![\"800px-US-border-notice\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2015\/02\/800px-US-border-notice.jpg\")
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So Trump has, unsurprisingly, softened his immigration talk until its about the consistency of the mushy bananas with when you make banana bread. \u00a0(And, by the way, I accidentally learned the secret to seriously yummy banana bread muffins the other day: \u00a0my son dropped the 2nd of the 3 bananas onto the floor, so I told him to cut the rest of the ingredients in half \u2013 but he forgot to reduce the margarine and the milk. \u00a0They came out really good, as long as you don\u2019t think too hard about the calorie content.)<\/p>\n
He\u2019s now \u201cseen the light\u201d on all the \u201cpeople who have been here 15 or 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, let\u2019s start by saying that even immigration hawk Mark Krikorian supports an amnesty for long-time residents, after genuine enforcement measures (at the border, and at the workplace) are in place and fully functioning. \u00a0And I think that\u2019s about right \u2014 except that the reality is that there are, indeed, some individuals who have been in the U.S. for so long that it would be a genuine hardship for them to return to their native countries, and they\u2019d be truly worse off than if they had never left. \u00a0Delaying an accommodation for them until after all enforcement measures are in place would mean that they\u2019d be, if not deported, than unable to support themselves. \u00a0In a prior blog post, I had suggested a very phased, carrot-and-stick approach, with a fixed number of new work permits granted each year, starting with the most deserving, and with the process halted if metrics indicate that enforcement measures are failing, or perhaps a cap each year that\u2019s reduced on a 2 to 1 basis for a statistically valid estimate of new border-crossers.<\/p>\n
But the question I have for readers is: \u00a0how would you identify the folks deserving of legal immigrant status?<\/p>\n
Certainly there are easy cases at either extreme. \u00a0Those who have just recently crossed the border \u2014 no. \u00a0(The hardship-case Central Americans should be seeking asylum in Mexico anyway.) \u00a0Those who have been here for a decade or two, and are practically indistinguishable from citizens \u2014 yes. \u00a0But, on the other hand, every now and again, the newspaper will feature a sad story about a longtime illegal resident, hoping for amnesty, and will casually mention that the quotes provided by this paragon of the community, are all in translation \u2014 that in some 20-odd years, he or she never learned English well enough to speak to a reporter.<\/p>\n
You know what I\u2019d do? \u00a0I\u2019d make it a simple metric: \u00a0how\u2019s your English? \u00a0If you can\u2019t speak English, no matter how long you\u2019ve lived here, you\u2019re not going to convince me that it\u2019s a hardship to return to your native country, and I\u2019m not going to believe that you\u2019ll enrich this country and contribute to it. \u00a0I might add a check for literacy and numeracy on top, but the key would be English skills \u2014 and not just a promise to learn English, but existing skills.<\/p>\n
So what would your cut-off be?<\/p>\n
(And yes, no links in this post, because it\u2019s about the question, and I think readers know the background well enough.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Image: \u00a0from Wikimedia Commons, public domain.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So Trump has, unsurprisingly, softened his immigration talk until its about the consistency of the mushy bananas with when you make banana bread. \u00a0(And, by the way, I accidentally learned the secret to seriously yummy banana bread muffins the other day: \u00a0my son dropped the 2nd of the 3 bananas onto the floor, so I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":1382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[374],"tags":[457,139,325],"class_list":["post-5221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-amn","tag-illegal-immigrants","tag-trump"],"yoast_head":"\n