In a frankly remarkable interview with “60 Minutes” Sunday evening, President Trump volunteered to Ross Douthat that he was open to a deal with Democrats on immigration, and that perhaps his administration’s deportation efforts had been too aggressive and had possibly hurt Republicans in the midterm election.
Apparently, midterm wipeouts have a way of focusing the mind. Sending untrained, unvetted agents into Hispanic neighborhoods, running people over with armored vehicles, shooting people (here and here and here), harassing and detaining American citizens, and defying court orders to illegally deport people doesn’t encourage those communities to vote for you.
All of this was completely predictable. In fact, we did predict it.
So, having learned the hard way how not to deal with immigration, what might be some elements of an immigration deal that conservatives could support?
Glad you asked.
Back in August 2016, IPI published a paper called “Elements of a 21st Century Pro-Growth Immigration System.” The major proposals were:
- A biometric entry and exit system, with monthly monitoring. All noncitizens entering the country would be biometrically identified upon entry and exit and would be required to check in monthly through a simple fingerprint scan.
- A Guest Worker Tax, which would be a new payroll tax paid by noncitizen workers and their employers. We suggested two percentage points, which could raise upward of $30 billion annually to pay for our immigration system.
- An auction system for H-1B visas, which would create a market-clearing price for skilled immigrant workers and thus truly reveal whether American employers were having trouble finding qualified American workers, or whether they simply wanted to replace American workers with cheaper foreign workers.
- Selective visas for those holding advanced degrees and for those with capital to invest.
- A registration system with an ascending fine for those here illegally. Those here illegally would be given a 12-month period in which to register and pay a fine. The fine could begin at, say, $1,000 but increase every month by $250. Registration would convey legal status (not citizenship) and obligate payment of the Guest Worker Tax (above).
We stand behind these proposals, which are more needed than ever.
A very constructive outcome from the midterm Republican disaster and divided government could be bipartisan deals to solve major policy problems like our broken immigration system.
Those who profit from the anger and who benefit from the dysfunction will oppose any deal. They already have. But those who helped cause the 2026 Republican midterm disaster should be ignored. They’re losers. Literally.