"But now for the sticky wicket. The fly in the ointment. What to do with the millions of illegals who are now living among us. Legalize them? Not hardly."
On the question concerning our "undocumented workers" (or as many of us say, "illegal aliens") both candidates have come up short. Trump is said to have flip-flopped on his solution on how to fix the problem. And Hillary does nothing but pander. What would the most honest and cogent answer to this vexing problem? The answer should be, "I have no clue".
First off, we currently have no southern "wall". Truthfully, we probably never will. To do it right, would be prohibitively expensive (and no, Mexico is not going to pay for it). And if it could be built, it would be as ugly as sin.
However, putting more ICE officers on the border does make sense. Putting more sensors on the border makes sense. Having more state of the art drones on patrol makes sense. Forgetting about the stupid program called "Catch and release" makes sense.
If we really wanted to, the flow of illegal immigrants could be slowed to a trickle. But it would take guts. It would involve making the penalty for hiring illegals so steep, it would scare away most if not all employers. And if an immigrant was found with forged papers, serious jail time would be in the offing. Once immigrants find out there is no work in the United States for those who are undocumented (as well as no benefits), they would think twice before sneaking across our border.
But now comes the sticky wicket. The fly in the ointment. What to do with the millions of illegals who are now living among us. Legalize them? Not hardly. As long as we want to be a nation of laws and fairness, that would not be right. What is the message we would send to those who did play by the rules?
How about a path to citizenship? Again, if it is a "short circuit" that other legal immigrants did not have to follow, what is the message? Also, how in the world are we going to figure out what the real number is? And what about this stupid "anchor baby" issue? Man oh man, has that one been gamed by many. My solution? Like I said, I have no clue what-so-ever.
As vexing as this problem is, we as a nation will have to figure a way out. As a nation, we got into this together. As a nation, we need to get out of this together. All I ask from the candidates are truthful answers when questioned about this. It is as simple as that. "I don't know" is an okay answer when that is the truth.
It's really not difficult at all. Look at Trump's speech on the subject. He answers all the questions with simple and reasonable solutions, with the exception that the "wall" is not necessarily a huge opaque barrier. As for desirable immigrants, his "touchback" program makes infinite good sense, and his "universal E-verify" solution is already working in a couple of states. Eezy-Peezy.
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