Immigration Reform

     One of the more popular subjects bandied about by politicians is the so-called "immigration reform."  If truth be known, what they are really talking about has nothing to do with "reforming" our existing immigration policy and laws.  The so-called immigration reform seen from the perspective of the liberal camp is simply the elimination of existing laws and regulations for entry into our country.  The most popular refrain is "why can't we be more liberal like the so-called 'open' travel within South America for South American citizens and within the European community for Europeans who are a part of the European Union.  That suggestion is laughable.  We would be overwhelmed with people from all over the world wanting to live in America!  Besides, we have "open" travel within our borders for our citizens and residents!  Keep in mind, the United States is larger than European Union and as large as South America!
     Statistics and figures can change according to whoever is doing the numbers!  The current numbers given for illegal aliens residing in our country is around 11 to 12 million.  Take my word for it.  The number is way too small!  Even if you triple or quadruple that number, it will still be shy!  Back in the 1980s when the tide of illegal aliens started to really roll into the United States from our southern border, the U.S. Border Patrol and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) which is now ICE, determined that on the average 3 to 4 million illegals crossed our border annually and INS and Border Patrol deported an average of one to 1 1/2 million apprehended illegals a year.  So, what happened to those 2 million or so that got away?  Did they all return back across the Mexican border?  The illegals have been crossing our border for a long time, since the current border was created after the Mexican War.  But the huge onslaught didn't really start until the 1980s.  So, assuming that less than half of those not apprehended remained on our soil, that is still well over 30 million illegals, not the 11 to 12 million that the government is telling us now!  Incidentally, 30 million was the number quoted by Trump in one of his speeches, for which he has been soundly criticized by Hillary supporters for inflating the numbers.  But, let's forget the numbers for now.
     Everyone who is pushing for "immigration reform" is basically pushing for eliminating many of the restriction that are in place right now.  But in doing so, we would be eliminating any real laws and regulations that set controls.  There would be no control on the entry of people into our country.  What many people fail to recognize is just how badly people want to come to our country.  They have not seen visa lines that form in front of the consular section of the embassy in Mexico that stretch for blocks, lines that are first started several days ahead!  Standing in visa line for a fee for someone is a lucrative business.  Believe me, the same situation exists in many other places.  It is a major security problem for our embassies and consulates around the world!  There is not a single none U.S. embassy or a consulate in the world that experiences such demand and long lines as ours do in some parts of the world.  Basically, the problem is not our laws and regulations, it is demand for our visas!  Short of eliminating any visa requirement for entry into our country, this problem is almost impossible to solve.  Are our laws perfect?  Far from it, but they are what we have now, and they are better than no laws at all!
     Our immigration policy and laws and regulations, called the INA or Immigration and Naturalization Act, have been modified and "reformed" several times since it was created in the early 20th Century.  The 1924 Immigration Act which had the Asian Exclusion Act still in force was completely revamped or "reformed" in 1965.  Prior to that, it went through several amendments, beginning with the elimination of Asian Exclusion Act in 1952.  In 1965 the INA was changed to eliminate quota systems for immigrant visas by countries.  Prior to the change, our laws heavily favored UK, Ireland, and Germany, allowing 70% of immigrant visa applicants to come from those countries and leaving only 30% for the rest of the world since the INA was established in early 20th Century.  The law was thought to be unfair and racist, which it was, so it was changed.  Largely due to the generous treatment of UK, Ireland, and Germany for immigrants, the majority of European-Americans are of German descent today and Irish population in America is much greater than it is in Ireland itself!  The entire population in Ireland today is 4.68 million while the population of Americans of Irish descent hovers around 34.5 million.  In other words, there are 7 times more Irish in America than in Ireland, an amazing statistic!
     With the new 1965 INA, a worldwide quota was established, and today the quota is around 675,000 immigrant visas annually.  This number is divided according to geographic area and the lion's share of numbers go to more populated regions.  Still, it is obviously not working, because there are far too many people who want to come to America.  What is happening is that the number of people applying for visas far outnumber the annual quota numbers for a given region.  There's no problem with developed countries and countries like South Korea and Taiwan no longer have the visa demand.  In fact, for visitor visa purposes, these countries are now on "visa waiver," meaning that they don't need a visa to come to America.  But China, India and some of the other less developed regions still have a very high demand.  In places like Mexico, there are as many applicants annually as there are total number of quotas for the entire world!  This creates a perennial backlog and waiting times grow longer and longer.  The proponents of the new immigration reform do not address the problem of too many applicants for visa.  They keep pointing a finger at bureaucratic red tape and other delays saying that elimination of these "steps" or rules would speed up everything.  Short of eliminating any requirements and having a complete "open door" immigration policy, there is no quick fix!
     The illegals who come across our southern border are those who simply do not qualify for a visa.  In order to obtain an immigrant visa, you have to have an immediate relative (spouse, parent, etc.) who is a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident (LPR) file a petition on your behalf.  There are also certain skills that are needed that would qualify an individual and immediate family.  There are a number of other avenues, including a lottery system that one can simply apply for by filling out a card!  But, as you can see, when there are more applicants than number of visas allowed annually, there will be a backlog.  Those who don't qualify in any form usually try to get a tourist visa first and if by chance they get one, come to America and simply vanish, abusing their visa as a tourist.  If they can't get a tourist visa, which vast majority of them can't, then they simply go overland across the border illegally.  This has been the case for the last half a century, at least!
     Allowing illegals to become "legal" is really not an answer to this problem.  What do you do with the next batch?  Because for sure there will be more!  The issue with the so-called "dreamers" is an emotional and truly a tragic situation.  Perhaps some kind of a relief could be provided for the "dreamers,"  but once again, where and when do you cut it off?  As long as Mexico and some of the other countries are in a mess that they are, corrupt governments, etc., this problem will exist.  Short of completely taking over Mexico and making all Mexicans U.S. citizens, there really is no solution.  Of course, that is just a manner of speech, Mexico would never allow such a move and we couldn't afford it, financially!
     So, all the brave talk about "immigration reform" is nothing but just that, talk.  Did you know that George W. tried to institute some reforms in the INA and actually did manage some changes with cooperation of Vicente Fox, the then President of Mexico.  However, some of the relaxing of rules at border crossings had to be stopped because of 9/11!  Whatever the case, some of the suggestion made for "immigration reform" are just not realistic.  The legal immigrant issue is completely separate from the illegal issue.  Proponents of the so-called "immigrant rights movement" would like to mix the two, but in reality, they are completely different issues, more than "apples and oranges!"  Sure, our immigration laws can be improved and tweaked here and there.  But that isn't going stop the demand for immigrant visas from certain areas, like Mexico.  So, should we simply allow anyone to come to America if they want?  Because that is basically what proponents of the immigration reform are saying.