Kayleigh McEnany - CHUCK WARREN: Bush Led on Immigration ...

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?Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.? That is a quote from Marx ? no, not Karl the Communist?Groucho the humorist. This quote perfectly describes the recent history of immigration policy in the United States.

Immigration is routinely labeled a problem instead of the economic driver it is and, it is almost always handled through policies which are not conducive to a healthy dialogue or economic growth. There was, however, an attempt to create a sane and fiscally wise immigration policy under President Bush.

When George W. Bush was in office, there were an estimated twelve million illegal immigrants in the United States and millions more waiting to be processed through legal immigration. There were countless others who would have liked to immigrate but did not even try due to long waiting periods and other onerous restrictions. If this bill had passed, it would have transformed what was then, and still is now, called a problem into a major asset for the United States? economy.

President Bush?s immigration reform bill was killed in the U.S. Senate in 2007 due to opposition from the extremes on either side of the political spectrum. Unlike the current White House occupant, George Bush put forward a bold plan.

While I do not follow the herd mentality that immigration reform is the number one issue for the Hispanic community (polling backs this view), one has to wonder if the Hispanic vote would have been more in play in 2012 if Republicans had pushed this through.? In this year?s election, President ?Inaction? Obama continued to play divide-and-conquer and captured 71% of the Hispanic vote.? Romney captured less of the Hispanic voters than both former President Bush and Senator McCain.? A trend, if continued, will make Republicans a regional party.

The Bush Immigration Reforms fell fourteen votes shy of the sixty vote majority needed in order to pass. The bill was a mixture of more stringent protections for the borders, which certainly was a reasonable inclusion considering the on-going war on terror. The bill also featured a legalization program for illegal immigrants that would have given legal status and a path to citizenship to millions of people.

President George W. Bush

The two most important issues in George W. Bush?s immigration reform plans were the creation of two new types of visas: the Z visa and the Y visa.? The Z visa would be issued to any undocumented immigrant living in the United States in January 1, 2008. This Z visa guaranteed its holder the right to remain in the United States and work for the rest of their lives, as well as assigning the individual a Social Security number. This means that those twelve million undocumented immigrants who were previously using services but not paying income taxes or Social Security payments would now be helping to keep our insolvent Social Security system afloat while increasing both federal and state government revenues. It is hard to imagine a simpler, more easily accomplished, method to increasing revenues by the billions.

Those with Z visas would be eligible for a United States Permanent Resident Card, or green card, after eight years of holding their visa. However, in order to obtain the green card, the Z visa holders would be expected to pay a $2000 fine, pay some back-taxes, and return to their country of origin prior to re-entry.? In my opinion, fines and paying back taxes do not equal amnesty.

The Y visa program was also a new creation that George W. Bush supported. The Y visa program would have let up to 400,000 temporary guest workers per year work in the United States for up to two years. After this two year work period, they would have to return home. This influx of 400,000 temporary guest workers would have added more taxpayers to the roles at a time when the United States and many local governments needed the revenues in order to make up for shortfalls caused by the recession.

You constantly hear political talking heads bemoaning the ?problem? of immigration or illegal immigration, but the fact is that President Bush?s reforms offered the United States the best possible chance to grow the economy, increase revenues by billions of dollars per year, and solve a lingering social issue too.

Like with Social Security Reform, President Bush was a bold visionary on a pressing issue.? It is a shame that President Bush was not able to accomplish this master-stroke of statesmanship due to political pressures and a lack of support from his own party, but in light of our current situation it is easy to see that this bipartisan reform was forward-thinking and business-friendly. With billions of extra dollars in revenue, only modest increases in spending due to immigration enforcement, and a buoyed Social Security system, George W. Bush?s immigration reforms essentially offered a critical solution to three different problems.

Republicans need to take the lead on immigration reform because it is the right thing to do. If we continue to take on the persona of an ostrich, the world will pass us by.

Chuck Warren is a board member of Pass the Balanced Budget Amendment (PasstheBBA.com) and a partner at Silver Bullet, LLC.

Source: http://kayleighmcenany.com/2012/12/12/chuck-warren-bush-led-on-immigration-reform-obama-plays-politics/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chuck-warren-bush-led-on-immigration-reform-obama-plays-politics

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