Christie offers immigration plan

Republican candidate addresses the growing problem of illegal immigrants

With immigration a key topic in the race to 2016, many candidates have come out with strong statements on this issue. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has done just this, finding himself in the middle of heated partisan debate.

Christie recently proposed that immigrants coming into the U.S. should be tracked while they are in the country if they come in using visas. He described his proposition as a system similar to the one FedEx uses, according to NJ.com.

This proposed system, however bizarre it may sound, does make a valid point about our country’s concern about immigration, even though implementation may be difficult considering people are not packages. While in New Hampshire on a campaign stop, Christie spoke about this proposal to a crowd.

“We let people come to this country with visas, and the minute they come in, we lose track of them,” Christie said.

According to Reuters, Christie went on to say that about 40 percent of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country are people who came to the U.S. on a visa and simply stayed here once it expired.

Christie then explained FedEx’s system and why it would be a valuable way to track immigrants in the U.S.

“At any moment, FedEx can tell you where that package is,” Christie said according to The New York Times. “It’s on the truck. It’s at the station. It’s on the airplane. We need to have a system that tracks you from the moment you come in.”

While this system may seem practical when discussed, Christie will find that people are much more difficult to keep track of than packages. According to FedEx, the company uses one of the world’s largest computer and telecommunications networks to track their packages.

Every step of the delivery process is monitored by the Customer Operations Service Master On-line System. Staff use handheld computers to check the packages as they meet checkpoints. A package is also scanned approximately five times from its time of pick-up to its time of delivery, according to FedEx.

This system is complicated enough using inanimate objects, and packages still get lost along the way. While in theory this system seems to make perfect sense, Christie will find that actually implementing the plan will be much more difficult than it appears.

People can move freely about and do not have barcodes printed on their skin to be scanned at every state line. People can also hide from police and the government. Some Americans do this every day, and the government knows much more information about them than they would an immigrant.

This controversial proposal has led to much backlash for Christie, forcing him to clarify many of his statements on the subject.

“What I was talking about was using that as an example,” said Christie at a New Hampshire town hall. “If Federal Express can tell you where your package is from the minute it leaves your house to the minute it gets to its destination, the technology exists for us to be able to keep track of people who are coming here on visas.”

Christie has also elaborated on his plan since its initial introduction.

“This is not treating people like packages,” said Christie according to the Huffington Post. “I’m not saying put barcodes on people ­— that is ridiculous. But we need to use technology in order to be able to secure the border.”

While I do not yet see how this plan will be a functional way of keeping track of immigrants in the country, I can appreciate Christie’s fervor to find a new way to secure our borders and inform the American people of other areas in our security that need improvement other than just our southern border. He gets points for creativity, though the plan itself is flawed.

As a proud New Jerseyan I feel a need to support my governor in his quest for the presidency and to improve our way of handling immigrants, but I simply cannot get behind this idea. People are nothing like packages and FedEx is not the answer.

Stefanick is an opinion writer.