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Sen. Jeff Sessions- immigration zero

February 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Sen. Jeff Sessions is this week’s immigration zero.

Senator Sessions is a Republican from Alabama, and he has organized a movement in opposition to the GOP leadership’s (short-lived) immigration efforts. This guy is working overtime to combat immigration reform. Clearly an immigration zero. We need less people like this in office and more people willing to take a stand and help fix our country’s problems. Immigration reform has been an issue for decades and too many politicians, like Sen. Jeff Sessions, have stood in the way of progress, keeping our nation in chaos and controversy.

 

Filed Under: Immigration reform, Politicians, Republicans

California State Trust Act- making our communities safer

February 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The California Trust Act that Gov Jerry Brown signed into effect in May 2013 is having a very positive response from law enforcement.

Monterey County Sheriff Scott Miller and Salinas police Chief Kelly McMillin are stating publicly their intention to opt out of any detentions and arrests based solely on a person’s immigration status, whether known or unknown.

So why would such high ranking law enforcement officers take such a stand? For many reasons:

  • It makes our jails less crowded.
  • It makes the judges calendars less crowded, affording them to take more time and consideration when reviewing cases, reducing errors in sentencing due to rapid pace hearings.
  • It enables law enforcement to focus on solving crimes rather than assisting ICE in doing their jobs.
  • It helps immigrants trust law enforcement, not having to fear getting deported just for reporting a crime.
  • Increases in crime reporting reduces actual crime numbers by letting would-be criminals they are not just going to be given a blank check to do whatever they want without fear of justice.
  • It keeps more bad guys off the street by apprehending more criminals instead of undocumented immigrants.
  • IT makes our neighborhoods safer.

When all is said and done, having law enforcement focusing on law enforcement instead of spending much of their time on immigration enforcement, helps our communities where we really need it.

Filed Under: immigrants, Immigration Debate, Immigration News, Immigration reform, Laws

Immigration Reform: Yes or No!

February 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment

What’s it going to be?

The President says he believes there’s a good chance of passing immigration legislation this year. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan says no.

You can’t have it both ways. Somebody’s going to lose, and as usual, it’s going to be us, the American citizen.

I’m tired of this whole subject, aren’t you?  Year after year after year the Republicans feign interest in immigration reform and the Democrats, drooling at the chance for some kind of win, give in to almost all the Republican demands, and just when you think something’s going to happen–Bang! “Nope, we’re not going to even talk about immigration.” Then more negotiations. More compromises by the Democrats–Bang! “Nope, we’re not going to talk about immigration.”

Me thinks I see a pattern here.

We have been debating this immigration thing for so long I’m getting tired of listening to it. Our lawmakers aren’t going to do anything about this problem, so why talk it into the ground?

The only way the Republicans are going to move on immigration is when they know deep down in their hearts, they have to.

So let’s do it.  Let us for once draw a line in the sand and say,

“ENOUGH! We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it any more.”

What do you think would happen if all the incumbents in the upcoming mid-term elections were to be replaced? Do you think that would send a loud enough message? Do you think then that our lawmakers will remember just exactly who they work for, and I don’t mean lobbyists or party king makers–us!

If they have to join the unemployed because they refused to do what we elected them to do, then I think they might actually HAVE to do something, because come November, if nothing, again, has been done about our immigration catastrophe, the ones still standing may stand to lose their jobs too.

It’s so crazy, it just might work.

Filed Under: Immigration reform, Uncategorized

Plan A- Equality

January 27, 2014 by 2 Comments

There has been a lot of talk about what needs to be in our upcoming immigration bill. I have been debating this issue for a couple of years now and see that a sixth imperative needs to be added in order for any new immigration legislation to be truly successful.

Equality.

Without Equality an immigrant will find this whole process less than fulfilling and almost certainly harmful.  If they are not 100% a part of our community, an immigrant will have no vested interest in helping us succeed. They could go back home at any time and compete against us, or otherwise help another country’s economy. With the recovery from the recent recession taking so long, we need all the help we can get right now getting our country back on track. We need more people creating jobs and providing affordable services.

Every US citizen needs to be equal in the eyes of the law and our government.

taxation_without_representationIf there is a sub-class of citizen who lives among us, works with us and pays their fair share of taxes, but who cannot vote or otherwise fully participate in their destiny, we will have failed to give all of our citizens equal access to the American Dream. If they can’t vote, they would be vulnerable to be treated like second class citizens by our government, police, and other institutions and groups of our society. If we have learned nothing else from our civil rights era, we should have at least learned this.

no_taxation_without_representation_mousepad-p144410742047262307envq7_400Taxation without representation was one of the precursors to our struggle for independence from England. If not being able to control our own destiny was a good enough reason to rebel against an oppressive government and seek our own self-determined solution, then why would we subjugate a portion of our society to suffer that same fate? This would be about as un-American an act as we could possibly inflict against a part of our society.

