In his Washington Post column Charles Lane looks, dewy-eyed, at a compromise approach to immigration proposed by William Galston and Bill Kristol:
Its essence is a trade: legalization of roughly 11 million unauthorized immigrants already here, in exchange for tough measures against future illegal immigration.
Those brought here as minors, the “dreamers,†would receive immediate permanent residency. Others would be granted a new six-year status — “registered provisional immigrant†— that would gradually lead to citizenship, provided they meet criteria such as a clean criminal record and English training.
The federal government would build a series of physical barriers, fencing and walls, where it makes practical sense, on the U.S.-Mexico border; crack down on visa overstays with the help of advanced biometric technology; and implement a universal E-Verify system to ensure that employers hire only authorized workers.
The current annual legal immigration level, approximately 1 million lawful permanent residents, would remain in place, but there would be a major shift away from family reunification in favor of skills-based selection of newcomers.
The arbitrary “diversity†immigration program that awards visas by lottery to countries that send relatively few immigrants would be eliminated and its 55,000 annual admissions redistributed to other categories of newcomers.
I suppose I should be heartened at this proposal; it resembles things I’ve said here from time to time although my preferred approach would be to increase the number of work visas for which Mexicans are eligible rather than creating a new class of visa.
Sadly, the proposed plan is a non-starter, unacceptable to either side in the immigration debate. With a confidence based on experience we know precisely what would happen under such a plan. The six year provisional status would be made permanent or extended again and again while the barriers, stiffening of visa enforcement, and universal E-Verify would never materialize. Following the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, only a minority of those eligible ever became citizens, the promised stiffened enforcement never happened, and illegal immigration increased greatly, encouraged by the previous granting of legal status.
I’ll repeat my proposal: greatly increase the number of work visas for which Mexican citizens are eligible, toughen workplace enforcement with serious penalties for infractions (intentional or not), produce some program for the “Dreamers” but adhere to whatever standards are established rigorously, and return H1B and L1 visas to their intended purposes which were not to provide employers with an opportunity for hiring foreign workers who will work for less.
As it stands the proposal is just another example of wishful thinking.
A little known fact is that Mr Lane is the paternal uncle to Charlie Brown, and Lucy is Mr Kristols granddaughter, all who enjoy playing backyard football over the holiday.