
<p>The political leadership is failing to resolve the immigrations issue because both sides have staked out incompatible positions based on perceived political benefit – not common sense.</p>



<p>Trump did a masterful job of resolving the border crisis in an amazingly short time – and has gotten high praise even from some Democrats. ; For all intents and purposes, no one is entering the United States illegally other than the drug cartels – and Trump is working on that. ; ; ;</p>



<p>Now that the focus is on removing those who are in America illegally – meaning they crossed the border illegally and are not eligible for asylum. ; Many are the so-called “worst of the worst”, but most are not hardened criminals. They are hardworking folks &#8230; good neighbors &#8230; nice people. However &#8230; they are still here illegally and mostly ineligible for asylum. According to the law, they should be deported. ;</p>



<p>Since many have settled in – often for years – they have developed roots. ; They have family and friends &#8230; classmates &#8230; co-workers. ; Then you have the Dreamers – those brought to the United States as children. ; Many have no personal connection to their ancestral land. ; Some do not even speak the language. ; They have been Americanized – and the general public sentiment is that they should be allowed to stay.</p>



<p>The Trump administration made a mistake. They assumed that since the vast majority of folks applauded closing the border, they would also support booting the ; millions of migrants who got in illegally over the past several decades. ; Not so.</p>



<p>Some Republicans fear that the reason why Biden encouraged the flood of migrants at the border was to influence the political balance – assuming most would align with the Democratic Party, become party workers and eventually voting citizens. ; For lack of a better explanation, the GOP’s concerns seem valid.</p>



<p>Early in his first Trump term, I proposed an immigration policy that would address the concerns and interests of both sides. ; I believed that any attempt to kick out millions of migrants would create more problems than it resolves. Apparently, it has been doing just that.</p>



<p>I actually sent my plan to key members of Congress. The response was underwhelming. ; I still believe it is a good plan – and it is obvious all the smart folks in Washington have not come up with anything better in the past eight-plus years</p>



<p>The “Horist Plan” – if you will &#8212; was based on in-depth vetting. ; Every undocumented person would be called on to complete, under oath, a rather long questionnaire. ; Questions like: How long have you been in the United States? ; Are you married (to an American)? ; Do you have children? ; Do you have a job? ; For how long? ; Have you been arrested, indicted, tried or convicted of any felony crimes? ; They would be asked to provide documentation. ; The actual questionnaire is much longer, more detailed and more complex. ; Each question has a numerical value. ; A perfect score is 1000 and there are three categories.</p>



<p>Those with the highest scores would be granted permanent status with 10-year parole period before becoming eligible for citizenship. ; That should allay concerns about skewing the vote with a large number of illegal aliens. ; The middle category would be deported without prejudice. ; They would be allowed to apply for re-admission to the United States with the 10 year parole provision. ; The lowest category would be deported and banned from re-entering the United States at any time for for any reason.</p>



<p>Failure to complete the form – and providing significant misrepresentations or lies would automatically put the person in Category 3.</p>



<p>The entire process would be managed by the immigration courts. ; However, they could handle cases by batch – possibly without the person having to appear. ; A number of ICE agents would be reassigned to verification – which would involve checking records rather than knocking on doors. ; They would operate more or less like IRS agents.</p>



<p>I understand that the plan has a certain level of amnesty since all the individuals involved broke the law. ; But a lot –arguably a majority – of those involved are leading productive lives and have proven to be beneficial to the nation. ;</p>



<p>Now that Trump has closed the border, we can address the situation that involves the millions of border crossers who entered the country under Biden’s grossly incompetent policies. ; Closing the border fixes half the problem – and has always been aa necessary prerequisite for addressing those already in the country.</p>



<p>Like any proposal, there are a lot of details to be hammered out through negotiations. ; But I believe that the underlying goal should be to stabilize the process by allowing the best of the best to remain in America legally – and the worst of the worst to be deported permanently.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Here is How I Would Handle Immigration
