsor and money is a naïve and xenophobic view. Our country was built, and is still being built, on people who had the courage to come here and risk everything to provide for their family. To now say that we only accept those who have plenty of money is ridiculous, in my opinion. (H1B visas are a separate issue from the Mexico/US border debate.)

The other fix is the border. We have troops that right now are securing other countries' borders; let them secure ours. Move the army bases out of Afghanistan and Iraq and put them on our southern border where we will have the best border guards in the world and our guys will sleep in peace at home at night. The economic stimulus from having that many bases on our borders instead of the Middle East will be large.

Plus, we already pay these guys and gals, which means we don’t have to hire thousands for the job.

Putting soldiers on our border is controversial, and so is using drones and armed National Guard,yet this is a permanent fix. We want our soldiers to be welcomed as heroes; they would be in the southern towns of the US that live in fear from the violence of the drug cartels.

Of course, a border fix to support those who are already there working hard and bravely, along with a true immigration policy, takes courage, something lacking in DC.