If I Were A Speechwriter
Here's what I would write for the President tomorrow night.
My fellow Americans (blah blah blah)
So, tonight, I am announcing a three-pronged approach to immigration reform which I am calling on the Congress to take up as their first priority.
First, we must stop the unabated flow of illegal immigrants across our Southern border. This will involve two phases: first, we will federalize and then deploy the National Guard all along the southern border to reinforce and provide support for out border patrol; second, we must construct a physical barrier in high population density areas of the border. No matter how advanced our technology becomes, we simply cannot prevent every illegal from coming through our border when they have the oppportunity to disappear into an urban setting within 50 yards of their point of entry.
Second, we must take steps to diminish the demand for illegal immigrants. Already, federal agents have taken steps to identify and punish large employers in three industries who make widespread use of illegal immigrants--this will continue.
But we must also recognize that there are large industries that will not be able to survive if they do not access to the labor and talents of our immigrant population. So, once we close the border and stem the demand for undocumented workers, I am proposing that we create a fast-track system to get those who are already among us and productive mebers of society, to give them an expedited route to enjoying full participation in our American life. The details of such a plan would certainly be negotiable, and I look forward to working with Congress on the details. I am envisioning a system on the lines of a seven-year process contingent on demonstrating employment, paying back taxes for work done "under the table" previously, and learning to speak English.
Controlling the flow of the world into our country is crucial, on two levels. First, we must know who is in our country and what they are doing here. I promised the American people that I would do whatever it took to protect them, and my administration continues every day to work to implement every legal tool within our authority to unveil the networks of our enemies, to disrupt their planning and operations, and to roll up their operatives. But it has become increasingly clear that until we have some control over our borders, we cannot protect Americans from our tenacious and violent enemies.
But second, America continues to be a beacon to the world. As such, it is intolerable that an entire class of people--sometimes estimated at 12 million--lives among us in the shadows, doing labor that Americans won't do, for an impoverished wage, with no hope of ever enjoying the full fruits of our great democracy. We are starting to see in different countries and cultures what can happen when a large group of people are not inluding in society, and it is not a pretty picture. We can, and we must, learn from the world and do a better job assimilating those people from around the world who have followed their dreams to our shores.
Realistically, this should be a short speech. But I have the sinking feeling the President is intent on sticking to his current, unpopular position and using a lot of air time to try to explain it. If this is actually the case, then the President ought to propare for an 8-10 point drop in his already abyssmal approval ratings.
And he also ought to get ready to work with a Democrat Congress come November. | |
