Why amnesty? There's a better way

New Jersey businessman (and former Senate candidate) Bader G. Qarmout speaks out on the violence that Barack Obama did to the rule of law, with his de facto amnesty for certain classes of alien minors.

But he also briefly describes his own plan to handle alien minors. Don't grant them amnesty, but don't try to deport them, either: instead, lay a fine on them.

Excerpt:

While I agree with the President that a humane course of action should
be taken regarding children who are being victimized by their parent’s
crime, I do not believe that absolution should be given without any
penalty. Of course we would like to provide a way for the children of
illegals to come out of the shadows but we must do it in a way that
makes sense. People who break our laws can be deported, can serve time
in prison, can be assigned community service, or can pay a fine.
Imposing a fine for breaking our laws seems the most practical solution
in this particular circumstance – and all illegal aliens should pay such
a fine, with a more severe fine for those who came here as adults. To
Read the Qarmout Immigration Reform Plan, please follow this link.

And here are the guts of the Bader G. Qarmout Plan:

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The first step of my Plan, and should be of any plan, is to secure all borders and ports. America, as all nations, should know who is entering the country and why. I do not know of any sovereign country that does not regulate and secures its borders. Secured borders are a must and a first step. It was the first thing President George W. Bush did when we entered Iraq. A country without border is not a country; it’s only a chaotic piece of geography.

We can deal with the illegal aliens that are here after securing the borders. Some believe that we should round them all up and ship them back. Not going to happen. It is as impractical as it is overwhelming expensive. It has been estimated that there are approximately 12-18 million illegal adults and 3-8 million illegal children, imports not domestic. Therefore, we need a comprehensive plan to deal with approximately 20 million men, women, and children.

The Qarmout Plan requires, as a second step, all illegal aliens must register with an officially designated office. For the purpose of this argument, I will suggest that they go to the nearest United States Post Service Office (USPS) to register. The post office already deals with processing passports, is a federal entity, and thousands of jobs could be saved. Instead of firing employees, the post office would have to hire additional employees and we would be creating legitimate tax generating jobs, which are sorely needed.

The illegal aliens would be required to pay a registration fee of $150.00 per adult and $10.00 per child under 18 years old. The registration application would require the applicant to be photographed and fingerprinted. (The USPS could fill that need for a fee of $20.00 for photo and $23.00 for fingerprinting). After the applications is completed and filed it would be entered into a nationwide database system. At this point the applicant would be issued an alien number similar to an H1 visa. The alien number would be specific to every applicant and would be required in addition to a social security number in every instance a social security number is required. The H1 visa would allow the applicant to work and pay taxes, along with open a bank account and get a driver’s license. The H1 visa would NOT allow the applicant to vote. After the 10 year H1 Visa period the applicant can either return to their country of origin or apply for a Green Card. Green Card holders are NOT allowed to vote in the United States.

At the Beginning of the ten year probation period, the applicant would be required to have a form filled out by his/her sponsoring employer. The sponsoring employer would complete and file the form with the IRS and the state Division of Taxation for their respective state. During this time frame, the employer must pay the applicant minimum wage, or more, and must also withhold payroll taxes and other state and federal withholdings like any other legal employee.

Additionally, the applicant must agree to and the employer must also withhold an additional $19.25 per working adult for ten years. The applicant can circumvent this withholding by paying it upfront in one lump sum of $10,000.00 and $1000.00 per child, or could pay the remainder of what is outstanding at anytime. After 10 years of legal employment, no criminal involvement, and paying the corrective amount of $19.25 per week, then the applicant can move to the next phase of this plan.

After a total of ten years H1 employment, and ten thousand dollars of fines, then the applicant would be eligible to apply for a Green Card, or they can return to their country of origin. This plan should be available for a limited time period, perhaps one year.

The intended goal of The Qarmout Immigration Reform Plan is to fix a broken system and have its beneficiaries pay for it through fines and a probation period. The total estimate of fees paid to the government would be *$3.15 billion in USPS fees (photo, fingerprint, and application fees) and $150 billion in corrective fees. The $150 billion in corrective fees could to be divided 50/50 between states and the federal government.

These fees will be proportionately distributed to the federal government to pay for border security and no other purpose. The remainder of the fees will be distributed to the municipalities where the applicants live to reimburse them for the cost of municipal services incurred.

This plan will allow t illegal aliens to come out of the darkness and into the light. When given the opportunity, I believe the majority of illegal aliens would agree to pay the penalty fee of $19.25 per week for ten years and keep working, paying taxes, and staying out of trouble if it gives them the right to apply for a green card. A built in benefit of this plan beyond the additional payroll taxes, is the ability of newly registered aliens to open a bank account and thus more of their earnings would stay in the United States and benefit the American economy. They would also enjoy the protection of our labor laws and would receive at least minimum wages, as all American workers.

* A total of $10,000.00 per adult, $19.25 per week for ten years, ($15 billion a year for 10 years) That’s a total of $150 Billion over ten years. Total of $1,000.00 (10% of the parent) per child would be added to one parent's withholding to be paid over the first five years equals $500 million dollars.

Fees to be paid upon applying:
Photo $20.00 X 20 million (15 million adults and 5 million kids) = $400 Million
Fingerprint $23.00 X 20 million (15 million adults and 5 million kids) = $460 million
Application fee $150.00 X 15 million adults $2.25Billion (could charge 10.00 per child application fee to generate an additional $50 million)