Lee's Blog

Intercambio camping trip

We had another legendary Intercambio camping trip, only this time we didn't really camp...we stayed in cabins at a YMCA camp 1.5 hours SW of Boulder. It was so much fun, and once again I felt so happy to help provide Intercambio folks with the opportunity to be in nature with their families and friends, relax, and have fun.

You can see pictures here and experience a little bit of our experience.

Solutions to immigration reform

Summary

Here’s a simple set of solutions and rationale for immigration reform. I am representing Lee Shainis, not Intercambio, with my opinions here. Not everyone will like my ideas here, especially the extremists on both sides of the immigration debate, but extreme solutions aren’t working and the longer we delay the worse the problem gets and the more polarized we become. We can't please everyone.

I am proposing solutions and compromises that address concerns from all sides. Take a few minutes to read this and share your thoughts, especially areas you disagree with or oversights I’ve made. Some suggestions are nothing new, but include reasoning and insight that may resonate in a new way.

We need to stop comparing studies that say illegals are harming the economy with articles that say they are helping the economy. They are clearly helping the economy in some ways and hurting it in others. And getting fired up about rhetoric, symbolic yet useless English-only laws, and the words “illegal” and “amnesty” only shift our focus away from implementing sensible solutions.

All sane people recognize that deporting every person here illegally is not a logistically feasible, economically affordable, fair, or humane option. We need to punish them with reasonable consequences, not deportation if they have not committed crimes other than crossing the border, given that we have essentially welcomed them and employed their labor for many years.

If we implement a reform, we can be clearer with those who haven’t yet come that they are truly not welcome without permission, and that life will be extremely difficult if they still choose to come illegally.

How did we get into this extremely complicated situation?

We were not very clear before about the consequences of illegal immigration. The law said they couldn’t come, but we essentially welcomed them and didn’t enforce immigration laws because there were jobs to be filled and the economy needed to grow. We didn’t have good verification systems nor did we punish employers for hiring illegal workers. Until recently, we deported very few people who are not serious criminals. We currently make it difficult for people to succeed here without documentation, but we have made it very possible for them to work and establish their families here over the years.

The last time we provided an amnesty we failed to make changes along with it to make it more difficult for others to come and work. Until we create some real deterrents, the problem will perpetuate. We should have enforced the laws before, but we didn’t and the consequence is having 12+ million people living here under the radar and a polarized society full of fear and uncertainty.

Why is it inhumane and unfair to deport people who have established their families here?

We didn’t make a big deal about illegal immigration (except for a few extremists) until recently, and it’s not fair to let people start a life here and halt it midway through. We can’t let people establish families here and then kick them out 5, 10 or 20 years later because the issue suddenly became politicized and we decided to start enforcing the broken laws that have been ignored until now.

How will we discourage more illegal immigration and deter people from coming?

All of these suggestions are assuming that everyone already here receives documents.  The deterrents are only meant to keep out people who are not already here.

1. A verification system that works. Give undocumented people who are already here a legitimate identification and implement a user-friendly verification system. We will prevent people from coming here illegally from now on because they won’t have the identification that the newly-documented have, and without that identification they won’t be able to work. The verification system will be simple and fraud-proof.  The ID will have a number, and when the employer pulls up that number on the identification shown by the applicant, the system will show the name and photo to confirm that it matches the profile. All employers, including individuals who are hiring people, will have access to the system to confirm ID’s that they receive.  If a person applies for a job and he or she does not have proper identification or if their ID does not match up in the system, they should be reported immediately. If people hear of an employer hiring people illegally, they should report that employer because they are hurting us all by preventing the system from being transparent.
2. Temporarily close off the border (with the exception of refugees and worker visas for jobs that require specific labor skills) while we evaluate how this plan works. If the need for new labor skyrockets and employers request labor from abroad, it should be simpler than the existing process to get worker visas and we can implement temporary quotas. While the economy is still in a downturn, for most jobs we should have enough labor with the people already here. 
3. Implement significant penalties for knowingly hiring people without proper identification. This will be the case with all employment, including people who pay $10 to get their sidewalk shoveled. Every dollar needs to be over the table and accounted for in order for the new system to be transparent and function well, and it shouldn’t be a problem now with the sufficient labor available within our borders.  There will also be severe penalties for attempting to create fraudulent documents.
4. If minimum wages are enforced and relatively fair it will prevent employers from paying extremely low wages and allow us to use employable individuals already within our borders.
5. Driving without proper identification will result in immediate deportation. They will also not be able to register automobiles, buy alcohol, or access food or housing assistance programs.  
6. For the newly documented, by allowing them to now go back and forth to their native country, they won’t feel as much pressure to bring other family members here illegally because they'd be able to see each other periodically.

What are potential next steps to make this reform a reality?

