The perfect can become the enemy of the good. And more individuals are concluding that comprehensive immigration reform is a perfect that can not be achieved today. Cold political calculation of what can be delivered by the Obama or any administration leading to the 2012 elections forces this conclusion. But, even if by some miracle of extraordinary political will and maneuvering, comprehensive reform was achieved within two years, the cost in terms of compromises to assured demands from advocates for stronger interior enforcement and more border controls would make the total package of legal changes undesirable. The financial costs to implement the changes and the civil liberties lost would be tremendous, both for citizens and new immigrants.
Consider Cato Institute's concerns of systems to check an individual's right to work in the United States, which is key to virtually every proposal for comprehensive immigration reform. According to the CATO Institute, an electronic verification system would cost $20 billion to create and "...would cause law-abiding American citizens to lose more of their privacy as government records about them grew and were converted to untold new purposes. Mission creep all but guarantees...federal regulatory control over Americsns' lives even further."
Then, there are strongly pro-immigrant advocates who trade away freedom of movement and protections form searches affecting all Americans for the sake of providing legal status for 4% of the population. "I'm ready to triple that border. I'm ready to put more border patrol agents there," proclaimed Representative Luis Gutierrez from Illinois. "Will [people who argue for restrictive immigration laws]...join us in a comprehensive plan, so that we can take the 12 million who are here, legalize them..." And he gives a nod to storing biometrics on all Americans because they like him should be "...willing to give a little blood and a little DNA to prove that I'm [and others are] legally working the United States of America."
And, the question arises as to whether we can afford more enforcement measures. The tax payer cost to deport all illegal immigrants and secure the borders has been estima5ed to be as high as $285 billion over five years. Current annual recurring costs for only a partial array of federal programs in different agencies now trying to control immigration include: $5.8 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and $146.9 million for Secure Communities program which is on top of $5.4 million for the 287(g) Program; $4.5 billion for Border Patrol within Customs and Border Protection; $316 million for the Executive Office of Immigration Review; $2.8 billion for the Citizenship and Immigration Service and $103 million for E-Verify. This does not include the portions of the Departments of Labor and State budgets allocated to process petitions and visas and it does not include $8 billion (some estimates up to $49 billion) to construct border fences, nor the cost of deploying Coast Guard and National Guard along the borders. In these times of financial stress, do we want to double-down? When is enough enough?
But, make no mistake, the status quo and Federal inaction are not defensible. It is precisely because of Federal inaction that States and local governments have stepped into the immigration morass. Unfortunately, they have done so with punitive and what ultimately will be ineffective legislation and divisive policies that are destroying community cohesion and exhausting local public funds. Thus, the Federal Government is correct in trying to block anti-immigration measures such as SB1070 passed in Arizona, but it must address local frustration and feelings of helplessness by undertaking demonstrable actions and affirmative policies to fix the problems caused by its broken immigration system. And, the Administration is only partially correct is saying it cannot act because of Republican intransigence. There is plenty it can do.
First, it must affirm that immigration is a Federal responsibility. Any ambiguity that that is not the case, should be eliminated. That means not only blocking measures such as SB1070, but also rescinding 287(g) and modifying Secured Community Programs to ensure very clearly that any affirmative actions against illegal immigrants will be undertaken by federal immigration officers and not local police.
That clarity has be be reinforced by a second, simultaneous and sustained action. The Federal government must provide assistance to support community policing concepts and programs that address issues faced by local jurisdictions because of the influx of foreign migrants. The federal effort, for example, could provide funding to ensure that health clinics provide for all members of their communities and that emergency hospital facilities are not over-used. Support could be provided to city planning broads coping with traffic and public safety issues related to day labor recruitment sites. Funds could be provided to school districts facing extra expenses for ESL and integration classes. This federal funding can come from a portion (note necessarily all) of the $285 billion estimated as needed to deport illegal immigrants and secure the borders over five year period.
Third, the Administration must reform thoroughly the dysfunctional Citizenship and Immigration Services and the inefficient inter-agency process that make being illegal the calculated option it is. There is much that can be reformed by Executive fiat without any, or with only limited, legislation; but three issues demand strong legislation action now. They are: 1) Pass the DREAM Act and affirm the the United States is a forward-looking nation of hope and fairness for youth brought up in the United States who demonstrate their commitment to their American home through national service. 2) Pass the AgJob Act and establish a humane and well-regulated guest worker program that requires bi-lateral responsibility with sending countries to ensure the safety, health and repatriation of their nationals gainfully employed in the United States. 3) Revise entirely the employment-based visa system to include not only market considerations that fill job vacancies effectively but to emphasize job creation and investments that strengthen America"s global competitiveness.
There will be a solution to the 12 million illegal immigrants now residing within our borders. But, now is not the time to deal with them all when there are achievable measures to alleviate significantly the problems illegal immigration allegedly causes. The flip-side of the concept underlying SB1070 that these problems can be dealt with through attrition of the illegal population by heavy-handed enforcement laws, piece-meal immigration reform can achieve the same "attrition" by channels for the illegal population to participate openly and productively within their American communities. Illegal immigrants may also choose to return to their native country if there is confidence that they can legally return later through an immigration system that has been reformed to be both reasonable and welcoming.
There is much that can be done with determined and forceful Federal leadership; but, in the present state of play, the perfect of comprehensive immigration reform has become not just the enemy of good piece-meal reform. It has become a massive tomb blocking anything else form moving forward while the civility of the society and thoughtful discourse on immigration and workable solutions are brutalized.
