A Balanced Approach

Yesterday, Chicago was the scene of a massive demonstration by illegal immigrants and their sympathizers. See Marathon Pundit here.

Legislation has passed the House and other legislation is pending in the Senate. The House bill primarily was concerned about security, an important issue.

The Dept. of Homeland Security, along with immigration officials, seem to be focusing in on criminals and cracking down, which is all to the good, rather than casting a wide net.

There is also some evidence that the US crime rate has gone down possibly as a result of immigration, which is counter to the prevailing view. Harvard professor Robert J. Sampson:

Yet our study found that immigrants appear in general to be less violent than people born in America, particularly when they live in neighborhoods with high numbers of other immigrants. We are thus witnessing a different pattern from early 20th-century America, when growth in immigration from Europe was linked with increasing crime and formed a building block for what became known as "social disorganization" theory. In today's world, then, it is no longer tenable to assume that immigration automatically leads to chaos and crime. New York is a magnet for immigration, yet it has for a decade ranked as one of America's safest cities.

And from the WSJ:

Any sensible immigration reform would focus not just on keeping illegals out of the country, but also on why they're coming and how to get the estimated 11 million illegals already here out of the shadows. Yet last year the House whooped through a bill that expands enforcement and nothing else.....

Some 500,000 people continue to enter the U.S. illegally every year, and the strong economy and low jobless rate (4.8%) are evidence that these undocumented workers aren't "stealing" jobs but simply filling them.

The U.S. dispenses only about 10,000 green cards annually for unskilled workers. And by not providing enough paths to permanent residency for those who want to stay, we're setting ourselves up for another large illegal population down the road. Under current law, foreign workers in high-tech fields can extend their stay if an employer sponsors them for a green card. Why should the same rules that apply to Intel's engineers not also apply to Marriott's chambermaids and California's farm hands?.....

As public policy, it's also hard to see the benefit of keeping 11 million largely Latino residents in permanent "conditional" status instead of allowing (and encouraging) them to become full-fledged members of American society. Relegating so many people to second-tier status sends precisely the wrong message about assimilating to U.S. norms, and which political party sends that message won't be lost on Hispanic voters.

The good news is that there's still time for Mr. Specter to cherry pick better ideas from his Senate colleagues. A good bipartisan guest-worker plan introduced by Senators McCain and Ted Kennedy would allow employers to sponsor workers for green cards. As for illegals already here, Messrs. McCain and Kennedy would allow them to earn green cards and perhaps even citizenship over a multiyear period if they pay a fine, meet certain work requirements and learn English.

None of this will appease the small but vocal "no amnesty" crowd, but restrictionists put forth no solutions other than greater militarization of the border and harassment of employers, which we know from experience won't work alone. If the real goal of immigration reform is to have people "obey the rules," let's make sure the rules are sensible.

We are a nation of immigrants, and it has made America strong and prosperous. We need a balanced approach that works.