POLITICIANS LOVE COMPLEXITY. We’ve seen it in the evolution of every government reform bill ever enacted — from education (No Child Left Behind) to health care (ObamaCare). We’re seeing it again with yet another attempt at immigration reform. I guess you could say the first bill passed in 1986 was too simple because it offered a free pass to every illegal who came here before 1982. That opened the flood gates, which is why now we don’t really know how many undocumented immigrants are here. (See “No hay problema?” Benicia Herald, April 11, 2012.)

Republican spokesman Karl Rove says, “The current Senate bill has plenty of penalties and hurdles for those here illegally who seek citizenship.” Among the hurdles he mentions, they must prove they’ve been here since Dec. 31, 2011 and are of “good moral character.” Among the penalties, he says they must pay $2,000 in fines, pay taxes and be “barred from receiving any federal benefits, including welfare and ObamaCare.” Rove also says would-be citizens must wait six years and prove they’ve “been steadily employed, paid all taxes, and aren’t on welfare.” Also, before they can even get a green card, they have to pass an English language test and go to “the back of the line behind everyone who’s already waiting patiently and legally to immigrate here.” (See “Immigration Reform and the Hispanic Vote,” Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2013.)

All this sounds pretty complicated. Even so, it doesn’t address what has become increasingly important to most Americans — border security and the need to encourage the immigration of more highly skilled (H-1B) workers. These, of course, are two entirely distinct issues. Most of those who cross our borders illegally are low-skilled farm workers. H-1B immigrants arrive legally with temporary visas and usually already have been hired by an American employer. The problem is, our government puts very strict limitations on not only the number of H-1B workers admitted each year but also on the length of time they are allowed to remain here on the job.

Democrats often try to conflate these very different groups, as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan did when, in a Dec. 10, 2010 White House blog post, he wrote: “The students of the DREAM Act are some of the country’s best and brightest. … They are our future pediatricians, teachers and engineers — if we give them a chance.” They are also the children of illegal immigrants some refer to as “anchor babies.”

Of course, Democrats like Senate leader Harry Reid see giving amnesty to a growing population of illegal immigrants as their best bet to win in 2016 and beyond. They’re not interested in developing the productive potential of poor and under-educated illegal immigrant children nearly as much as they are in growing an exploding population of ignorant and loyal voters. As anybody who’s paying attention knows, the DREAM Act was a scam designed to fool La Raza and thwart any future efforts at border security.

All this pivoting and dodging is beside the real point, which is the potential cost of immigration reform with full amnesty. According to a May 22 report by the Heritage Foundation, “The cost of illegal immigration and amnesty could amount to $6.3 trillion … (because) the majority of illegal immigrants receiving amnesty would receive far more in taxpayer-funded benefits than they would pay in taxes.” (See Rachel Sheffield, “The Cost of Illegal Immigration and Amnesty Could Be Higher,” May 22, 2013 at Heritage.org.)

As the report explains, there are several factors contributing to the unpredictability of such costs. These include the likelihood that medical and welfare costs for everyone will rise in future years and that amnesty may “act as a magnet for future illegal immigrants.”

Now that the Senate has voted 82-15 to move forward with debate on the proposed immigration reform bill, it’s time for all American taxpayers to closely watch where the politicians in Washington are going with this new budget-buster. Personally, I like what one letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal recently suggested:

“Even if we need immigration reform, we don’t need a 900-page bill that increases the bureaucracy and complicates our system. … .Most of the system does work, and with little change the system can be much more responsive to America’s needs. A Western Hemisphere guest-worker program similar to the old Bracero program that grants work visas and doesn’t provide an amnesty, giving more authority to immigration judges to allow worthy aliens to remain and more money for border security would be enough. We should do less now and see how that works before we completely complicate the system needlessly.” (See Harry DeMell’s letter to the editor in The Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2013.)

In other words, Keep It Simple, Senators!

Bruce Robinson is an author and former Benicia resident.

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