Monday, June 19, 2006

Legal Immigration Problems

When trying to understand the illegal immigration problem, it probably helps to a certain degree to understand the legal immigration problem. The same feckless governments that find it is impossible to stop, reduce, or control in even the mildest form the illegal immigration problem, have designed a system for legal immigration that is complicated, convoluted, counter-productive, and crazy. And crass, cruddy, creepy; in other words, the sort of system that defies rational analysis.

Let’s look at it a moment. Those who apply to enter the United States legally face many years of expenses and frustration. They probably would be better off if they just came here on a tourist or student visa and got lost, or flew to Mexico or Canada and walked in. The first option worked for the 9/11 hijackers.

Instead, the legal applicants face fees. Then more fees. Then lost paperwork. And more fees. And more lost paperwork. And misunderstandings by the processors of their application which results in – you guessed it – more fees, more paperwork, more lost paperwork, and more misunderstandings.

Please read this San Francisco Chronicle article for all the fumbling, frustrating situations that legal immigration applicants face. After you read the examples, think of two things.

First, you want to reward the illegal immigrants for breaking the law, and at the same time make it even more difficult for the highly educated, highly skilled legal applicants to immigrate.

Second, you want the same government that designed the legal immigration system to take control of health care and continue to run Social Security.

That’s scary.

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