Real Solutions and Reforms for US Immigration Policy

Regarding immigration, the Obama administration is advocating shear anarchy: unlimited benefits and "freebies" for all, no borders and complete and utter lawlessness.  He needs to be impeached based on this lawless behavior alone.   Republicans, of course, are advocating law and order.  For this, they must be racist, of course!  I think most Republicans want to kick out all of the illegals because they are...err...um...illegal!  Obviously blanket amnesty is not going to work for them either.

I think that the US needs an immigration system similar to Canada's where different categories of immigrants are ranked on a point-system.  Believe it or not, Democrat Charles Schumer has proposed something like this with the "The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act."  It is stalled because Obama is in such complete disregard of existing laws, so why would Republicans trust him to implement a new law?  They can't!  Obama should just resign and get out of the way.

And of course, the big priority is policing our Southern border.   But the sole burden for enforcement should not be put on border patrols.  Our borders are too long and porous.  It didn't work before and it probably won't work now.  We need a big national attitude adjustment starting primarily in Washington DC.  We need a nation where citizens, local/state governments, local law enforcement and the national government stand together to enforce a rational, effective and objective immigration policy.

If we don't fix our attitudes and reverse our nonsense "political correctness" about widespread "checking" of immigrant status, we'll have millions more illegals in the future and be forced to give amnesty again. We need to fix our poor policies, we need to fix poor attitudes, and we need to fix the problem of ignorant politicians.

Here's some suggested solutions to fix our immigration issues:

1. Adopt an Immigration point system that ranks all potential immigrants with regard to skills, education, work experience, and English language capability against various categories and quotas of immigrants.  There should be appropriate qualifications for the various categories for immigration.  Canada has this kind of system and it works.   Existing illegals should be asked to declare themselves and apply to this point system.  A temporary visa (1 year) could be given at that time while their applications are processed.
2. Any Immigrant with 6 month, 12 month or longer visas should be required to periodically return to immigration offices (every 3 to 6 months) to produce their passports and fill out paperwork to update current phone and address information.  We need to have current information on immigrants.  No exceptions.  If they don't show up, then local law enforcement (or ICE) should visit the last known address and, if necessary, swear out arrest warrants.  
3. Local, State and Federal governments should work together to enforce immigration laws -- not the Federal government attacking States or Local efforts.  There are already Federal laws on the books the encourage local law enforcement as partners with the Feds.
4. We must engage local law enforcement to check immigration status during the course of local or state police actions.  If the subjects don't have paperwork on them, they must produce them within a day.   
5. It should be OK for local police to check workplaces to check for immigration policy compliance. Again, if someone can't produce documents or passports at that moment, then they should be allowed to promptly do so.   It sends the message to would-be immigrants that we are NOT lax on enforcement and would take pressure off the border patrols. 
6. When visas expire, we need to accurately check that people have left the country.  If they have not, they should receive a visit by immigration or local law enforcement officials. Penalties would apply.
7. There should be financial penalties for each day of over-stay.  There must be penalties for non-compliance.
8. Since state drivers licenses are the closest thing to a national ID card, States should agree to make the Drivers License expiration date the date that an immigrant visa expires.  Proof of immigration status should be required to even obtain a license.  Duh!
9. Outlaw "sanctuary cities" as illegal.
10. We should be inviting students with college and advanced degrees to immigration interviews if they wish. 
11. We need to be sure that our business community, and especially STEM businesses, are getting the quota of skilled immigrants that they need.  To do this, we need a government that works with businesses not attacking them.

None of this will happen. It's because we don't have serious or competent politicians in Washington DC (which in turn reflects an increasingly incompetent population which more Central Americans will worsen!!). Without a comprehensive, fair and logical approach, many States and Locales would refuse to participate in the strategy shown above. To get the required national cooperation, we would need for the President and the administration to believe it and sell it. But this administration is extremely un-serious. They are only interested in expedient political gains with no concern about fixing any problem or even discussing potential solutions. We need a serious President one of these days.