It is undisputed that there will be no genuine reform of the immigration system unless Congress creates a politically viable solution for processing the over twelve million undocumented aliens now living in this country. Last year I proposed, in a newswire article, that one possible answer is the creation of individual accounts for those aliens who have resided here and have broken no other law than to enter the country illegally. These accounts would set a dollar amount on unpaid taxes and entitlements issued, and eventual citizenship would depend upon repayment of the debt.
I think this is still a workable solution, but it needs the cooperation of the Mexican and other country-of-origin governments to succeed. Specifically, those countries can sequester the assets of any of their citizens who are currently living in the United States and wish to become American citizens. The assets can then be applied toward payment of the alien's personal debt. Of course, the alien should have the right to refuse this, but that would still mean that he or she cannot be granted American citizenship until the debt is repaid.
I believe that such assets may be larger than one would think, since it may include inherited property.
However, this is only my personal take on an idea that others have suggested. And it looked, for awhile, that Congress would be willing to create some form of repayment system or fine to pave the way for eventual citizenship.
But now it looks like that chance is gone.
If anything, it seems that conservatives in his own party feel so betrayed by President Bush that they might kill immigration reform solely to deny him a political victory.
If that happens, I'll examine another approach which is likely to be even more painful.
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