There is no way that Donald Trump would have been elected President in 2016 without his strong stance on illegal immigration.
It separated Trump from the pack of 17 other GOP candidates during the 2016 primary and his call to build a wall on the southern border was a defining issue during the general election that year.
Frustration with illegal immigration by the American public reached even greater heights with the open border policy of the Biden administration.
The Biden administration attempted to justify that the millions of migrants coming to the United States were merely seeking asylum.
However, under the law, refugees should be seeking asylum from political or religious persecution. During the Obama and Biden years more and more people were granted asylum for stating they were escaping gang violence, domestic violence and other forms of criminal behavior.
Further, under U.S. law, refugees are supposed to show that the government of the country they were leaving were complicit in the persecution or were unable to control the conduct of private actors. This was all ignored by Biden/Harris.
To show how badly abused the asylum policy has been over the years, a recent U.S. government study found that 86% of asylum claimants between 2008-2019 were not legitimate asylum seekers under the law.
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The percentage is undoubtedly much higher today considering what occurred during the Biden years.
Illegal immigration is a powerful issue because most Americans see it as fundamentally unfair. Americans are not anti-immigrant. However, they care about the rule of law, and most importantly, they believe in an even playing field. Both the rule of law and fairness have been ignored by every Presidential administration over the last 40 years with the exception of the first Trump administration.
In response to the total failure by Biden/Harris to enforce the immigration laws, Trump responded with a call to not only secure the border but to deport all illegal immigrants as well if elected to a second term
A CBS poll conducted after the election shows that policy is supported by 57% of American voters.
That policy is even supported by 48% of Hispanics.
It remains to be seen whether Trump can maintain that popular support for deportations when the media starts playing images of the illegals (and their families) being loaded onto buses or airplanes and sent out of the country.
Rounding up those with criminal records in their home countries or with violent records in the United States will have broad support.
It will be tougher to deport the illegal who is mowing your yard, cleaning your house or picking strawberries in California.
Over a decade ago I proposed that the immigration laws should be amended to add a Red Card to supplement the Green Card.
The Green Card is the term used to signify an individual that has been granted permanent residence and authority to work in the United States. It is also the pathway for citizenship under the law. The general rule is that someone with a Green Card can apply for citizenship after five years.
A Red Card would be granted to someone who had entered the country illegally but who had otherwise not committed any other crimes while in the United States and was also gainfully employed. Red Card holders would not be able to apply for citizenship. In effect, they would be allowed to stay in the country as guest workers with no opportunity for citizenship.
The Red Card policy that I outlined in 2013 could be useful as a blueprint for Trump's deportation policy in that it would provide an alternative for law-abiding, gainfully employed illegal immigrants to avoid deportation as long as they identified themselves, received Red Card status, and adhered to the rules of the program.
Those rules would include paying all required taxes, not being able to collect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other public welfare programs and being placed at the end of the list behind all other applicants for Green Cards who had followed the legal process.
Red Card holders would also be required to leave the country in the future if they lost employment or were convicted of a crime.
Illegal immigrants who did not come forward and register for the Red Card during the initial registration period would be subject to removal from the country and banned from ever entering the United States during their lifetime.
The original proposal I outlined in 2013 follows below.
Not everyone needs to be deported if we were to adopt this common sense proposal.
Is there a chance that common sense might finally prevail in dealing with illegal immigration?
Donald Trump as President gives us a better opportunity to curb illegal immigration and pass common sense immigration reform than ever before.
Do We Need A Red Card And A Green Card?
(originally published June 17, 2013) ( edited for length and clarity)
I have long been in favor of some form of immigration reform. There is little question that our current immigration laws have not been effective and are in need of reform. The United States is a nation of immigrants and it needs a rational, practical, balanced and equitable set of immigration laws for the 21st Century.
The most explosive issue in the immigration debate, especially among conservatives, involves amnesty. Simply stated, are we going to allow people who violated our laws by entering our country illegally the rights and privileges of legalized status?
What about the millions of people who want to come to our country, obeyed the law and have waited patiently in line for their turn? For example, in 2012 there were almost 15 million people who applied for the green card diversity lottery for just 50,000 openings hoping to come to the United States from underrepresented countries! How is it fair and equitable to reward those who broke the law and deny others who play by the rules? More importantly, what precedent does that establish for the future?
