BOB HOPKINS

Perspective

Illegal aliens are coming to our country in large numbers and there are good reasons for it. Within our borders there are an abundance of jobs and opportunities available in few other places in the world. Our decidedly capitalist system has proven to work and thus has provided an exceptionally good lifestyle for immigrants for over 200 years.

The reason for the increase in illegal aliens is also closely related to our southern neighbors, where the standard of living simply is not what it is here. It would simply defy human nature for people not to want a better, if not admittedly more complicated life, by moving from poverty to a potentially better status in life. Remember Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims.

The most important factor in improving one's lot in life simply depends on employment, and that is the crux of the issue.

It would behoove us as a nation to look critically at the nature of the jobs that attract people to move here. Those jobs are almost always in lower-paying unskilled or semiskilled positions with corresponding benefits.

Through the last century we have created millions of these jobs while we have systematically removed some of our own citizens from this labor pool. Perhaps you have guessed who these people are. They are our own children! Now I've said it, and I am sure that the first reaction of most people would be one of horror. After all, we spent a hundred years getting rid of the child-labor sweatshops, and we must therefore be better off and certainly be considered "more civilized." Are we?

It is no secret that in our society our children are treated with kid gloves, and perhaps it is to their detriment not to have certain responsibilities, including participating in a good education along with other duties required for having a successful life. While this is a huge generalization and therefore prone to a corresponding number of exceptions, the trend for children to have less and less significant responsibility is easy to observe. Children of today have more free time than ever before, and in many cases that free time is spent in decidedly unproductive or, worse, destructive pursuits.

We need to think inside the box (our borders) and discover ways to allow our children to be employed. Laws governing child labor need to be changed to encourage their employment and provide incentive for employers to hire from this labor pool in preference to illegals.

This could be done by a Youth Employment Service Corps. Under this scenario, a YES Corps employee would be of school age and currently enrolled in school or college. When the student is hired they would simply check the YES Corps box on the IRS W4 form and go to work.

The incentive for the student would be that federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare taxes would be deposited in a Roth IRA. Under Roth IRA rules, the investment grows tax-free and remains available for education, first home purchase or an early start for a retirement nest egg. The employer's incentive would be that they would not be required to contribute their 7.65 percent share for Social Security and Medicare taxes but may, at their option, match part or all of the student's Roth IRA contribution.

Under the YES Corps there is no significant income change for the government programs, and employers would strongly favor student employment since it would save them 7.65 percent in direct labor costs.

Bob Hopkins is a retired engineer who has lived in Casper for the past 35 years.