1. Immigrants already here with a clean record will be given the necessary documents immediately, along with high expectations for following the law. There will be a 5-year probationary period. If they commit a crime during that period (including crimes such as drinking and driving, theft, and domestic violence) other than basic traffic violations, they will be deported. Those who know and follow the laws will have nothing to worry about.
2. In order to drive legally they will need to pass the driving test. They will also need to pass a brief, practical test on knowledge of other laws, since many are used to laws that are very different in their native country, and this can pose problems here. The test will be simple and offered in different languages. People who are illiterate in their native language can take the test orally. We could also give preference to those who can pass an oral English test.
3. Illegal immigrants will be fearful to come out with their arms up and say “I am living here illegally”. They will need to trust that this process is to help document them, and they will have no choice if they wish to stay here. If they don’t go through the process required, then they’ll eventually realize that it’s impossible to survive here without documents after this reform.
4. We will process documents in order of the number of years for which people have done taxes. We will start with people who have done taxes for the longest down to people who did taxes for the first time in 2010. If they’ve never filed taxes, they will need to demonstrate proof that they have lived here (leases, bills with their name, bank accounts, children’s report cards, etc). If they have been working under a different name, they will need to prove it. Once they receive their new documentation they will let their employer know and they will be able to verify it immediately. This will be the most challenging part of this reform.
5. If they have a criminal record, then they will be at the end of the line and have a 10-year probationary period instead of 5 years. If they lie about any information requested, they will be deported immediately and never allowed to apply to enter again.

What should the punishment be for people who are living here illegally?

They did break the law by entering or being here illegally, and in order to receive their documentation they will pay a fine between $500-$1,500 according to their assets (the amount of what they own here). They should also have to fill out similar documents that people who have immigrated legally filled out.

What do we need from our host communities to make this reform work?

Host communities should accept and welcome the newly legalized people here, while helping to keep out those trying to enter illegally in the future by reporting illegal employment. It’s fairer to be tough on the ones who aren’t already here, but not be tough on the ones who we have welcomed by ignoring the laws for so long. This “amnesty” will fine people for breaking the law and strongly discourage further illegal immigration more so than it is currently being discouraged with multi-billion dollar walls and stuff.

What resources are necessary to make the reform a reality?

The government should be able to make this happen. Given our technological abilities, we should be able to create a simple verification system that works.

We would need a lot of resources and people to help process the 12 million or so applications. Use the fines to hire new temporary workers to assist with the process. Use schools and rec centers after hours as neutral sites. Get volunteers to help. Most of the illegals are already working, so we’d just need to get them to identify themselves and put their information into the system that matches the ID they receive.

Start the planning now, and give the immigrants a reasonable amount of time to gather their necessary documentation, but not so much time that they give a window for new people to come in.

These changes making it more difficult for people to survive here without papers will allow border security to focus on real criminals and not those coming to work because they won’t be coming to work.

How will things be better after the reform?

1. We won’t have millions of people living in fear of being deported.
2. We won’t have millions of host community members feeling hatred toward people who are living under the radar and not subject to the same regulations.
3. We will have a higher percentage of our existing population able to buy homes, start businesses, and participate in our financial systems.
4. More money will be appropriately taxed and accounted for.
5. People will not come here illegally to work.
6. People won’t lose their jobs to illegals that get paid less than minimum wage under the table.
7. The police will be able to identify everyone easily, and everyone will be accounted for.
8. Border security will be able to focus on real criminals instead of people who come just to work.
9. Employers, landlords, and others won’t take advantage of people without papers.
10. We will be able to stop the endless debate about what to do about reform.

 

Stopping massacres

This is an entry I wrote in April 2007, and I wanted to repost it because of the recent tragedy in Norway. Once again, a mass murderer has gotten what he wanted by having the media successfully help him to share his manifesto with the world. The only thing I'd change in my post below is changing the word "country" to "world". Here it is:

 

How do we stop future massacres?   I thought of an answer, but unfortunately I don’t think our country is ready for it because we love news about murderers.  The less we publicize the profile of the shooters, the less people will feel the need to shoot up people.  Obviously mental illness is a factor, but isn’t it tempting to do something that would allow your voice and your face to be seen and your message to be heard by millions of people?  These days the most effective way to make an unheard voice heard is by needlessly shoot people.  It’s the new trend.   

 

People who do not feel heard would do anything to share their thoughts and ideas with the world.  The Columbine shooters became martyrs and models for future shooters because of the publicity they received.  Had their names not been mentioned and their stories not glamorized by the media, maybe the VA Tech shooter wouldn’t have these role models to look up to. 

We’ll never be able to stop massacres like this because our country is not ready to ban guns, and it’ll always be easy to go anywhere you want and shoot people.  I have faith in my fellow humans, but many are struck with mental illness or difficult pasts, and they do crazy things.  Recognition is something that many humans crave, and as long as the media and we the public continue to grant this recognition to people who do great harm to other humans, needless shootings will continue to happen.  Let’s get to the root of this issue and make a pact as a nation to not make killers famous at the expense of our own entertainment.  Maybe that will deter future killings, because the way things are going we are just encouraging more.