12/29: A ‘path to legality’?
Moderated by Rick Badie
Commenting has been closed on this entry.
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has outlined a “path to legality” for some illegal immigrants. The criteria: They must have lived in the United States 25 years, have family, abide by the law and pay taxes. Two guest columnists offer views on this controversial issue facing the U.S.
Here is what Charles H. Kuck, managing partner with Atlanta-based Kuck Immigration Partners, LLC., and president of the Alliance for Business Immigration Lawyers, has to say. And read an opinion piece by Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.
If nothing else, most agree there’s a problem and that solving it won’t be easy.
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14 comments Add your comment
Doug R
December 29th, 2011
10:42 am
South Georgia and Alabama have shown us this year that agriculture is reliant on migrant workers. Despite double digit unemployment and well publicized openings, there was no rush from legal residents to fill the vacant farm labor jobs. Clearly we need to increase the numbers of legal residents. GB’s comment is ignorant with respect to “looking more like Mexico” – I wonder if GB has been to Mexico, seen its beautiful beaches, worked with its people to see how hard working and family centric their culture is. As a republican, I wish to embrace and promote pro-business, pro-economic growth, and pro-family values and policies. All this can be accomplished by reforming the immigration system, ensure those who are hard working and otherwise law abiding individuals are afforded the opportunity to become legal after a background check, tax filings and fine payment. Those that choose to continue to lurk in the shadows (who most likely represent the criminal element that are attempting to hide in the tall grass of the illegal immigrant population) will be far easier to identify and deport. GALEO is about civic involvement and advocacy. I’m not sure how that can translate into “race-pimping”. Those who choose to pursue an “everybody out of the country” mentality are blind to the economic devastation that would be wrought by a sudden departure (forced or otherwise) of 11 million individuals. A far more likely scenario in this state-by-state hodgepodge of laws is that those states who are welcoming will show a faster recovery in housing construction, real estate tax revenue, and higher sales tax revenue. All factors that continue to depress Georgia’s economy. The illegal immigrant has become the scapegoat of this economy, when in reality they are one of the keys to our recovery.
georgian
December 29th, 2011
10:37 am
@Lynnbo: “Gay agenda”, really? Is that all you have? No facts, just gay bashing? Sad. Read a little more and stay informed about the issues rather than just listening to talk radio. Even better, go work a day in the farms picking onions then get back to me that this is easy and that we don’t need the immigrant labor to produce our food. You are simply out of touch with reality. Bless your heart…
Not Blind
December 29th, 2011
10:36 am
It’s staggering the number of people that condone having citizens of another country dictate policy in this country. Hispanics in this country have STOLEN their perceived political clout. They stole it via illegal immigration, the misapplied 14th amendment, and the downright stupid Reagan amnesty. If we allow ANY path to legalization for the unknown numbers of illegal aliens here now then we for all intents and purposes have created a condition where we have surrendered our rights to self determination to a group of people who have no legal basis to even be inside our borders.
Anybody that doesn’t think the whole immigration mess isn’t a part of the elites’ plan for the destruction of the middle class is a fool. We don’t need more workers, we need fewer. There is far too much competition for the jobs that should pay good which is just what the corporate masters want. They control the wages since there is an overabundance of labor and this doesn’t even address the H1 visa system they love. And did you notice the headlines announcing the record profits the farmers acheived this year when there were supposedly labor shortages ?
lynnbo
December 29th, 2011
10:32 am
As Badie likes to make the republicans look like they are crazy border closers………….as an independent I have noticed most of my Democratic friends are against uncontrolled open borders and Obamas DOJ stance on attacking states trying to help their own citizens.
This is why AJC is seen as biased. You have Badie and these two illegal pimps getting full page coverage for political purposes……………………not attractive AJC.
lynnbo
December 29th, 2011
10:26 am
When a government wants to destroy its own people it simply allows uncontrolled illegal immigration.
Its a lie that we won’t have food industry, the lazy farmers would just have to follow our laws like everyone else instead of picking up human beings on the side of the road for the day.
ITs a lie that we will have to buy our food from China…………moms will buy from local organic growers with legal workers and cheer about it if the price is double!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ga is missing the opportunity to market themselves as top of the line safe organic chicken and peanuts. Instead they want to try to compete with China by having low wage earners………………this is a stupid.
Hillbilly D
December 29th, 2011
10:25 am
This will be about as effective as what they tried in the 1980’s. Got to protect that source of cheap labor.
Crystal Evans
December 29th, 2011
10:20 am
As far as our “secured border” is concerned, let’s see how secured it really is when the economy picks up again and the illegal immigrants start trying to cross the border again to find work?
ES
December 29th, 2011
9:58 am
@GB I disagree with you. If you have been following the news, our border is more secure than it has been in the past century. Definitively we need to put more border patrol on the ground and use latest technology to keep it safer. Allowing more legal immigrants into the country to meet our demand and providing a path for legalization for many already in the country is a must. With a 8.6 percent unemployment, our fields and other heavy jobs are in need of labor. I really do not understand how people who are not longer on unemployment check are not seeking these jobs.
Mexico’s immigration is a different problem than ours. Mexico has reformed their immigration system to a more humane system. Making immigration hearing dates sooner and shorter. Mexico’s real problem is fighting daily drug cartels. The US do not have that same problem, at least not at the same magnitude.
Why does the US can go and invade a country, fight a war to defeat that country’s dictatorship, and spend millions of dollars on that same country’s citizens and it cannot tolerate to provide a path for legal status to it’s undocumented immigrants? This undocumented immigrants have all the intentions to stay in this country and work for their paycheck. While the people the US “help” getting rid of their evil government end up hating the US.
Aquagirl
December 29th, 2011
8:53 am
most agree there’s a problem and that solving it won’t be easy.
The people with common sense agree it won’t be easy. But then there’s the “WHUT PART OF EYE-LLEGAL DON’T U UNNERSTAND?!?!” crowd. They’re holding the Republican party hostage to fantasies of magical walls and deportation fairies.
These people sit on their butts (in houses they could only afford due to illegal construction workers) chewing on their chicken biscuit (processed by an illegal worker) playing armchair INS general. Reality will eventually push these wingnuts to the trash heap. If the Republican party has any chance of survival it means ignoring these screeching harpies. Their high-octane hate means lots of votes but in the long run they’ll paint the GOP into an impossible corner.
GB
December 29th, 2011
7:54 am
Kuck: “The answer is simple: Increase the numbers of legal immigrants that come to the U.S. in legal categories to meet not only demand, but also our needs.”
Gonzalez: “Our congressional leaders must work on a comprehensive immigration solution that is enforceable, restores the rule of law, holds employers accountable, secures our border effectively, provides a path toward earned legalization for those who are here and provides adequate legal mechanisms for people to enter our country legally in the future.”
In plain language: open the borders.
The problem of “illegal” immigration goes away if we change the law. What is illegal today will become legal tomorrow. The LAW would change but the FACTS would remain the same. Our country would grow to resemble Mexico more and more each day. But to Kuck and Gonzalez the problem is solved, because the words in the lawbooks are revised.