Build barrier, allow more immigration

Congress should build a 2,000-mile barrier to cut off illegal immigrants from crossing into the United States from Mexico. It should have two high walls, barbed wire, and a number of cranky dogs running around the no-man’s-land in between.

After the barrier is built, we should expand the number of legal immigrants we accept from our southern neighbor through some sort of guest-worker program.

This way, we get hard workers who help the economy but we don’t get the criminals, welfare candidates or Osama bin Laden wannabes who would harm the country.

The current plan to offer permanent residency to illegals already here without first closing off the border will only encourage more illegal immigration by those still in Mexico and other countries.

Ten years from now, we’ll be debating another amnesty program for the next 11 million migrants who will have crossed over illegally in the belief that forgiveness is easier to get than permission.

Let’s get serious about this issue and close the border physically. Then we can have the debate about how to assimilate the immigrants we have and how to bring in more.

Karl Schweizer

Lake Stevens