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.

   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 would be relevant to the situation.

   How the automated interview system would be effective is two-fold: (1) the national registry of employment provides an accurate number of job offerings that is needed for determining how many work visas should be granted in a given year, and (2) the automated employment system will ensure businesses will be 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. 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 (especially when considering that some are uneducated, unskilled, and not fluent in English).

   The second policy change that may be useful in preventing illegal border crossings is the manner of how work visas are granted to immigrants. The new procedure should mandate that the applicant is required to apply for the visa at their local government office (in person). This is necessary to verify the applicant's 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 total number of job openings that foreign immigrants are needed to fulfill and how many should be granted entry, (2) cooperation between nations for in-person visa registrations not only verifies identifications/backgrounds but also prevents massive border crossings since the applicant would have to first apply for the visa in their native country, (3) automated interview system prescreens if foreign workers were granted valid work visas prior to consideration for employment, and (4) if accepted for a job, immigrants may then enter the country legally.

   Asylum requests would likewise be 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 today 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 prevents them from flooding across the border unnecessarily.

   For those who will try to cross the border illegally despite the new procedure, the automated system will help ensure compliancy for businesses who may have violated the law in the past and hired undocumented workers or those with invalid/expired visas. The new system will also assist investigators when such information is cross-referenced with the productivity level of the particular business (from tax filings and such). If revenue is greater than what is possible with the number of workers that are registered with 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 this country, while at the same time, be fair and just to all immigrants who wish to become an American citizen.