October 12, 2005
Looking Ahead at the Bush Immigration Plan
By Ruben
Navarrette Jr.
SAN DIEGO
-- In the Bush White House, immigration reform has long been on
hold. Now all indications are that it is about to become a second-term
priority.
It's about
time. It's been nearly two years since President Bush suggested,
in January 2004, that the country needed a guest worker program
to match foreign workers with American employers to ``do jobs
that Americans won't do'' -- at least not for the wages that American
employers have grown accustomed to paying.
Bush suggested
allowing millions of illegal immigrants to apply for a three-year
work visa (with a single three-year extension) before returning
to their native country. To increase the chances that the guests
leave before they overstay their welcome, Bush proposed creating
private 401(k)-type savings accounts that could only be tapped
into once the worker returns home.
Critics
in Bush's own party called that ``amnesty'' and blasted the idea
-- and the president for proposing it. The barrage sent the White
House into hiding on the topic of immigration reform. Republicans
in Congress opportunistically stepped in to fill the vacuum by
proposing more than a dozen pieces of legislation ranging from
the restrictive to the reactionary to the ridiculous.
Now Bush
seems ready to take charge of the issue again, perhaps hoping
to quiet the anti-illegal immigration zealots in the GOP before
they give conservatism a bad name. White House political strategist
Karl Rove has been quietly meeting with members of both parties
to share details of an administration backed immigration reform
plan that could soon be headed to Congress.
To take
the measure of what the administration seems to have in mind,
it helps to think in terms of not just what is likely to make
its way into the plan, but also what is likely to be left out.
Before long, you find yourself with the good, the bad and the
unfortunate.
What's good
is that the president will likely call for more Border Patrol
agents and more spending on technology to help agents detect border-crossers.
It's also good that the plan will probably include a hefty fine
-- perhaps as much as $2,000 -- on illegal immigrants who are
already here, to drive home the idea that these people have committed
a crime and have to make restitution.
What's bad
is any plan to turn illegal immigrants into ``guest workers.''
Amnesty is a terrible idea that absolves the individual of the
responsibility to take the steps to legalize his status. And guest
workers are nothing but a glorified labor subsidy to farms, restaurants,
construction firms and other industries hooked on illegal immigrant
labor -- one that often leaves workers abused and exploited. That's
because, if employers were willing to spend the money to create
the reforms that protect workers' rights, it would negate the
value of the subsidy.
And what's
unfortunate is that one thing you're not likely to see in the
president's plan is any mention of fining, prosecuting or otherwise
punishing those U.S. employers who flout the law by knowingly
hiring illegal immigrants.
If it goes
down that way, then Bush will have squandered a valuable opportunity
to do something really meaningful in the area of immigration reform.
As I recently
told a roomful of Border Patrol agents, here is what Congress
and the White House should do: Institute a three strikes law for
anyone who hires an illegal immigrant. On the first offense, you
get a warning. The second time, you get fined $25,000. The third
time, you get 10 days in jail. Pass the law, and actually enforce
it -- against everyone from farmers to hotel managers to soccer
moms. No exceptions, and no excuses.
I've never
heard Bush refer to the individuals and companies that hire illegal
immigrants, and what should be done about them. And I have no
reason to suspect that he'll start now. Mark my words: Whatever
he tosses into his plan, the last thing Bush will do is call for
a new round of employer sanctions, or even stricter enforcement
of the sanctions already on the books.
A source
within the administration agreed, telling me that he didn't think
the plan would make any reference to employer sanctions.
What a shock.
After all, it's companies like these that help color in the red
states by giving mightily to the political campaigns of Republicans,
including the president himself. Going after them would mean biting
the hand that feeds whole herds of elephants.
That goes
a long way toward explaining why the United States has a problem
with illegal immigration in the first place -- and why this administration
is probably not the one to solve it.
©
2005, The San Diego Union-Tribune
