Re Juan Mann’s article on HR 3333 [Impeach Bush—And/Or Abolish The EOIR?]

I’d considered writing about this bill-and I honestly think in many ways Juan Mann did a better job than I would have.

However, I think Juan missed how small the proposed fines in HR 3333 are relative to what might be effective.

Right now, fines for employment of illegal aliens are around $10,000 per violation. HR 3333 roughly doubles that amount. However if we look at the price families in India are willing to pay for US citizenship for their grandchildren via the dowry market, that price is roughtly $50,000 for a 50% chance at a green card via and H-1b visa-or roughly $100,000 per green card.

For a fine to be an effective deterrent, the effective penalty times the probability of getting caught must exceed the potential benefit. Even under much improved enforcement, we probably won’t see more than a third of all employers that violate immigration regulations fined. That means that for each violation, we need to collect at least $300,000–on the average.

However, many of those collections would bankrupt smaller employers and contractors that simply don’t have that level of assets. We need additional criminal penalties for the employers (particularly those that are de facto accomplices for various crimes like murder)–and ways to attached the assets of people that indirectly finance illegal immigration(i.e. providing a mortgage to an employer that hires illegal aliens).

That most likely means a fine of at least $500,000 per violation for the larger employers–plus criminal penalties. These funds could be used to cover the various health and insurance costs associated with illegal immigration-as well as a jobs and infrastructure program for Latin American that would decrease the need for emmigrate.