by Kerry Thomas
March 25, 2006
We all know the reality of
the illegal immigration situation in the United States. Those whose job it is to figure these things
out estimate that there are 10-12 million people inside our borders who have
entered America illegally.
We know, realistically, we
don’t have the manpower or the resources to find, prosecute and deport all of
them. Such efforts would only further
clog the court systems in this country.
So, in an attempt to help
find solutions to this problem, I’d like to propose new legislation that
codifies the following ideas:
If these illegal immigrants
come forward, voluntarily, and surrender to authorities, we will consider that
a good faith effort to bring their lives into compliance with U.S. law. If they can swear, under penalty of perjury,
that they
1) have committed no other felonious acts since
illegally entering the United States; and
2) have been in the united States for at least 5 years;
and
3) either
a) are legally married to a United States citizen; or
b) have dependent minor children who are legal residents
of the United States; or
c) have served honorably in the armed forces of the
United States; or
d) own property in the United States
Instead of prosecuting them
to the fullest extent of the law, we will be more lenient, and allow them to
plead guilty to violation of Title 8, Section 1325 of the United States Code (or other
relevant statute(s)). The plea will
save time and the costs associated with full prosecution of each case.
They will be found guilty of
committing a minor felony, and will have to agree to punishment. By pleading guilty to a felony, they will be
ineligible to vote in the future, after they fulfill their citizenship
requirements, below.
In return for the guilty
plea, they will have to
1) pay a small fine ($250 - $500); and
2) perform at least 500 hours of community service for a charitable, educational, religious, or
scientific organization (typically an IRS 501(c)(3) organization); and
3) pass a standard U.S. citizenship test (in English)
within one year; and
4) be on probation until they pass the citizenship test;
and
5) not be convicted of any felonious crime in the
future; and
6) be ineligible to vote as a citizen in any election in the United States
The probation will allow
authorities to monitor their whereabouts, and ensure compliance with the terms
of the plea. If they commit a felony in
the future, they will then also be subject to deportation in addition to any
other punishment. The community service
will be a win-win situation, benefiting the organizations who will get the services
performed, and meeting out punishments that fit the crime.
The felony conviction on
charges of entering the country illegally will be the big price they pay for
that crime. They will be allowed to
stay and become naturalized citizens, but they won’t be able to (legally) vote.
Failure of the illegal
immigrant to fulfill any part of the terms of the plea agreement will
constitute violation of the terms of the agreement, and will subject the person
to immediate deportation, under provisions of the existing immigration laws,
and disqualification for any future leniency under the terms of this proposed
legislation. It’s a one-time offer.
I know this is not a
complete solution to the problem of illegal immigration, but I think it has
merit. By including the community
service component of the punishment, we get beneficial action that helps the
community. We won’t be crowding these
illegal immigrants into our already overcrowded prison systems. And we give them an incentive to come
forward and mend their ways.
Many of these 10-12 million
people are hard working productive members of their communities. Many have been here for years. They’re not going back. My idea is to come up with solutions that do
as little damage as possible to the innocent family members who did not break our
immigration laws, but to exact some punishment on the person who did enter
America illegally.
Give them an opportunity to
come forward and admit their crime.
Give them an opportunity to pay a lesser penalty for that crime, because
they did come forward on their own. But
make sure they realize this is a one time deal. No more criminal behavior.
We reward positive action, punish negative action. It works.