President Ronald Reagan granted an amnesty. George W. Bush pushed for one. And yet, with immigration as a flash point in today’s political climate and a cornerstone of President Trump’s agenda, we seem to be looking at every solution except for an amnesty.
The question is why Republicans and Democrats aren’t both taking a serious look at an immigration amnesty so we can finally get the immigration reform that this country needs?
Yes, I know that nowadays the mere mention of an amnesty would be political suicide for any national candidate, from the presidency down to Congress. However, we can’t keep this course that Trump and Republicans are taking us down with nonsensical deportations that challenge the rights of all Americans. We also can’t keep doing nothing, as some Democrats seem to be content with.
As Americans, we are grappling with seeing high school kids arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, immigrants being taken into custody at immigration hearings, and workplaces being targeted for raids. Some MAGA voters who seemed gleeful that Trump would forcibly deport millions, are now baffled to see friends and neighbors being targeted by the U.S. government.
Trump, for all his talk, hasn’t deported millions. And it seems that the vast majority of people being snatched up by militarized Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are just workers and students and regular churchgoers. Why is that? Because the vast majority of immigrants who are here illegally are contributing to this country, not “invaders” as some like to call them.
I don’t think we need to ignore the problem, as some liberals seem content to do. Illegal immigration is wrong. As Americans, we finally have to come to terms with the fact that we created a system that relies on black-market immigrant labor and productivity. Deportations, as promised by Trump, would harm our country more than tariffs. They would cause the national debt and deficits to rise, and potentially lead us into recession.
The pipe dream that Trump sold millions of voters on will not happen for this exact reason. Too many businesses, from massive international conglomerates to small businesses, rely on undocumented workers.
You see, we like to pretend the people coming to this country are the villains while ignoring that Americans hiring them are the reason why they come here in the first place.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) pushed for legislation requiring businesses to use the E-Verify system, both when he was running for president and more recently. The logic is sound. If people are offering jobs in the U.S. and employing people who should not be working here, then they should be punished. If businesses are kept honest by the government in terms of whom they hire, then the problem starts to solve itself.
Now, this would work and can work, but there is a big problem that we need to solve first. Widespread use of E-Verify will disrupt the national economy for years. That is why many politicians shy away from punishing business owners.
So we have a country reliant on undocumented immigrant labor. Mass deportations and E-Verify will wreck our economy. Does that mean we do nothing?
No. As a liberal, I will tell you that undocumented workers are exploited, used to undermine labor unions, and moving toward a permanent second-class citizen status. No Democrat should be okay with this. The solution is a one-time amnesty that will finally allow us to get immigration reform.
Reagan’s amnesty had one fatal flaw. They stripped out any punishments and financial penalties for employers who continued to hire illegal immigrants. But the amnesty brought people out of the shadows and put them on a track to contribute even more to this country. They didn’t jump the line (as they shouldn’t be able to) over immigrants with legal status. And their children and grandchildren are as American as apple pie.
George W. Bush also tried to get an amnesty done but was undermined by his own party. Maybe the word “amnesty” spooked them, or maybe Bush wanted to follow through with punishing those who hire undocumented workers (read: business owners who donate money). Regardless, it wasn’t done, and the system of exploitation has continued to this day.
Trump can score a massive win by granting an amnesty while imposing strict penalties on employers. The economy would not be wrecked, we would have more revenue in taxes, we would save money on deportations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be freed up to go after criminals, and the border patrol could focus more on drug trafficking and asylum seekers. No lines would be jumped, and strict penalties on employers would mitigate future surges.
I know many would rightly bristle at an amnesty, as it seems like a reward for breaking the law. Many felt that way when Reagan’s amnesty passed. But we can’t keep this system the way it is. And the notion that we are going to deport millions is the mother of all pipe dreams.
Immigration reform needs to happen. The first step is a structured amnesty.
Jos Joseph is a published writer and is a graduate of the Harvard Extension School and Ohio State University. He is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq. He currently lives in Anaheim, Calif.