Immigration Reform ? First Do No Harm !

Congress - and the Administration - should make note of the first rule of the time-tested Physician's Oath: "First, do no harm."

The "stone soup" now simmering in Washington promises to do just the opposite.

1. It will -for the first time - make it possible to "buy" American citizenship.
2. It will -at the same time - re-institute the ancient evil of indentured servitude,as large companies make reimbursement for citizenship costs part of their incentive package-(in exchange for a "tame",underpaid workforce,of course.)
3. It will increase the flow of aliens across our borders.
4. It will establish a huge,cumbersome bureaucracy to establish largely unenforceable,often conflicting rules and regulations. (The real purpose of this bureaucracy will soon become the guiding principle of bureaucracies everywhere: Preserve the bureaucracy at all costs: increasing its size and influence whenever possible.)
5. It will-down the road-create political nightmares:

• Political corruption in the form of massive "vote buying";
• Massive unrest all around.

Let me - at risk of life and limb- suggest a more sensible approach.

1. Build a suitable Border fence ; but leave it a "virtual fence" in one or two key locations,so there will be a sort of "safety valve",which permits small numbers of aliens to enter.
2. Make sure there are enough courts to handle immigration cases promptly.
3. Make sure there are adequate detention facilities-including, when neccessary-temporary or ad hoc detention camps.
4. Enforce existing immigration laws to the fullest extent practical-but keep in mind there will always be people "living in the shadows" because:

• The "shadow people" offer themselves up for exploition;
• There is still a need for their exploitable labor.

In other words, patch the "broken border" and tweak the status quo a bit to help keep things manageable. It's not the sort of solution that's apt to appeal to the "nativists" or the "open borders" advocates; and it's not the sort of approach politicians will be able to brag about.

It's merely old-fashioned common sense.