After all, we have already been down this road once before in 1986 when 3 million undocumented immigrants were granted amnesty and provided legal status in this country. How has that worked out? Not real well. We now have at least 11 million undocumented immigrants. It is also estimated that those 11 million have another 4.5 million children that were born in this country.
If we were to enforce the law it is clear that those 11 million should be required to pack up and return to their home countries. However, the practical reality is that is not going to happen. This is particularly true in light of the parents who have minor children that were born in this country and are legal citizens under the law. The Democrats therefore argue that we should legalize all of these undocumented aliens, since they are here and they are not going anywhere, and get them on the path to citizenship with a green card.
The green card is the term used to signify an individual that has been granted permanent residence in the United States. The general rule is that someone with a green card can apply for citizenship after five years. In my mind there is no way that this existing legal grant of residency should be granted to anyone who entered this country illegally.
However, we also must recognize the practical reality that the undocumented illegal immigrants are not going home and it is to everyone's benefit that they come out of the shadows and have some status under the law.
My solution is to create what I call the "Red Card". Of course, this assumes that the border is secure and we don't have to worry about doing this all over again. Nothing is going to work if we don't prevent future illegal immigration. We will be an even worse position in another ten years.
The Red Card would be available to anyone who is in the country currently that does not have proper documentation. Application for the card would have to be made within 90 days of the enactment of the law. Holders of the Red Card would be granted conditional residency as long as they were gainfully employed and contributing to the economy of the United States. After all, we should encourage people who want to work and contribute to our society in a positive manner. The Red Card would permit the individual to stay in the United States as long as they remained employed, paid all taxes and committed no crimes.
The Red Card would also be used in the future to grant status for temporary guest workers in situations and job sectors where it was necessary. Red Cards would be issued where job shortages exist and our Immigration Service would institute a system by which available jobs would be matched with qualified immigrants willing to do that work.
If a holder of a Red Card should lose their employment status, they would be given a grace period of 120 days to find other employment. If they could not find employment in that period they would have to leave the country within the next 60 days.
The Red Card will also be allowed to be extended to a spouse (if minor children 12 or under) and dependent children 18 and under). However, if the primary Red Card holder loses job status all family members also lose their status.
Holders of Red Cards would be entitled to no government benefits currently (welfare, Medicaid) or in the future (Social Security and Medicare). They must pay all required income and other taxes in the United States while here. They must carry health care insurance. They must commit no crimes. Any violations will result in immediate deportation and the loss of the right to future entry into the United States for their lifetimes.
All immigrants would be required to have their green or red card in their possession at all times. Beginning 90 days after enactment if someone does not have proper documentation, is here illegally, has overstayed a visa, or violated the terms of the Red Card status, they will be deported and will never be entitled to return to the United States. This may sound harsh but without a strong provision like this you have little hope in insuring compliance with the law and getting everyone to register and comply with it going forward.
Holders of Red Cards could apply for Green Cards by getting in the back of the line for their respective category under the law.
What does this accomplish? It provides a method by which we can provide a method for allowing hard working people to stay in this country if they are contributing to the economy and are positive forces in the community. However, it establishes a clear delineation between people who came to this country legally and those who did so illegally.
It also insures that those here illegally will not benefit from our government programs and have no path to citizenship and no amnesty. They are free to work to make a living for themselves and their family. They will not be allowed to take advantage of the taxpayer or get an unfair advantage over legal immigrants. They are not allowed to vote. Proof that they voted in a U.S election will also be grounds for immediate deportation and a lifetime ban from ever entering the U.S again.
I see this as a common sense compromise to bridge the liberal and conservative divide on the issue. Common sense should also be determining all of the decisions on immigration reform.
Why have an immigration policy at all? Why do we let anyone in? The only logical reason is to improve your country by importing human talent that will provide a benefit to the nation. This is the thinking that drove our immigration policy for most of our history.
Immigrants with illness or who could not support themselves and their families were turned away. Often this was at Ellis Island after they had already faced an arduous journey here by ship. Those who were willing to work and contribute were welcomed. Why should it be any different today?
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