Letter: Plan needed to phase out illegal immigration

Friday, March 31, 2006 | 7:09 a.m.

I totally agree with the House position on immigration.

The House is absolutely correct when it says the No. 1 way to control illegal immigration is to go after the employer. It must be hard when businesses must wean themselves from an illegal activity that they fostered over an extended time period in order to profit at the expense of all American citizens.

This was and still is a stealth tax that we now must bear for some time to come. If we must have an expanded "guest worker" program, then the employers should, under government oversight, be the designated gatekeepers. They would agree to formally sponsor the guest worker, pay a living wage, provide full hospital benefits, Social Security and Medicare if applicable, plus contribute to the local school system.

Under no circumstance should the guest worker be allowed to remain more than two years without employer justification and a formal renewal of the guest worker's privileges.

Just say no to a six-year guest worker program. We have many millions of American citizens, the working class poor, who need our assistance for better jobs, wages and health care. Why should we dilute their wage and their assistance so that some businesses can profit at the expense of all American taxpayers?

Business wants to profit but then pass all the socioeconomic cost on to the ordinary citizen. Baloney! I'll pay that extra 10 cents for an orange or 20 cents more for a hamburger, but then it becomes my choice. If those that hire illegals can't survive any other way, so be it.

Americans will either do without, legally import the good or service, or that industry will mechanize what was manual labor. We need a plan to phase out our dependence on illegal workers, and it isn't six years and a path to citizenship.

Richard Rychtarik, Las Vegas