When I looked at the insane spending bill created by Congress I couldn’t help but be perplexed at the sum they added to the bequest of the White House for mass deportation. 

Now before we get to that number, let us remember that everyone from Reagan through Trump had ample opportunity to show leadership and creativity in dealing pragmatically with immigration. 

Since 1986, Congress has failed to create legislation in coordination with the White House that could have curtailed the problems we face today. Over this period many of those elected to Congress had great ideas on how to create a mechanism for people who wished to legally immigrate to this nation. Still, thanks to partisan bickering they were never able to find a consensus, let alone compromise which would have potentially created a law avoiding today's immigration issues. 

Let’s face it, many people leaving their entire lives behind actually don’t want to come here, they would love to stay in their countries. But due to crime, corruption, and despot leadership, they make the long hard journey to our nation which has always taken in the tired, poor and the huddled masses as a nation made great by its immigrants. 

Today, illegal immigrants add about $95B to the local, state, and federal tax coffers, and it is estimated if we authorize work permits it might increase by another $40-45B per year. 

These people aren’t criminals. However, those who come to this country illegally and commit crimes should be arrested and deported immediately. I agree fully with President Trump that we must purge the criminals without hesitation. 

But what about those who integrate into our communities, work hard, and have children who are protected by the 14th Amendment; don’t they deserve a pathway to citizenship? 

In my opinion, they most certainly do, for at one time someone in our distant past decided to seek a better life in a land far away, following a pathway to citizenship. When they took that oath to become a citizen, they became part of the greatest nation in the world legally and free to pursue their dreams of a better life. 

Now here it is…$300B has been requested to seize and deport them, a mass deportation of millions that will be split between the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defence, and several other agencies. Are we seriously going to spend hundreds of billions to create a stain on this nation’s history by deporting them??? 

That’s (Expletive deleted) INSANE!

President Trump respectfully took it upon himself to use immigration fears as a tool for the campaign knocking down the first bi-partisan bill in decades and now wants to spend $300B to do the job. 

Anyone who votes for this Bill in Congress is fiscally irresponsible, especially considering from 2003 to 2024 this nation spent about $410B on Immigration Enforcement which hasn’t worked. It mirrors the futile war on drugs which has also failed. 

There's a simple solution: create the American Immigration Act (AIA), a bi-partisan immigration bill with President Trump signing it into law. The AIA would be a multi-step pathway for legal immigration with a 10-year probationary period per applicant allowing for thorough background checks, education, and acclimation to our Constitutional Republic. Furthermore, in my plan, the AIA denies citizenship to anyone who comes here illegally or has committed any criminal actions; no exceptions. 

Let’s keep this nation great and save $300B, as we all know billions of this insane legislation will vanish into the hands of those who use our nation's fiscally irresponsible bloated bureaucracy to line their pockets. They are the criminals we should deport and send anyone from Congress who is incapable of seeing this insanity along too. 

Ned Sader has more than two decades of public affairs experience working for corporations and nonprofits, with a specialty in the development of public/private partnerships. He has served on numerous regional boards and is a lifelong resident of Wayne County, PA.  You can find more of his writing here.