Many of us would support “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” -- but it must not include a path to amnesty for those who are in this country illegally. This feature of the McCain –Kennedy bill was totally unacceptable and non-negotiable as it undercuts the effectiveness of all other measures. A “comprehensive” approach to immigration reform means enacting a series of steps, which, taken together, regain control of our immigration system. No single action is sufficient.

First, secure the border. This requires a combination of a physical barrier, surveillance and border patrol agents. However, we should not think this step alone will be enough because we will never secure the border completely. Think of a secured border as being somewhat like the walls around a bank -- a physical barrier to bank robbery, but not an absolute deterrent.

Second, grant no amnesty or anything that can be construed as amnesty. Most of those who have lived in this country illegally over the years since the 1986 amnesty came in knowing it was illegal and have stayed by using forged versions of our most important documents and perpetrating various forms of identity theft. Granting amnesty to this admittedly large number of people sends a terrible signal to the world that if you get into the U.S. and hide out long enough, you can become legalized. We cannot do this a second time. What would happen to our banks if we gave amnesty periodically to bank robbers? If we are serious about restoring the rule of immigration law, we must enforce the laws we clearly already have. Nothing would secure our borders more solidly than stopping all talk about granting legal status of any kind to immigrants whose status is clearly illegal.

Third, hold employers accountable for hiring only legal workers and provide them with a way to quickly verify the status of prospective employees so this requirement is not unreasonable. Ordinarily, we would be sympathetic to the argument that employers should not be expected to play a major role in enforcing immigration law. However, employers are unavoidably in this position. Employment is the key reason immigrants are coming into the United States. Having employers provide this screening function must be a primary way to catch those who overstay visas or evade capture at the border.

Fourth, step up interior enforcement. The reason Americans generally drive their cars with some regard to the posted speed limit is because they know there is a possibility of being caught for speeding. The only step we take is to post a small sign at the side of the road... then enforce the law. The same principle applies with interior enforcement. If we bust an employer for hiring illegal immigrants or bust a counterfeit document ring or deport an illegal immigrant – with some publicity -- it has the same effect as seeing the Highway Patrolman writing a ticket for the speeder pulled over at the side of the road. If illegal immigrants knew there was a strong possibility they couldn’t work and would be caught and deported, the economic incentive to pay a coyote for illegal entry would be greatly reduced.

Fifth, streamline processes for admitting legal immigrants. How many? What kind? How do we decide? This is a legitimate topic for politicians to discuss and legislate. Currently, the jobs performed by many illegal immigrants pay poorly and are very hard. Understandably, it is difficult to find legal workers to fill these positions. However, there is another seldom spoken reason why legal workers do not fill these jobs: once a job category comes to be dominated by illegal immigrants, potential legal workers avoid it because of its diminished status and their inability to speak the immigrants’ language. Ordinarily, an employer would respond to a labor scarcity by raising wages. But somehow, employers and the Labor Department have gotten it into their heads that a job that requires little or no education is a job that shouldn’t pay very well. In the free market we were brought up in, you pay what it takes to get workers to do the work. And by “workers”, we mean legal workers. There is no reason whatsoever that a job as hard as picking strawberries in the hot sun shouldn’t pay a lot more than it does, perhaps even as much as being an electrician or even a school teacher. However, as long as there is a surplus of illegal workers, employers don’t need to pay higher wages and, in fact, would feel with a lot of justification that they were needlessly throwing money away if they did. No employer can stay in business for long by paying higher wages to get legal workers while it is still commonplace for competitors to be paying lower wages to illegal workers.

Sixth, revise the 14^th Amendment or devise an effective administrative solution to eliminate the “anchor baby” incentive for immigrants to enter the United States illegally.

Seventh and last, stiffen penalties for illegally entering the United States or overstaying a visa. One particularly effective tool might be a time varying penalty. For example, anyone caught in the first three months after the new program is enacted would be fined and deported. If caught between three and six months afterward, the illegal immigrant would be fined, jailed for a short period, and deported. Anyone caught after six months would be fined, jailed for a more extended period, and deported.

Senator McCain, we want our government to devise an immigration system that works to allow in those we want, prevents entry by those we do not want, and keeps track of those who are here. If you get a second chance to draft an immigration bill, remember that it must contain only those provisions which serve to achieve these objectives. Granting amnesty, even holding out the possibility of amnesty, fails this test because it rewards large numbers of flagrant lawbreakers and sends an unmistakable signal that will be translated into all the languages of the world that we are not serious about securing our borders and restoring the rule of law.