Originally posted by: LiveFreeNW
I generally agree. But the other side of that is don't make that "line" too difficult to get into. Make sure that line is open to anyone who is willing to be fingerprinted, documented, and generally able to support themselves.
We admit tourists for six months at a time, and issue visas based on passport info. We don't verify if they "can support themselves." That would be kind of difficult to prove.
The visa that migrants get could be a work visa/permit, but we should admit people who have valid ID and/or a passport without requiring them to prove that they will be working. Again, we don't require that of other "categories" of visitors.
We also don't fingerprint other types of visitors, so I don't see why we should require that of migrant workers.
Perhaps the best way to do things would be to require ID and a passport. We could also make it possible to obtain a work visa if an entrant lacked a passport. The only trouble with that is that often, a migrant worker doesn't know where or for whom he's working until he gets there, so the permit would have to be general, not specific.