The Liberal Capitalist Immigration Solution: Part One

There is no law saying that by permitting foreign nationals to live amongst us and work, we have to put them on the track to permanent residency and citizenship. And if I'm wrong and there is such a law, well, we can change it. One of the reasons that so many Mexicans are willing to come here illegally is because they have no intention of ever becoming American citizens; the ones that want to become citizens are the ones waiting in the decades-long lines to get here legally.

So the first step the US has to take is to separate, both conceptually and legally, work visas from the process of becoming a US citizen. It is in our best interest to allow the former unfettered and slow-walk the latter. Congress should create a work visa that lasts, say, two years—a "W" visa, with "W" being for "work." There should be no restrictive quotas or conditions on a W visa; instead they should be restricted only by charging a price for them. This price should fluctuate based on the "market." We should charge as high a price as possible, but not so high that most Mexican workers decide that it's more cost-affective to enter and work in the US illegally. A good starting point would be to find out how much the coyotes charge and charge half of that figure (remember, the idea isn't to compete with them but to put them out of business). The last I saw, they were charging $1000-1500 per head.

But even though W visas should be easily renewable for an additional price every two years into perpetuity, purchasing them and living and working in the US under their auspices shouldn't entitle the foreign worker to citizen track status—or any other status for that matter, other than "W."