In order to appease the more conservative among us, if we accepted someone into our society and they committed some horrible act that warranted their expulsion, we should also have the right to revoke their citizenship and deport them, never allowing them to return. This should be the only difference between someone born on American soil, and someone adopted into our family. This would prevent them from becoming a disenfranchised part of our community, as well as protect us from someone who would do us great harm.

1115Q_CIVILhousing1_35p Equality should be the number one goal for all of our society. There are those among us today who are fighting for this very freedom and it should shame us to no end that we continue to allow this type of behavior to endure. A hundred years after the civil war gave slaves their freedom, African-Americans still had to fight for equality. Many still struggle today.

 

 

National_Association_Against_Woman_SuffrageAlmost a hundred years after women won the right to vote, they still fight to gain equal footing with men in many areas.  The rights for Gay men and women are being fought today and there is little sign that this will end any time soon. Dare we add another group of  Americans to this sad list of  persecuted and under-represented citizens?

What will it take for us to treat each other with dignity and respect, and become a truly civilized society?

Next week- Conclusion

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Filed Under: Equality, Immigration Debate, Immigration reform, Plan A

Immigration Reform in 2014

November 15, 2013 by 1 Comment

We must ensure comprehensive immigration reform in 2014.

If we don’t make immigration reform a priority by December 1, 2014,we may not see another opportunity for years.

What will our country look like then?

It is no secret that the US immigration system is a mess. It is so out of touch with our society that even the people running it don’t know what to do. To deport or not to deport has become a heated argument all across America. The fact is, our immigration system has not been designed to achieve a unified strategic plan, so it doesn’t.  Instead, it has been cobbled together, one piece at a time, for over four hundred years. We have created laws that, at times, have been set up to achieve specific individual goals, such as keeping out people from specific nations, or allowing other European countries higher numbers of immigrants in order to keep our country light-skinned. We have never looked at our country and asked what it needs to grow and be healthy. We have only looked at our country with an eye towards protecting that with which we rightfully stole. Looking at the state of our country today and it is obvious very little has changed. We are still run by a paranoid minority that is trying to keep their hold on the country and keep “undesirables” out.  In a word, our immigration laws are “hateful,” and where hate is involved, the one thing our immigration laws don’t do is discriminate—they hate everyone.

  • They hate the schools and universities that try to strengthen our competitiveness in the face of global competition by limiting their access to bright young minds and deporting many graduates and pre-grads, who otherwise could have been high-value alumni donors.
  • They hate big business by limiting their access to the bright young people we educate so well. These corporations offer these students internships that train them with highly specialized skills, only to ship them back to their home countries where they become that same company’s chief competition.
  • They hate small businesses who need labor to flourish amidst the American obsession for ever cheaper goods and services in the aftermath of a national financial meltdown.
  • They hate the law’s enforcers who are confused as to whether or not to enforce the current laws on the books, or worse yet, are minimally trained in immigration law procedures but expected to perform immigration law enforcement duties.
  • They hate the politicians who must decide whether to submit to their party’s extremist policies to gain their support and watch their popularity among voters plummet, or give the voters what they ask for and risk the ire and abandonment of their party’s extremist kingmakers. Either way they stand to face almost certain failure in their next election cycle.
  • They hate American families who are already facing a high divorce rate by separating and deporting one or more parents from the family. Add to this a ban from re-entering the US for several years, and the family must struggle to survive more stress and endure more hardships than most successful families.
  • And let’s not forget the immigrants. It hates them by waving the jobs they seek in front of them and then criminalizing them for coming here and taking them.
  • It hates the migrant workers who normally return to their home country after harvest season, by increasing border security and forcing them to stay here, in a much more expensive society, all year round for fear of getting cut off from their livelihood.
  • It hates the solo worker who normally comes here for a year or two and sends money back home to raise and care for their family by forcing them to stay in the US indefinitely, forever cut off from their home and family, for fear they might not make it back to their jobs when they need to get back to work.
  • Most of all, our immigration system hates our children. It casts a shadow over their lives with the threat of ripping their parents, relatives, neighbors and classmates right out of their lives overnight, without warning. When this actually happens, it shocks and disrupts them so violently and completely, we are certain to see a new generation of rebellious young US citizens who hate our laws and authority figures. Expect to see them wreaking havoc on our society very soon.

 

Our current immigration system works against every person in the United States. This situation has been like this for many, many years, and it gets worse with each passing day.

So why haven’t we fixed it already?

The answer is obvious—it’s right in front of us every time we read or watch a news cast about the deadlock in congress over immigration reform legislation.

