Why they come

Immigrants come to the United States because of opportunity and, in some cases, because of political oppression and persecution which creates their need to seek asylum. Millions of legal immigrants have emigrated from all over the world, carving out their place in society, living productive lives, and through it all, appreciating the personal liberties guaranteed by our Constitution.

No one I know has a problem with legal immigration.

For the most part, illegal immigrants arrive here for the same reasons. It just doesn't make sense for them to stand in the long lines at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) when the alternative is so attractive for two reasons:

1)      It's easy to get into the United States. Illegal immigrants from many countries obtain valid visas or travel here on vacation and simply don't leave when they're supposed to. Another option of trekking across the desert wastelands of Sonora, Chihuahua and other abutting Mexican states is a lot more challenging, but certainly exploited as well. I'm sure there's some migration across the Canadian border, but most of it by geese. 

2)      Once here, there are jobs available. This is actually where the problem lies and is often left out of the conversation which is dominated by "seal the borders" and "build a fence."

On the border

As a matter of background, I grew up on the border of Texas and Mexico in the City of El Paso. The Border Patrol agents were always busy, picking up illegal aliens and dropping them back at the Santa Fe Bridge.

One time, Mary and I were watching one of our kids compete in a track meet at Bowie High School when we spotted a helicopter hovering over the stadium and soon noticed a group of undocumented tracksters sprinting through the school grounds with Border Patrol agents in hot pursuit.

The reason these people crossed the Rio Grande was for work. And there was plenty of it available. Yes, some border jumpers were drug runners and coyotes (smugglers of people), but the vast majority of them were day workers who could make as much as a week's worth of Mexican minimum wage in a day in the United States.

Enforcement in the workplace

If we are ever going to get a handle on this problem, we must enforce our immigration policies in the workplace. The flow of undocumented workers will cease when there's no work to be had without proper paperwork.

The two bills voted on in the Massachusetts legislature this year that dealt with eliminating public benefits for illegal immigrants (the Perry Amendment in the House, and the Hedlund Amendment in the Senate) both had a key component that would help us solve the larger issue of undocumented workers, namely the E-Verify System.

I took the training for E-Verify and became certified for its use three years ago when it appeared that it would be a requirement for all businesses over a certain size. In a nutshell, it gives a green or red light to hiring someone. The system works well, provides answers swiftly, and allows for investigating rejections created by errors in the database.

George Bush (43) put the brakes on the mandated use of E-Verify and it has been relegated to the sidelines ever since. That was a mistake, one that has turned everyone's attention to replicating the Great Wall of China from Brownsville, Texas to San Ysidro, California.

We need to revive E-Verify to choke off the demand for illegal immigrants, but that's not the ultimate solution to the problem.

The need for more workers

It is a fact that millions of undocumented workers would be forced to leave the country, not being able to satisfy the requirement of E-Verify. The problem is that certain industries, agriculture and hospitality to name two, would be immediately crippled.

In this recessionary time, many of these jobs would be backfilled by existing unemployed workers; however, when the economy comes around, a vacuum will occur in low skill jobs.

I worked in Midland, Texas, from 1981 to 1985, a time when oil was booming and we used to kid that a secretary was someone who could identify a typewriter. Hotels and restaurants lacked for help because anyone could get a job as an oilfield roughneck or support person.

We see that same problem on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket-less so now but definitely when the economy was rocking. Too few people to fill the low skill jobs. A vibrant economy needs people with all level of skills and abilities.

The solution

A sweeping amnesty is the wrong answer. People who are breaking the law should not be rewarded for it. It's bad policy. If we used this approach to raising our kids, we would have ended up with six hooligans.

The ultimate solution is to clamp down in the workplace to eliminate illegal workers while setting immigration quotas at the proper level to satisfy businesses' needs for skilled and unskilled labor. Then the USCIS must meet the challenge by streamlining the process for documenting enough workers to meet demand.

The road to citizenship, by the way, does not need to be fast tracked. That's really a separate and distinct issue that can be debated on its own merits and modified if it makes sense.