Newt Gingrich on Immigration Reform

This morning on the way to work, I heard Newt Gingrich on the Lars Larson Show.

Newt was making more sense on immigration than anyone else that I had heard so I went to his web site.

He says that comprehensive immigration reform involves the implementation of eleven policies:

1. Gain complete control of the borders and coasts. We have the technology and the capability to control border crossings. We simply need the will to enforce it. This may require tripling the Border Patrol, building fences where necessary and using electronic surveillance elsewhere but it is clearly doable. As a matter of national survival it must be done..

2. Enforce the Law. With lax federal enforcement of the laws along the borders as well as against employers who hire illegal workers, it is not surprising that many cities across the country are raising a white flag in the fight against illegal immigration. The corrosion of the rule of law that began on the border and which has spread to so many American businesses now also touches some of our largest cities. Declaring themselves “sanctuary cities”, these lawless cities are prohibiting their police from asking about immigration status and enforcing employment laws (a “don’t ask, don’t enforce” policy that encourages breaking the law).

3. Use Technology to Keep Track of Who Enters the Country. A bio-metric identifier, such as a thumbprint and/or embedded iris scan shall be required from everyone entering the United States from abroad, as well as a background check that screens out those with a criminal record. Foreign governments that want their citizens to participate in a worker visa program will be required to turn over records of convicted felons as quickly as they currently collect this data, or on a monthly basis, whichever is fastest.

4. Establish a Worker Visa Program. Along with total border control, we need to make it easier for people to get work visas to enter the country legally and to work here at a specific job for a set of period of time and as long as they obey the law. We need a worker visa program that ensures that work visa holders pay taxes, get driver’s licenses, buy auto insurance, abide by the law. Such a program will also filter out criminals and potential terrorists, which is why we will require from foreign governments a continually updated list of their criminals.
Required Elements of a Worker Visa Program. As a part of this program, every work visa holder will be required to:
a. Carry a “smart card” with a photograph and bio-metric identifier, like a thumbprint and/or an embedded retinal scan that will be entered into a database so that their presence in the United States can be validated;
b. Sign an agreement in which the work visa holder agrees to pay taxes, obey the law, and waive any rights to appeal his or her removal from the United States within 72 hours for violating their agreement; and
c. Open and maintain an account at any U.S. financial institution with an American Bankers Association routing number into which employers of work visa holders will be required to electronically deposit their wages. No bank account, no smart card.

5. Zero Tolerance for Amnesty. As Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger put it so eloquently in a Los Angeles Times op-ed on March 28, “We can embrace the immigrant without endorsing illegal immigration. Granting citizenship to people who are here illegally is not just amnesty ... it's anarchy. We are a country of immigrants, yes. But we are also a nation of laws. People who want to be citizens will want to do it the right way.”

6. Dramatically Increase H1B and H2B Visas. We should have an increase in H1B visas (and H2Bs also), so we have enough workers. We should provide a preference for anyone with a Masters or PhD degree. Preferences for these workers should ensure a brain drain into the United States from other countries. H1B and H2B visas should be issued in response to employment opportunities.

7. Deportation Law Reform. Change laws to permit removal of people here illegally within 72-96 hours of being picked up. The courts are simply wrong to suggest that the 14th amendment applies to those who are here illegally. We need to change the laws to permit prompt removal of people entering the country illegally. It is utterly irrational that 90% of certain groups of people here illegally who are apprehended are lost in the Court system and are never sent home.

8. Citizenship Reform. The worker visa program should not be an automatic qualification for citizenship, though eventual citizenship could be held out as an opportunity. While many work visa holders will have no intention of becoming American citizens, for those workers and their families who qualify and wish to become citizens, we should carefully consider how to help patriotically integrate them. Our country has a rich history of immigration. It has been a primary source of our creativity and our prosperity. We should continue to strongly encourage those who want to become citizens, but it is important that we accept only those who want to embrace American values and culture. There is no such thing as a genetic American. To become an American citizen means becoming an American in values, culture, and historic understanding.

9. Require a Written Test in English of American History for any Legal Immigrant Who Wishes to Become a Citizen and Meets all Qualification Criteria. I strongly favor legal immigrants becoming American citizens. This has been a primary source of the creativity and prosperity of America. For those who want to become citizens, we must require that they take a test about American history in English.

10. Extensive Communications Campaign Domestically and Internationally by U.S. Authorities about the New U.S. Immigration Policies. A comprehensive immigration reform plan will only work if people understand it. There must be a substantial emphasis on the communications strategies that will be employed to explain the details of this program both at home and abroad.

11. Positive U.S. Approach to Latin America. Once a comprehensive immigration reform is adopted, the U.S. should make a concerted effort to explain its details to governments throughout Latin America and make it clear in no uncertain terms that the United States will not take kindly to any action by a foreign government that seeks to actively undermine our laws. In addition, U.S. diplomats should make clear that the U.S. government stands for greater safety, health, prosperity, and freedom for every person in the hemisphere and that its policies are devoted to that end. The U.S. should also aggressively promote the adoption of reforms in other countries in the Americas that are aimed at reducing corruption and promoting greater economic opportunities for their citizens.

He has a lot more detail on defeating America’s enemies, Defending God in the Public Square, Protecting American Civilization, Winning in a Global Economy and Promoting Active Healthy Aging. Click on the "Issues" pull-down tab near the top.

The man is articulate, intelligent and a conservative. He has a lot more info on immigration reform than what I have shown there

He says that he is not running for the Presidency. Too bad!