Needed U.S. Immigration Changes

The roundup of hundreds of South Koreans at the Georgia Hyundai factory underscores the immediate need to face up to the growing immigration crisis.

President Trump pulled off a miraculous achievement by shutting our once open border shortly after resuming office and relentlessly deporting gangs and other criminals who had illegally entered our country.

Now, however, we’re facing a different, more difficult challenge: what to do about the millions who have entered the U.S. illegally, not just those who came in during the Biden administration but also those who have resided here for years, even decades. Most have otherwise been law-abiding and have sunk roots here. There are also those—estimated to number some 2.5 million—who were brought here as minors by their parents and are referred to as “Dreamers.”

The roundup of the South Korean illegal workers in Georgia vividly illustrates that broader sweeps to catch and deport illegals who are not otherwise lawbreakers is starting to hurt parts of the economy, most notably agricul-ture, construction, hospitality and high tech. House cleaners, landscapers and aides for the elderly will be affected as well. More and more the public will react negatively to mass arrests of immigrants who, other than entering the country illegally, have been law-abiding.

Concerning the Dreamers, President Trump should push legislation to make them permanent residents and end the endless uncertainty. Many now are raising families and pursuing careers. They wouldn’t have the right to vote. Dealing positively with this particular issue has broad support.

Work programs should be enacted for agriculture, construction and perhaps various service industries, whereby immigrants could legally come into the country and work in areas where they are needed for periods of time. Many of the arrested South Koreans are highly skilled technicians and engineers and were here temporarily to get the facility operational. The same is certainly true at other foreign-owned plants and labs that are being opened in the U.S. The need for skilled people here is real.

We badly need a scalpel approach for would-be students from other nations. We don’t want to lose future talent to other countries. After all, almost half of our largest companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants.

For the millions of current illegal residents we should devise an approach through which they could apply for at least a temporary residency.

All this underscores the need to drastically simplify our current immigration system. People who play by the rules can find themselves in limbo for years.