An Immigration Proposal
Could a new 2-year renewable resident visa program help fix our broken immigration system?
For as long as I can remember, politicians have been spouting off about the need to fix our immigration system. Laws have changed, treaties have been signed and walls have been ordered, occasionally built and sometimes left to rot. However, as far as the casual observer can see, the “problem” of immigration doesn’t seem to have been resolved to any great extent in the past four decades since I was considered an adult and allowed to vote.
In the intervening years, I have lived in several countries as a legal resident. Yes, I was an expat. I have gotten to know quite a few people who have come in under various schemes that the US uses to regulate new residents (H1B, Green Card lotteries, Family Reunion). I have even had some chance encounters with DACA kids. They are no longer kids but grown adults, demonstrating how long some of our immigration disfunction has been allowed to fester. I got to experience the joys of the INS when I brought my wife to the US to live. I have even met, speak it quietly, undocumented folks.
What I discovered through these encounters will not surprise anyone. The system is held together with spit, bailing wire and duct tape and generally leaves everyone angry, confused, dissatisfied and hard done by.
So, I have a proposal.
Introduce a new resident visa program. Specifically, allow anyone who is not a criminal, terrorist or undesirable (no fly list types, for example) to apply and receive a 2-year resident visa (with a Social Security Number attached). The visa would be renewable and surrenderable. And it would grant the holder limited rights (basically everything but voting) in exchange for specific obligations (over and above following the laws, things like registering a current address). Resident holders would have the freedom to leave and enter the US just like any passport or green card holder and enjoy US Consular Services while overseas.
While recognizing that this is not the full solution, I think it starts to untangle the mess we find ourselves in today.
The first objection I have received to this idea is that it will “flood the country with people from every corner of the earth!” Well, that is a possibility, I suppose. But how would we describe the current situation? Are we not experiencing a bit of flooding right now? Logistically, the world cannot move to the US because there are only so many planes, ships, trains and busses. But also, we have seen reversals during economic downturns (think 2008). So, the “invisible hand” of markets will help regulate the flow.
The second objection is “wouldn’t everyone in the world just get a residence card, just in case”? If you think that hasn’t been happening for decades in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, then I suggest that you have not been paying attention. The big downside towards this “get out of jail free” card approach is that the resident visa holder will be on the hook for US taxes, globally. Also, residents will be required to register an address. Since I have always been required to have a registered address when resident in other countries, I don’t see that requirement as a huge burden. Will people fake it? Maybe but that could count as a strike against at renewal time.
Why only two years? I think we need to realize that not everyone wants to become an American citizen right now. Perhaps they might like to work here for a few years to experience life here, advance their career in a way that may not be possible in their home country or, fill in the blank. Our immigration thinking was developed in the sailing and steamship era where the trip to the US was a one-way affair. Because of that historical legacy, we cling to the belief that every new arrival comes here to participate in the American Dream which was available through a generational melting pot phenomenon. In the world of instant global communication, remote working and affordable (for now) air travel, we must realize that not everyone is ready to sign up for the full baseball and apple pie program.
Renewable and surrenderable? The resident visa should be flexible. Two years is good enough for our congressional representatives, it should be good enough for residents. But in all seriousness, it allows for authorities to monitor and review for undesirable behavior. If you are here to break our laws, we have plenty of that domestically. We don’t need to import any more. Why surrenderable? Well, global US tax is a pain. Perhaps you want to work in the US for four or five years after graduation. Then, you decide to head back home to start a family or snag a big job that is only available to you because you have US experience. You should be able to fill out a final tax form, hand in your Social Security Card and part as friends. Then, 10 years later, you get a cool job offer back in the States? Fire up the website and repeat the process. We can have you sorted in a few weeks. Welcome back.
How does this fix the problem for DACA and the millions of undocumented? Well, we are requiring an application, on a computer. That is a burden but not an insurmountable one with public libraries dotted about. Once the application is accepted, it’s time for what we used to call “a visa run”. That means a trip over the border. Since we must be one of the only countries in the world that doesn’t check people out (from an immigration point of view) when you leave, there’s nothing more than the airfare involved. Then, the applicant turns around, presents the acceptance letter to the immigration official and gets stamped with a fresh Social Security card and a 2-year resident visa. Now you are a legal resident of the US and can remain so by following the rules. Got to be an improvement…
But what if you want to apply for citizenship? Since my proposal has an element of “try before you buy” baked in, I see no reason why good behavior on these two-year residence visas shouldn’t count towards our requirements for citizenship application and approval. I suspect many if not most will take advantage of this program to become US citizens. But is that something to fear or discourage? We would be evaluating applicants who have demonstrated that they have participated in our society, paid our taxes and followed our laws over a number of years. Versus green card lotteries and sleazy immigration lawyers? I’ll take my chances and I suspect most Americans will be on my side.
What about refugees? Actually, I think my program helps. Legitimate refugees who flee to America for protection find our immigration courts swamped with people who just want to come to the US for economic reasons. We have international undertakings on refugees that might actually receive more and better attention if we can take a large segment of the case load off the courts’ dockets.
Is this for farm workers, landscapers and unskilled laborers or tech workers, bankers and professors? Yes. Yes to all of them. We need to stop thinking that officials can manage what is essentially a market issue. If the economy has demand for more farm workers, the market will signal that. And, if those new residents get paid under minimum wages, as residents, they can go to the EEOC or the courts without fear or favor and start to reduce the abuses that happen in the dark corners of our economy where undocumented workers are intimidated into silence.
How does this address one of the prime avenues of illegal immigration, overstays? Well, instead of pretending that you are just here to visit the Statue of Liberty, you can now answer “residence” when the border agent asks “business” “pleasure” or “residence”. A two-year resident visa will reduce the burden on US Consulates and Embassies because they will no longer have to guess if the applicant is secretly planning to overstay a tourist/business visa. We are back to looking for bad actors whom we don’t want in the country on any visa for any reason.
I am sure that my proposal is missing some critical elements. And I don’t think it will solve all of our immigration problems. But I think it will “move the ball down the field” and get us closer to a system that we can all be proud of. We can build a system that recognizes immigration as one of the elements that makes us Americans. It brings millions out of the dark corners of our society, it allows people to live and work for a while in the US and gives potential new Americans a clear, legal path to join us on our Great Experiment in self-governance and freedom.
I would vote for it.
