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Reverend Robin Hoover's Plan

We recently had the Reverend Robin Hoover of Humane Borders as an in-studio guest. The Humane Borders folks, as you recall, are the people who aid and abet the illegal entrant aliens with their water stations.

As you can imagine, I am no fan of the water stations, nor do I appreciate Pima County "contracting" with them to the tune of twenty-five grand a year – but that's old news.

At that time, the comprehensive federal immigration bill was being cobbled together by a couple of warring political parties who were working for opposing outcomes. They negotiated, compromised, and traded – making sure that no one got too much of what he wanted. The result was a bill that has been received by most people with either disappointment or disgust – imagine King Solomon actually cutting the baby in half. I guess it never occurred to our "representatives" that real people would be affected by what they do, and that they might bring in someone who knows a thing or two about the border, and the people who cross it – someone like Reverend Hoover.

Think what you like about Hoover, but one thing is undeniable: after spending decades traveling, studying, and interviewing people and politicians on both sides of the border, he knows the situation up, down, and sideways.

He is also a thoughtful idea guy, as evidenced by the bonehead water station idea. Fortunately for us, his thinking did not stop there. He has, in my opinion, an excellent concept for a guest worker program that will work, and serve well all those involved.

Tom was shaking with apprehension remembering the many guest worker programs in the past that had been unmitigated disasters. Please, clear your minds, breath deeply, and check this out.

Hoover understands that a large contingent of the illegal border crossers is simply economic migrants. They are not criminals, they do not want to kill Americans, they have no ambition to become American citizens - they just want to find some work so that they can support their families. As luck would have it, there are certain American industries that are enthusiastic about hiring these folks. So, the question is: how do we get these people together without screwing the worker, employer, American citizen, or national security?

As Hoover points out, people enter the country via a maze of dangerous topography, and equally dangerous people. Sometimes they are caught, and repeat the process until they get a job and a place to live. There now exists a huge incentive to stay here and not return to their home. They send money home, but all to often sink new roots in the form of new families, and ultimately abandon their original families.

Why not give a migrant worker a work visa after he posts a bond at a port of entry. The government would then collect ten per cent of his wages, and put the money in an account along with the bond. Now, the visa expires in less than two years, making it truly temporary. When the worker crosses back across the border, he receives all the money in the account. If he overstays the visa, the money in the account is forfeited to law enforcement, and he becomes a fugitive subject to deportation.

Close to half of the illegal aliens in the country today are people who overstay visas. The more people overstay these work visas, the more money there will be to find and deport them – we can, you know, like, really do it this time.

Now, if you ask me, that's a heck of an incentive to comply. It keeps families together. It provides the workers relief from having to attend protest marches and commit voter fraud. It routes the workers through the ports of entry, which means that the remote pathways are being used exclusively by terrorists and criminals - that means, in my opinion, that we can change the rules of engagement in those areas.

Are these cool ideas, or what!? Why do we not hear this sort of thing coming out of Washington? It is not as if Reverend Hoover and his people are not enthusiastic about speaking to anybody and everybody. Heck, he spoke to me, and I know that he has spoken to elected officials, our "representatives". Why do they not listen?

"Close to half of the illegal aliens in the country today are people who overstay visas. The more people overstay these work visas, the more money there will be to find and deport them – we can, you know, like, really do it this time."