Half-Baked Idea: Illegal Immigrant Citizen Tax

There's been a lot of chatter about what to do about illegal immigration in this country... and, as usual, the discourse between the hippies and the rednecks is oh so productive...

I don't think either of them fully grasp the problem. The rednecks seem to think we can build a wall and everything will be fine... or at least put up a million guards on the border. What they fail to realize is that Cubans brave shark-infested waters on rickety rafts to get here. If they aren't afraid of that, they certainly won't fear a wall. Even if we wrapped the country with a de-militarized zone, and border guards randomly sprayed bullets across it, we'd still have illegal immigrants...

Also, the rednecks treat the economy like its a big pie, and there's only so many pieces to go around. Not true. Wealth can be created through innovation. In the long run, the more hard working Americans we have, the stronger our economy. Of course, in the long run we'll all be dead, so we should probably think short- and medium- term as well...

The hippies forget that there has to be an incentive to become a citizen, otherwise nobody would do it. They're also calling everybody and his dog a racist for being against amnesty, when the problem is primarily an economic one: without an assimilation plan, a flood of cheap labor can put a lot of Americans out of their jobs, and worsen racial tension.

One Possible Solution

After using a few tricks to boost independent thought, a four-step solution occurred to me:

1. Allow any and all illegal immigrants to become citizens, but
2. levy an addition -- permanent -- tax on people who become citizens in this fashion, then
3. give some of the revenue to small, local entrepreneurs to create jobs, and
4. issue the remainder as a "tax rebate" to the poor and jobless

Now, this solution isn't perfect. Rednecks may claim that its still amnesty... but they might change their tune when they see a tax rebate... even a few hundred dollars would be a good psychological boost. Hopefully it would stall their distrust until new jobs are created. Also, if the new citizens are the poorest, the rebate money goes right back into their own pocket!

I'm no supply-side economist like Helicopter Ben, so I don't expect a tax rebate to do anything but be a warm fuzzy. However, tax incentives for small, local, entrepreneurs almost always creates jobs...

Hippies might complain that this treats the new citizens like second-class citizens. Perhaps... but we should let them make that choice. By becoming a citizen, illegal immigrants would completely turn the tables on their stereotype: they are now the people who create jobs, not take them away! They could become a mighty political force not just for immigration reform, but also job creation! Some may be more than happy to pay the extra tax in exchange for instant political clout.

I like it...

I can't think of an economic downside, although the devil's in the details. So forgive my prejudice... but if you're against my plan, then you and your dog are racist ;-)