By Annette Santos
The Venture
HOUSTON — Roland Hernandez is your average working-class American. He works full time, six days a week, sometimes up to 12 hours a day.
As a repair man, he is comfortable speaking to people of all educational backgrounds and has traveled through several Houston neighborhoods — the rich, the poor and those in between.
It was in through his line of work that he discovered a need for social change. Through conversations with disabled war veterans and the elderly, he came up with an idea to save social security and better assist returning veterans, something he says Republicans would favor.
“The problem is the federal government is broke,” said Hernandez. “There is no money, so I found a solution.”
An immigration reform is the solution, he said.
“I created an immigration reform bill that is going to create a lot of money for the nation, so much money that we can help provide for the needs of the elderly and disabled war veterans,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez plans to ask Congress for a one-year grace period where immigrants will be granted a temporary work visa. The revenue will come straight from the work visas, which is a selling point for both major political parties.
“It’s not going to come out of the federal government’s pocket; it’s not going to come out of the tax payers’ pocket; the immigrant is going to pay for it,” he said.
Local state governments, he said, would benefit with creation of new jobs, if such visa were every allowed for temporary citizenship. The economy would experience a boost and perhaps raise enough money to pay for the national debt, he said.
The pricing of the work visas, according to Hernandez, would depend on age and marital status. He said buying work visas are a safer alternative to “coyotes,” smugglers who warrant no guarantees. His focus is to inform the public of his idea. He says the only way to pass his proposal would be by unifying supporters.
To unite Americans politically, Hernandez is …
Finish reading Citizen introduces immigration reform