Our political system has failed us.

What should our immigration and naturalization system do for our country?

  1. Allow our schools to train the best minds from around the world
  2. Allow our corporations access to recruit, train and retain the brightest minds from around the world.
  3. Allow our small businesses to access the labor pool they need in order to be competitive and give the American people access to the goods and services they need.
  4. Protect our families and prevent the breakup of otherwise peaceful and law-abiding citizens.
  5. Protect our children by not depriving them of the parents they need to raise them.
  6. Keep our politicians from sabotaging our efforts at establishing fair and successful immigration laws.
  7. Protect our families from Drugs and criminals who would do harm to our families and neighborhoods.
  8. Create an inviting and rewarding environment for workers from around the world to support their families as they see fit whether that be sending money home, seasonal work or bringing their families with them to create the life they desire.
  9. Incentivize immigrants who are already in our country to step forward and become a legal and welcome part of our society.
  10. Ensure for the safety and well being of immigrants who don’t wish to be citizens.
  11. Have this system be self-funding so as not to burden the American people with the problems of the world.
  12. Train people to support and carry out the laws that we create to do these things, and give them the tools and support to do this.
  13. Give citizenship to anyone who joins our military.

Can you think of anything else our immigration laws should do for our country and for the immigrant labor and brainpower we are going to need to compete in the 21st century?

Filed Under: Immigration reform, Immigration's effects on citizens

Tell the Government what YOU want

October 25, 2013 by 2 Comments

Are you tired of having a few angry congressmen dictate to us what THEY want in the way of immigration legislation?  According to Reform Immigration for America these three members of congress  stand in the way of good immigration reform:

I would add Sen. Ted Cruz. He is loudly opposed to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and he is trying to convince fellow Republicans that they will do fine with Hispanics by voting against immigration reform.

Really? Does he get the paper? Does he even listen to what people are saying about him and his ultra-conservative views?

Tell the government what you want, and they had better get it right. Go over to Reform Immigration for America and send a quick email. Let these senators know they do NOT speak for you, and you do NOT support them. It’s about time we take back our government from the people who would do us harm by forcing their narrow-minded beliefs on us.

Filed Under: Immigration reform, Politicians

WeBelongTogether teaches kids they matter too.

October 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment

It has been said many times that children are our future, but the phrase seems to lose all meaning once it is said. WeBelongTogether.org gets it. This organization is getting kids to write to Congress and pleading with them to pass better immigration laws so they can keep their families together.  Teaching children how to participate in the political process is the first step in changing our nation. If we all do something to help our children learn how to use the political process and exercise free speech, then maybe the world can be changed. Check out their letter writing movement at www.webelongtogether.org/wish

Filed Under: Immigration reform, Immigration's effects on citizens, US Immigration HERO

US Immigration Reform PLAN A Conclusion

October 3, 2013 by 2 Comments

Before we finish there needs to be something addressed here that is not in the US Immigration Reform PLAN A ideology.

Some of the conservatives in the audience will notice there is no mention of border security in this bill. There are two very sound reasons for this:

1)   The border is more secure now than at any time in our history. More resources, money and manpower have been shifted to the border than during any other time in our history. As a result of our extensive efforts to stop people at the border, we are apprehending a record low level of  people not seen since 1971.  People crying about securing the border before working on any new immigration bill are really just stalling. No border in the history of the world has ever been 100% secure, and our border with Mexico has never been more secure than it is right now.

2)   When you focus on compliance and making it easy and financially accessible and ultimately highly beneficial for everyone to participate, the need for prevention will be greatly reduced. As compliance passes 80% the need for our current border forces will also be reduced, and the remaining force’s day to day activities will shift to rounding up drug runners and criminals, as all those who have nothing to hide will rather do things the easy, inexpensive, legal way. Catching fewer people should be easier than trying to stem the tide of a million immigrants a year, so our border security should even increase, while we reduce our expenses and shift our resources where they will be needed most.

If we begin here, we can begin to create a program that is good for the both the US, and the immigrant, is weighted more towards benefiting us, can be easily (relatively speaking) setup and maintained, won’t cost us anything, and quite possibly help us monetize and protect a resource of income, spending, and taxes, as well as protect and nourish a great part of our communities and culture.  With the emerging markets producing vastly more competition around the world, we could use all the help we can get. Immigrants of all kinds are needed to keep us leading the world in engineering, innovation, economy, and quality of life.

     Lastly,

The only thing I loathe more than censorship is hateful comments that contribute nothing to the conversation. The only comments that will be removed are the hateful, non-helpful ones, (trolls) and people who love to post the same comment over and over and over and over and over. . .

Please remember, any jerk can complain, and most usually do, but only those who genuinely care about helping, will offer suggestions as to how to make something better.

