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We could create a new tax, a Non-Citizen Worker Tax, NCWT. As the name indicates this tax would be paid by, those working within the borders of the United States that are not citizens. These funds could be deducted a from a worker’s wages and tracked like the way we now manage FICA and Social Security. Employers that benefit from immigrant labor could pay a percentage of wages toward the NCWT. The employer tax would act like a tariff, increasing the cost of imported labor and protecting domestic workers.
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We could create a legal document called, A Confession of Residence. This document could be offered to immigrants, which migrated illegally to the United States, as an alternative to deportation. This document would not be an offer of citizenship, or total amnesty. It would be the first step in obtaining a work permit. It would also change the status of the immigrant from illegal to legal. One of the provisions of this agreement would require the signer to pay an upfront fine or agree to pay a higher percentage of NCWT for a fixed period.
Scenario
a. 22 million non-citizens currently work legally in the United States.
b. 11 million illegal immigrants currently work illegally in the United States.
c. 9 million illegal immigrants sign, A Confession of Residence document
a. 25%, choose to pay the upfront fine of $15,000
b. 75%, choose to pay an additional 5% in NCWT over a span of 10 years
d. Both legal and illegal non-citizen workers earn an average of $40,000 a year.
e. The employee NCWT is 3% of Gross Wages
f. The employer NCWT is 10% of Gross Wages
Result
$33.75 billion in fines paid upfront
$174.7 billion a year in NCWT during the first 10 years
$161.2 billion a year in NCWT after the first 10 years
(Some of the numbers listed above came from, Google searches other numbers are hypothetical. I list them here as an example of how the funding could work. Obviously real numbers should come from more authoritative sources, statistics and testing.)
The funds generated from these fines and taxes could be used to cover obvious repairs to our immigration system like, lowering processing times, speeding background checks, completing the southern wall and funding other security measures. It could also cover less direct economic reforms like, funding development in areas with high unemployment, creating RFK style rehabilitation farms, fighting fentanyl and investigating fraudulent disability claims.
Opinions and Assumptions of the Author
Passive aggressive governance is something that governments do when they can’t make something illegal, but sort of want to. Examples of this include obtaining a Conceal Carry Permit in New York City, maintaining a liquor license in Utah, mining coal anywhere, or trying to launch a rocket in California. The idea is to deliberately encumber applicates with so many rules, regulation and bureaucracy as to make it frustrating, nearly impossible or impossible to operate. Passive Aggressive governance isn’t good. It’s better to outright allow or disallow certain activities, rather than to play games with people and their livelihood.
Our current immigration system is passive aggressive. On the front we say we welcome legal immigration, but the ugliness of the process suggests that we have different goals. Immigration is deliberately underfunded, slow, difficult to navigate and inefficient. The truth is that some people don’t want immigrants and see them as a threat to our country. It is also true that politicians benefit from the partisan nature of the immigration issue. In Peter Schweizer’s book Extortion, he talks about the way long-standing issues like this are used to extract money from political doners. The system is broken because it is being led by fear and corruption. The disfunction is absurdly expensive both from a humanitarian and financial perspective.
It currently takes us about 4 years to process asylum seekers. What would happen if the system was properly funded and if it decided not to be slow? What would happen if we applied first principals? We could dramatically speed up the process. What if it took 4 days instead of 4 years for us to process asylum seekers? You wouldn’t need so many enormous detention facilities. Children could stay with their parents and be properly looked after. You wouldn’t need to bus people to sanctuary cities or give them hotel rooms. Our cost per applicant would drop dramatically. We currently force immigrants into a state of idleness and dependency. What if we got out of the way and let them get jobs and take care of themselves.
In the first chapter of most if not all, Economics’ 101 textbooks it says, “Increasing the number of workers within an economy improves the economy.” This concept is basic and broadly accepted. We shouldn’t be trying to stop immigrants from working in our country. Their work helps us. If we abruptly deported 11 million workers from our country it would create a terrible economic shock. Most of the United States is experiencing a labor shortage. Despite this it can take years for an employer to qualify for an immigrant labor permit. It wouldn’t be unusual for them to spend over ten thousand dollars in legal, advertising and governmental fees just to qualify for participation in the annual permit lottery. Even after this the number of permits is restricted and the employer still may not be able to legally hire and immigrant worker. Company’s turn down jobs and walk away from opportunities because they can’t find enough workers. Our cumbersome work permitting process is stifling growth.
Some worry that immigrants steal jobs from citizens. It’s true that it can be hard to find employment in certain cities and counties in our country. Rather than imposing broad national rules we should empower locally elected leaders. County level leadership could be given the ability to temporarily halt the hiring of new immigrant workers. These holds could be specific to certain industries like manufacturing, agriculture or construction. Also, in response to rising unemployment local leaders could be given authority too, raise and lower the employer paid NCWT, gradually encouraging or discouraging immigrant hiring. Finally, a part of NCWT funds could be set aside for areas with high unemployment. The money could be used to encourage companies to move to the area or lend to those looking to expand their business. By empowering local leaders, we are better able to nurture economic growth.
For too long immigrant workers have been treated as a threat, when in reality they are an asset. The Non-Citizen Worker Tax would allow the government to pay for needed immigration reforms and fund other activities that fund economic growth.