Trump and Congress Should Focus on These Four Immigration and Border Solutions

Authored by Dr. Bob Sanborn and Stan Marek

President-elect Trump’s plans for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants have raised concerns all over the country, especially here in Texas.  And the question is are the fears justified or is it just election rhetoric.  We shall see.  

But one of the realities of the threat is that thousands of kids in our Texas schools have one or more undocumented parents.  Remember, there has not been a major change in our immigration law since President Reagan’s Immigration Reform Act of 1986.  Since that time there has been no legal way for blue collar workers to come legally and fill the job demand.  But they came, they filled the jobs, and now there are an estimated 11-20 million in our county. 

They put down roots, bought houses, and are raising their families.  Their American born children are an important part of building our country’s greatest asset, our future workforce.  We have spent billions educating these kids and having them worry about being separated from their parents makes no sense.

But here we are approaching 2025, facing a potential mass deportation that could turn their lives upside down.  The fear of losing a family member to deportation is something that today is not just a concern, but a real probability.   How could we even condone a conversation about splitting up families that have been in the US for decades, filling jobs that many of our kids would never do?

We are hopeful it will not happen.  But the threat alone has made it necessary for many of our schools to bring in counselors to deal with the fears these kids are facing.   Can you imagine coming home from school and finding your parents gone?  These and other issues are what our already under-resourced schools must deal with.  Without a plan, these kids will imagine the worst. How can they concentrate on their studies? Develop skills they will need to enter the workforce?  Curtail the mental and emotional hardships they will inevitably endure? 

We hope the President-elect uses this as an opportunity to work with Congress to pass sensible immigration reform that reflects the wishes of the majority of Americans.  Find the things we agree on and start there.

First, we must secure our borders. Stop the flow of human trafficking, drugs, and guns.

Second, reform the asylum system.  Turning asylum seekers loose into the US because we don’t have enough resources to give them a hearing is not an option.

Third, we must offer a permanent path to legal status for the Dreamers. These kids were brought here by their parents before the age of 16 and have done everything our government has asked them to do.  700,000 have signed up for the program since 2012 and hundreds of thousands more are waiting for the program to re-open. They are tremendous contributors to our economy.

Lastly, we must determine the actual number of undocumented already in our country.  The new administration’s plan is to prioritize them for deportation, starting with gang members and those who have committed a felony.  A low-cost approach for the rest would be to:

1. Identify those who have been here over five years and can pass a background check.
2. Use facial recognition and/or digital fingerprints to provide them a tamper proof ID.
3. Require them to pay a fine as well as a registration fee.
4. Require them to work for an employer who pays and matches payroll taxes, just like Dreamers and workers with a Visa do now.

This is not a path to citizenship.  It would provide guest worker status only and cost the government little to coordinate, while generating billions in tax revenue, especially benefitting social security.  And it certainly would be better than spending billions to deport the estimated 11-20 million already in the US.

Not an ideal solution, but one that invites compromise. 

Sensible and compassionate.  A great place to start.

Dr. Bob Sanborn is President and CEO of Children at Risk, a non-partisan research and advocacy group for Texas children

Stan Marek is Chairman and CEO of Marek Construction