A free-enterprise immigration reform
December 9, 2005| By The Heritage Foundation
America's immigration policy is broken. Between ten and fifteen million illegal immigrants reside in the country, and America's borders are so porous that not only would-be workers but terrorists can cross untouched.
Add to this a bureaucratic system that doesn’t work and an artificial limit on the number of legal immigrants and you have a non-functional immigration program, argue Helen Krieble and Greg Walcher of the Vernon K. Krieble Foundation.
Next Tuesday, Krieble and Walcher will propose a new approach to the illegal immigration issue–a private sector initiative that draws on one of America's greatest strengths: free enterprise.
The Krieble Plan would include absolute border controls to secure America and a new legal guest worker program. The Krieble plan would allow private businesses to open recruitment offices abroad and empower them to conduct instant background checks and issue guest worker permits.
New polling data backs the claim that this plan can achieve broad support, which may bring together a divided political base.
The most common liberal proposal is to provide an amnesty for illegal immigrants, a plan that would only incentivize future illegal immigration. A recent survey of Heritage Foundation members showed that 98 percent oppose rewarding illegal immigrants for breaking the law.
About this event
Relevant Heritage research
- Kirk Johnson and Tim Kane, ““Recapturing” Visas: A Sensible Temporary Fix for America's Foreign Worker Problem,” October 19, 2005
- James Carafano, Janice Kephart and Paul Rosenzweig, The McCain-Kennedy Immigration Reform Bill Falls Short, July 26, 2005
- Edwin Meese, James Carafano, Matthew Spalding, and Paul Rosenzweig, "Alternatives to Amnesty: Proposals for Fair and Effective Immigration Reform," June 2, 2005
- Edwin Meese and Matthew Spalding , “The Principles of Immigration ,” October 19, 2004
