America on the fence over immigration reform

The United States of America usually has a lot on its plate, and one of the tastiest side items at the moment is the debate on how to deal with the 11-18 million immigrants currently living in our country illegally.

This is such a divisive issue that it’s almost split the Republican Party down the middle.

The most tried and true conservative approach would be to deport all existing illegal immigrants.

Seeing as that’s currently the law of the land, I have no idea how this would get accomplished without shutting down the whole country and going door to door like they did in Boston last week.

Or perhaps we should take out a few ads that have Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty saying “Hey Jack, you better leave now.”

All jokes aside, I can see the practical implications of this idea.

Being an illegal immigrant is one of the few crimes you can be forgiven for, which is exactly what the bipartisan legislation created by the “Gang of Eight” plans to do.

The Obama administration is currently gearing up to fully support the proposal, which would give 11-18 million illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship.

The crux of the idea is based on getting those illegal immigrants to come forward, pay a fine and then wait more than a decade to apply for full time citizenship.

Under the proposed legislation, illegal immigrants could obtain registered provisional immigrant status six months after the bill is signed to law.

I don’t know how this option would be appealing to someone who is already in the country illegally.

In fact, the talk of proposed legislation has caused a surge of illegal immigrants crossing the border in hopes of getting fake documents, which show they were living here before the amnesty cut-off date, which is Dec. 31 2011.

That being said, there are two concepts I can’t stand to hear regarding immigration.

The first are people who believe immigrant workers victimize the American status quo.

First thing’s first, Americans are a little entitled.

If you don’t believe me, ask the real capitalism killers, organized labor.

We live in a country that considers pushing a button as a skill that deserves $18 an hour.

So when people constantly refer to illegal immigrants as unskilled workers who, if legalized, would increase American unemployment, I get offended.

If you have legal status in this country and a job, you are the American worker, skin color not withstanding.

Secondly, immigrants don’t just walk into factories and take jobs at gunpoint.

It is fellow lawbreakers interested in cutting overhead costs who hire them, and honestly that seems like the best place for reformation to start.

Just so there’s no doubt that I’m the Devil’s advocate, I also have a big problem with the left’s view on immigration.

Apparently, Democrats feel policing your own borders is racist.

If that’s true, then every other country in the world is racist, including Mexico.

Even Brazil is currently stepping up its border patrol efforts due to an influx of illegal migration from Peru, Argentina and Uruguay.

If that’s not enough to sway from thinking America’s need to know who’s living here is blatant racism, then try legally migrating to Canada, the liberal paradise.

The “Gang of Eight” bill would also allocate $6.5 billion in new spending for the Department of Homeland Security to strengthen surveillance along the border with Mexico, but it’s secondary to the pathway to legalization.

A proposed amnesty and then increased border security doesn’t make any sense if you’re going to openly acknowledge that border security is a problem.

That’s like repainting the roof before you’ve fixed a leak.

The “Gang of Eight” has met in the middle and truly crafted bipartisan legislation; the problem is it’s the worst ideas from both parties and they’ve been thrown together in a rush to try to address something that obviously can’t be fixed in one giant sweep of legislative glory.

If this is a Republican effort to help their image with Hispanic voters, I can’t see how this helps.

Because subjecting 18 million people to this economy and this job market isn’t going to help you seem compassionate when you have to turn around and deny them social benefits for more than a decade.