1 00:00:02,260 --> 00:00:09,320 Every sensible immigration policy has two objectives: 1) to regain control of our borders 2 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:16,219 so that we decide who enters; and 2) to find a humane way to deal with the 11 million illegal 3 00:00:16,220 --> 00:00:19,580 immigrants who now live among us. 4 00:00:19,580 --> 00:00:21,700 Start with the second. 5 00:00:21,700 --> 00:00:29,260 For both practical and moral reasons, America cannot and will not and should not expel 6 00:00:29,260 --> 00:00:31,020 11 million people. 7 00:00:31,020 --> 00:00:36,780 That leaves us with two choices: ignore them or figure out a way to legalize them. 8 00:00:36,780 --> 00:00:38,920 Ignoring them hasn’t worked. 9 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:44,680 But there is also a huge problem with legalization: it creates an irresistible incentive 10 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,260 for new illegal immigrants to come. 11 00:00:47,260 --> 00:00:52,240 We say, of course, that this will be the very last, very final, never-again, 12 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:54,600 we're-not-kidding-this-time amnesty. 13 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:56,760 And everyone knows it's phony. 14 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:02,880 That’s what was said in 1986, when we passed the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration reform. 15 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:09,140 It turned out to be the largest legalization program in American history -- nearly 3 million 16 00:01:09,140 --> 00:01:11,560 people got permanent residency. 17 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,060 There was no enforcement. 18 00:01:14,060 --> 00:01:18,460 We now have 11 million new illegal immigrants in our midst. 19 00:01:18,460 --> 00:01:25,020 The irony of this whole debate, which bitterly splits the country, is that there is a silver bullet 20 00:01:25,020 --> 00:01:30,780 that would not just solve the problem, but also create a national consensus behind it. 21 00:01:30,780 --> 00:01:38,040 A vast number of Americans who oppose legalization and fear new waves of immigration would change 22 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:45,480 their minds if we could radically reduce new -- i.e., future -- illegal immigration. 23 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:47,360 And we can. 24 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,940 First, build a barrier. 25 00:01:49,980 --> 00:01:53,760 Call it a wall. Call it a fence. Call it what you will. 26 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,880 Add cameras and sensors. Add drones. Beef up the patrols. 27 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:02,700 All that matters is that we regain control of the border. 28 00:02:02,700 --> 00:02:04,620 Fences work. 29 00:02:04,620 --> 00:02:11,080 The triple fence outside San Diego led to a 90 percent reduction in infiltration. 30 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:16,020 Israel’s border fence with the West Bank produced a similar decline. 31 00:02:16,020 --> 00:02:23,200 Even holier-than-thou Europeans have conceded the point: Hungary, Macedonia, Bulgaria, 32 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:29,669 Austria, Greece, Spain – why, even Norway — have all started building border fences to stem 33 00:02:29,669 --> 00:02:33,740 the tide of Middle Eastern refugees. 34 00:02:33,740 --> 00:02:41,520 Then enforce two other measures: a national E-Verify system that makes it just about impossible 35 00:02:41,529 --> 00:02:49,290 to work if you are here illegally, and a functioning visa tracking system, since 40% of illegal 36 00:02:49,290 --> 00:02:52,590 immigrants are visa overstays. 37 00:02:52,590 --> 00:02:56,080 The wall/fence will, of course, be ugly. 38 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:02,120 So are the concrete barriers to keep truck bombs from driving into the White House. 39 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,180 Sometimes function has to supersede form. 40 00:03:06,180 --> 00:03:08,900 And don't tell me that this is our Berlin Wall. 41 00:03:08,900 --> 00:03:12,860 When you build a wall to keep people in, that's a prison. 42 00:03:12,870 --> 00:03:17,989 When you build a wall to keep people out, that's an expression of sovereignty. 43 00:03:17,989 --> 00:03:20,819 Of course, no barrier will be foolproof. 44 00:03:20,819 --> 00:03:22,620 But it doesn't have to be. 45 00:03:22,620 --> 00:03:26,870 It simply has to reduce the river to a manageable trickle. 46 00:03:26,870 --> 00:03:34,220 Once we do, everything becomes possible – including dealing with our 11 million illegal immigrants. 47 00:03:34,220 --> 00:03:36,260 So, let’s fix that. 48 00:03:36,260 --> 00:03:40,400 Track the visas, do E-Verify, build the damn barrier. 49 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,340 It’s ridiculous to say that it can’t be done. 50 00:03:43,340 --> 00:03:46,780 And who would certify that the border is back in our control? 51 00:03:46,780 --> 00:03:52,580 I would have a neutral party, perhaps a commission of retired jurists, issue the judgment. 52 00:03:52,580 --> 00:03:59,800 Once they do, we legalize the 11 million, granting them the right to stay and work here. 53 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:01,860 We can’t give them citizenship. 54 00:04:01,860 --> 00:04:03,960 That’s a bridge too far. 55 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:09,459 You don’t get to join the political destiny of the country by entering it illegally. 56 00:04:09,460 --> 00:04:14,020 But any children born here would be American – which means that over time 57 00:04:14,020 --> 00:04:16,579 the issue resolves itself. 58 00:04:16,580 --> 00:04:22,420 The American people are legitimately angry at the price American society has paid 59 00:04:22,420 --> 00:04:24,360 due to illegal immigration. 60 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:26,960 But they are also a generous people. 61 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:32,600 Once they are assured that we do indeed control our borders, that anger will abate. 62 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,180 A national consensus will emerge. 63 00:04:35,180 --> 00:04:39,920 Radical border control, followed by radical legalization. 64 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:41,979 No mushy compromise. 65 00:04:41,980 --> 00:04:50,400 A solution requires two acts of national will: putting up a wall (along with E-Verify and visa tracking) 66 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:55,000 and absorbing those who broke our laws to come to America. 67 00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:00,160 This is not a compromise meant to appease both sides without achieving anything. 68 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:06,080 It’s not some piece of hybrid legislation that arbitrarily divides illegals into those 69 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:11,060 with five-year-old "roots" in America and those without – or some such 70 00:05:11,060 --> 00:05:13,160 mischief-making nonsense. 71 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:20,520 If we do it right, not only will we solve the problem, we will get it done as one nation. 72 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:24,460 I’m Charles Krauthammer for Prager University.