We need to hurry. Congress could surprise us and come up with something sooner than later. If that happens, the compromises that inevitably will find their way into the bill will likely cripple it, and hinder any future progress we might otherwise enjoy.

So tell me, do you have confidence in our government to put forth a well thought out, truly beneficial and successful bill that will propel our country forward for years to come?

Join the conversation now, before we have to suffer through what congress manages to cobble together, for the next thirty years.

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Filed Under: Immigration Debate, Immigration reform, Laws, New Post, Plan A, Republicans

US Immigration Reform PLAN A Taxable

October 3, 2013 by 4 Comments

I want you to pay your taxesTaxable is a great way for this program to pay for itself.

There needs to be a way for our immigration system to be able to be self-supporting. Sure, the immigrants will add value to our society by purchasing goods and filling jobs, but we need to be able to set up systems that will ensure both the immigrants and US citizens are taken care of. Think of it as an “immigrant work tax” program.

Being able to track and tax the income of all people within our borders is very important, citizen or not. Today there is a shadow society of people who do not pay income taxes, or those that do cannot reap the benefits for which they are being taxed. Both situations need to be addressed if we want our new immigration policy to be effective.

The new immigrant work tax should be above and beyond what citizens are required to pay. Immigrants who are not citizens may have needs that US citizens do not, such as legal services, court fees, incarceration costs and deportation costs. The fees for participation should cover the expenses to administer this program, see to it that every immigrant inside our borders complies, and to fund the system that deals with the people who refuse to participate. Our new immigration program should not be a burden on our society.

The normal taxes collected by the IRS should go to the same programs that US citizens fund with their taxes, as well as unemployment and disability insurance. In order to attract and retain great workers, we need to show our possible future citizens what it’s like to be a US citizen. Having the same programs in place for immigrants, as citizens, will also help us keep things simple and affordable.

This same program should also have the same requirements for immigrants to join health care programs for obvious health and financial reasons. Ensuring compliance with all of the programs an immigrant is expected to participate in is an expense in and of itself and should be funded the immigrants themselves.

Finally, what would welcoming new people into our country without equality?

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Filed Under: Immigration Debate, Immigration reform, New Post, Plan A, Taxes

US Immigration Reform PLAN A Actionable

October 3, 2013 by 5 Comments

Actionable

 

imgres-4If we’ve followed Plan A this far we will have a simple, inexpensive and highly accurate immigration process.  Added all together we now have information regarding our visitors and immigrants that we can actually do things with.

  • We can deport those who affect our society in negative ways.
  • We can block bad people from coming in.
  • We can import people we want and need based on any number of criteria, to achieve any goal our society needs.
  • We can defend the stability of American families by not deporting the wrong people.
  • We can tax new workers who are not fully citizens and allow them to pay into a system that looks after them.
  • We can verify eligibility of special programs for non-citizens.
  • We can protect our immigrants from abuse by those who would try to take advantage of a shadow labor force.
  • We can protect our workers from an unfair competitive advantage by those who otherwise wouldn’t have the additional costs of taxes, medical benefits and social security payments and underbid those who work within our system and do carry these costs.
  • We can track the numbers of workers in an industry and actively seek out specific types of workers depending on our needs.
  • We can do a lot of things with highly accurate data.

Our immigration system could actually work for us instead of against us like it does today.

This cheap and easy system will pay huge dividends in social and economic benefits. Immigrants will actually WANT to participate in our program as it will benefit them immensely and protect them from those that would abuse them, ensuring a high rate of participation and enabling us to identify everyone within our borders.

Only those who don’t qualify for our system will be the ones who try to work around it. These people will easily stick out and be much more easy to deport as there will be much less of them to deal with.

Not having your ID could automatically place an individual in a processing area until their status can be verified by a professionally trained immigration specialist.

One example of how this immigration system could be used is If someone just doesn’t have their ID on them, but they do have one (lost, stolen, left in other pants. . . ) If they are found to be a legitimate member of our society then they can be released. If they are found to be living outside our system, they could be immediately input into our system by being photographed, fingerprinted and have some DNA extracted. If after that information is processed we can either incarcerate those who we were looking for or whose DNA matches an unsolved crime, or we can deport that person and they will be banned from entering the US for a certain period of time. Caught again; and they could be jailed and then deported, etc.

With this type of immigration system no one will have an excuse not to participate, except for those who aren’t able to qualify in the first place. Finding them and taking action to remove them from our society could either put them in jail, court, or on a bus back to the border. End of story.

A system that allows us to act without reproach ensures the safety of every member of our society.

Next up: Taxable. Ensuring our new citizens pay their fair share.

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Filed Under: Immigration Debate, Immigration reform, New Post, Plan A
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