Illegal Immigration

Solution

   Rather than spending billions of dollars to build a fence, perhaps a better use of those funds would be to implement something that would actually be effective in resolving the problem. The following presents two that should be effective in preventing illegal border crossings.

   First, the nation needs to adopt an automated interview system offered by the Department of Labor (c.f. Worker's Civil Rights). Immigrants enter the country for the jobs so anything related to the job hiring process is relevant to the situation.

   How the automated interview system solves the issue is two-fold: (1) the national registry of employment is necessary since an accurate number of job offerings is needed for determining the number of work visas that may be granted in a given year, and (2) the automated employment system will ensure that businesses are unable to hire foreign workers that are undocumented or have expired/invalid work visas.

   By using the new system, the number of foreign immigrants admitted into the country, by asylum or otherwise, won't overwhelm the total number of job openings for them. This is important because it will prevent a large number of immigrants from entering the country without first knowing if there are actually jobs for them (since some are uneducated, unskilled, or not fluent in English).

   The second that may be useful in preventing illegal border crossings is how work visas are granted to immigrants. The new procedure should mandate greater cooperation among nations of where the applicant is required to apply for the visa at their local government office (in person). This is necessary to verify their identification, criminal background, spoken language (English), and other such matters for employment in this country.

   Only after being granted a valid work visa may the immigrant be allowed to apply for employment on the Labor Dept.'s automated system, and if accepted for a job, entry into the country.

   So, the new process is: (1) national registry of employment determines the number of job openings that foreign immigrants are needed to fulfill, (2) cooperation between state departments verifies identifications, backgrounds, and language that limits the number of applicants into the system, (3) the automated interview system verifies if foreign workers were granted valid work visas prior to consideration for employment, and (4) if accepted for a job, immigrants may enter the country legally.

   Asylum requests are likewise handled in the same manner and restricted to the number of job openings that are available for foreign workers. Otherwise, the situation would be not any different than presently of where immigrants are permitted into the country and granted citizenship without first verifying their actual need or employment opportunity (education/skillset), which won't help their situation. Cooperation between nations for requiring to register for a work visa in person (locally) prevents them from flooding across the border unnecessarily.

   For those who will try to cross the border despite the above, the automated system will ensure compliancy by businesses who may have violated the law and hired undocumented workers or those with invalid/expired visas. The system will assist investigators when such information is cross-referenced with the productivity level of the business (from tax filings and such). If revenue is greater than what is possible with the number of workers that are registered for the company then that would raise a red flag that something is amiss and the business could be investigated for the possible use of undocumented workers.

   Overall, a federally-mandated automated employment system will help prevent illegal border crossings into the country, while at the same time be fair and just to all immigrants who wish to become an American citizen.