Immigration Policies Need Major Overhaul, Agrees Houston Immigration Lawyer

Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) January 15, 2013 – Immigration reform does need to happen, even on the Republican side. That is the argument by Republican Representative Ted Poe.

A December 2012 column in Politico.com, written by Rep. Ted Poe, stated that the Republican party needs to change course, especially when it comes to immigration reform. The system is broken, says Poe, and a real fix needs to include an approach that is sensible and actually workable. The fix must have clear guidelines to reasonably address the issues of both day laborers and highly-skilled laborers, for a way to treat undocumented immigrants who commit violent crimes, and for those otherwise law-abiding residents who fall under the DREAM Act, who only wish to become part of the American dream.

What would work, asks Poe? Send the criminals “home.” U.S. jails are overcrowded as it is; send back the undocumented immigrants who are committing violent crimes in the U.S. to their country of origin. Poe cites a statistic that more than 20 percent of the federal prisoners convicted were in the U.S. illegally.

“Regardless of how you feel about immigration, anti-immigration policies have obviously failed to work,” says Houston immigration lawyer Annie Banerjee. “They have failed to work for anti-immigration advocates and for the immigrants who can profoundly contribute to the U.S.”

Poe also points readers to the “Texas Solution,” a legislative package which maps out a temporary guest worker program to manage undocumented workers and allow them to continue to contribute and be employed in Texas. Documentation is not equitable to citizenships, warns Poe, and does not confer the same rights, but would bestow a legal status to allow a legal pathway to citizenship for some, and citizenship for military members first of all. The legal status would allow sorely-needed tax contributions into U.S. coffers.

Poe also pushes for an end to the failed visa lottery system. He suggests that visas be awarded to foreign-born workers based on qualifications. Highly-skilled labor is needed now more than ever, and bringing in those workers, while also pushing for stronger STEM education in our schools, is a twofold approach to meeting our highly-skilled labor needs.

And, says Poe, immigration reform must work with solid border protection. Poe calls for increased Mexico-U.S. border protection, including more people on patrol, as well as stiffer penalties for human trafficking.

Annie Banerjee is a Houston immigration lawyer specializing in helping people become United States citizens. The law offices assist in visas and other legal immigration requirements as well. To learn more, visit http://www.visatous.com.

Law Offices of Annie Banerjee
131 Brooks Street, Suite #300
Sugar Land, Texas 77478
Phone: (281) 242-9139