It’s ironic that airline passengers must produce passports, visas and picture IDs, have their luggage checked and clothing sniffed for explosives before entering the United States. Meanwhile, in Texas border towns, swarms of illegal aliens simply jump a fence or run through border crossing stations before blending into the U.S. population.

Estimates vary, but there are about 11 million people in the United States working illegally and enforcement of U.S. immigration laws is spotty at best.

This is unfair to U.S. workers because it depresses wage rates for workers at the bottom of the scale, but it’s even more unfair to the millions of people around the world who go through the process of immigrating legally to the U.S.

We don’t see the bill approved Monday by the U.S. Senate solving the problem. It would provide a process for people who have already broken U.S. laws to become citizens. But it would do little to stop others from ignoring that process, crossing the border and working illegally.

National ID card would provide measure of control

Building higher fences and hiring more border guards is a waste of money unless we are willing to actively enforce our existing immigration laws. This is a problem that must be tackled on the demand and supply side of the equation.

As long as U.S. employers are willing and able to hire illegal workers with impunity, illegal immigrants will find a way into the U.S.

Part of the solution would be a national ID card. Yes, this is controversial, but it shouldn’t be, and the benefits are immense, not just in getting control of our borders but in helping to prevent terrorism.

The card would feature a photo, a number and an easily scannable bar code. Employers would be required to check the card before hiring anyone for a job, perhaps in the same way that merchants use credit card scanners for purchases.

Penalties for hiring workers without a card would be severe, perhaps $10,000 for the first violation and $20,000 for the second. Collect a few of those fines and the flood of illegal immigrants across our borders would slow to a trickle.

That doesn’t, of course, mean that we do not need or want immigrants and temporary workers in the U.S.

We do, particularly in agriculture. If an employer can demonstrate that U.S. workers are unavailable or unable to do a job, we could have a much more orderly system of guest workers. At the end of a three- or five-year period, these people would return to their home country for at least a year.