On the right track with immigration
August 21, 2007| By Nathaniel Ward
Two weeks ago, the Bush administration announced an important new immigration and border security initiative. This is a “smart and sensible” first step upon which additional necessary measures can be built, writes Heritage’s Matthew Spalding.
In a new paper, Spalding calls the reform package “a good combination of the disincentives and incentives needed to change the dynamics of immigration.” In addition, “virtually all of the policies within it have been proposed by The Heritage Foundation’s policy research and analysis.”
It focuses on the tools needed to secure our borders and support law enforcement: building fencing, barriers, and towers on the border, completing the US-VISIT program, expanding the 287(g) program (assisting state efforts), and pursuing absconders from the law.
The initiative contains significant new steps in workplace enforcement as well: a new Social Security “no match” regulation, a reduction in the number of documents accepted to confirm work eligibility, higher civil fines for employers, and a requirement that federal contractors and vendors use the Electronic Employment Verification System, now called “E-Verify.”
At the same time, the initiative includes new efforts to streamline existing guest worker programs, such as the H-2A and the H-2B programs, and to improve the current immigration system and help immigrants assimilate, such as by implementing a revised citizenship test.
Future reforms could include Congressional legislation (though not a “massive, comprehensive” bill), changes at the state level and “lots of old-fashioned perseverance.”
As lawmakers consider future reforms, explains Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner in a recent column, “every American should take great pride in the work of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency.” New security measures are helping reduce illegal border crossings, Feulner reports from along the fence in San Diego, and the hard work of CBP agents is helping make America safer.
Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation.
