Column: Immigration reform must begin with enforcement
By Jon Golnik
EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA
July 4, 2010

The recent Arizona immigration bill has stimulated debate not only about the bill's merits but also about our country's illegal immigration challenges.

The Arizona bill starkly exposes our federal government's failure to secure our borders and enforce existing immigration legislation. The solution is not "immigration reform" but "immigration enforcement."

Let's be clear — our laws already prohibit immigrants from coming to this country without following a proper procedure. That's why the term "illegal immigration" has become so prominent in our vocabulary. We don't need more laws telling us what those entering America can and cannot do — we have those. What we need is some laws on the national and even state level where necessary, enforcing existing immigration laws. Let's address some aspects of the federal laws that must be enforced.

Our first priority must be securing our borders. The budget for homeland security increased by a mere 7 percent from 2009-2010. There are 20,000 border patrol agents, and that number will decline by approximately 180 (via transfers and retirements), leaving our borders with fewer agents than last year.

Let's double the number of border agents. This would cost approximately $3.3 billion. In this age of rising Islamic fundamentalism and terrorist attacks, money spent securing our borders and protecting our citizens is money well spent. In fact, border security is one place we should be spending money and the savings will more than cover the spending increase if you consider that illegal immigrants cost the U.S. up to $250 billion a year. By diminishing the number of illegals that cross our borders, we will save money, and those savings will more than pay for the added expense of increased border security. And for those who are skeptical, $3.3 billion is a mere line item from TARP or the stimulus package.

Illegal immigration also involves those who overstay their visas. One-third of illegal aliens came to the U.S. legally, with visas, but never left. We must create a system that will track which visa holders have overstayed.

In 1996, Congress mandated the development of a check-in/check-out system at the border and 14 years later it still has not been implemented. What's the use of a law if we don't enforce it? Implement check in/check out system now. We no longer can accept unenforced laws thrown on the books to appease the public during an election season. It is time for accountability.

We need to stop the magnets that attract illegals to our country and keep them here. The biggest magnet is employment. We must enforce employee verification and penalize companies who ignore our laws. Making it difficult for illegal aliens to find and keep jobs is an important mechanism.

If we accompany the removal of the employment magnet with the removal of other magnets such as taxpayer-funded benefits from the state or federal level, it will create a "self-deportation" system among the illegal alien community. No work, no benefits, no reason to be here.

The illegal immigration community will also decline if we make sure that illegals are deported when we become aware of them. The current system of letting illegal immigrants go after being arrested for a crime must stop. Law enforcements hands are too often tied. Being in America without going through the legal procedures is itself illegal, therefore a crime. Why are law enforcement (officers) at all levels of government not only allowed but required to enforce these laws?

With unemployment hovering around 10 percent, Congress's valuable time needs to be focused on creating private sector jobs. Our illegal immigration crisis certainly affects the job market. Illegal immigration is perhaps the most challenging problem confronting the United States as it cuts across every other challenging national issue: employment, education, health care, and national security.

I believe that immigration is the foundation of this country. I believe that people from other nations want to come to here because of the great opportunity. I believe that the American Dream is not dreamt by only Americans. The diversity of this nation's culture is one of the things that makes our country great. But immigrants who come to reap the reward of our great country must do so legally.

Everyone admits our immigration policy is broken. However, before we embark on 'reforming' I suggest we begin 'enforcing'.

NIKI TSONGAS VOTES OF THE WEEK!
Tsongas Consistent in her Politics over People voting record

Westford, Ma – This week, the US House of Representatives took up several pieces of legislation and Niki Tsongas successfully voted against the interests of the people in each of the major votes.

A financial reform package passed the House on Wednesday night with Congresswoman Tsongas voting with Nancy Pelosi and the majority with a 237-192 margin.

“Just like with immigration reform, the government again is worried about creating new  laws  and regulation, when all we need is the enforcement of existing ones. Despite the spin coming from the Democrats in Congress, this financial reform bill fails to address the actual problems with our financial industry and is little more than a government power grab,” said Jon Golnik, candidate for the 5th Congressional District.  “The real concern here is the fact that no one is quite sure of the implications of the 2300 page bill…as acknowledged by Chris Dodd, one of the bill’s authors.  

“As we plow through the complexities of this legislation, I believe we will find that it actually increases the likelihood of impeding economic growth.   You do not impose the cost increasing regulation on private institutions without it trickling down to the consumer.  It will increase costs for the small businessperson and it will force future bail outs and government takeovers of private companies.  This is not good for the economy and it is certainly not good for our national debt.”

In addition, Niki Tsongas voted to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and against the necessary appropriations for our troops serving there.

“We are at a cross roads in our efforts in Afghanistan.  There is a new General and rather than take the guidance of commanders on the ground, Niki Tsongas votes to arbitrarily just bring them all home, and in the absence of that,  not fund our troops—leaving them vulnerable without the apparatus and resources they need,”  Golnik said.  “Once again, Niki has chosen partisanship over the People.”

Niki’s votes on these pieces of legislation can be found at:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/index.asp