The Immigration Reform Act Of 2007. Belch.
The bipartisan immigration “reform” legislation pushed by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and Jon Kyl and others, applauded by Michael Chertoff, the secretary of Homeland Security, and Carlos Gutierrez, the secretary of Commerce, is an amnesty disaster in the making.
What is a good definition of amnesty? Pardoning lawbreakers for their offense and rewarding them with the object of their intention.
If you let an illegal alien remain in this country, that is amnesty. If you let an illegal alien keep the American job he came here to steal, that is amnesty. If you make an illegal alien eligible for government programs and benefits, that is amnesty. If you let an illegal alien engage in his own “chain migration,” that is amnesty.
It’s a disaster for national security, for keeping Islamist jihadists out of the country, for exploding the costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, for preserving the rule of law, and for that quaint principle called national sovereignty.
Delegates to the Georgia Republican convention unleashed a rare chorus of boos and hisses at U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss on Saturday, as he spoke up for a bipartisan immigration reform package unveiled in Washington last week.
The crowd at South Carolina’s Republican convention cheered Saturday when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney criticized a new immigration proposal and booed U.S. Sen Lindsey Graham when he defended it. They cheered as presidential candidate Romney told them: “One simple rule: No amnesty.” And the crowd booed Graham, R-S.C., when he said he had worked with U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., on the immigration legislation.
Fewer than 20 senators are publicly committed to supporting the immigration deal that hits the Senate floor today while nearly 40 are already opposed or have serious concerns, underscoring how difficult it will be for President Bush and his allies to craft a coalition that can pass the bill. “I did not agree to any immigration deal and was not part of the negotiations,” said Sen. Jim Bunning, Kentucky Republican and a likely opponent. “From what I have heard about the bill, it gives amnesty to the estimated 12.5 million illegal immigrants in this country.”
From the details that have leaked out thus far, the legislation, which provides amnesty for nearly all of the 12 million (or maybe even 20 million) illegal aliens already here, would swell the size of the welfare state in a way we haven’t seen since Lyndon Johnson imposed his Great Society on us four decades ago. Won’t that just be peachy keen?
From the Washington Times:
It’s a disaster for national security, for keeping Islamist jihadists out of the country, for exploding the costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, for preserving the rule of law, and for that quaint principle called national sovereignty. From the details that have leaked out thus far, the legislation, which provides amnesty for nearly all of the 12 million (or maybe even 20 million) illegal aliens already here, would swell the size of the welfare state in a way we haven’t seen since Lyndon Johnson imposed his Great Society on us four decades ago. Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Alabama Republican who is likely to lead the fight to save the nation from this disaster, and Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation will reveal at a press conference this morning the details of just how expensive it will be. We’re talking trillions of dollars — that’s not millions or even billions — over the next several decades.
From the Opinion Journal:
America needs comprehensive immigration reform, but not a law enacted in haste.
Why the rush? Because, to be blunt, the senators don’t trust the American people to make sound judgments on such emotional issues as family reunification and national sovereignty. But the proper response to this is to engage the public in the discussion, not to short-circuit the deliberative process. One of the reasons the American people are cynical about government is that they don’t believe its officials take the time to discharge their duties properly. Now a 1,000 page immigration bill is being put before senators for a vote without anyone having the time to study its details. Many will merely be leaning on talking points prepared by their staff.
It’s too difficult to enforce the immigration laws already on the books, so we’ll just legalize illegal immigration.
It’s too difficult to make sure the little darlings pay the taxes they’ve been refusing to pay, so we’ll just legalize tax evasion. But only if you’re an illegal alien.
Huh?
Says Hugh Hewitt:
There are so many problems with this bill that it should not be introduced in the Senate absent a period of open hearings on it and the solicitation of expert opinion from various analysts across the ideological spectrum. Even were it somehow to improbably make its way to the president’s desk, if it does so before these problems are aired and confronted, the Congress would be inviting a monumental distrust of the institution. There is simply too much here to say “Trust us,” and move on. The jam down of such a far reaching measure, drafted in secret and very difficult for laymen much less lawyers to read, is fundamentally inconsistent with how we govern ourselves.
I work my butt off for medical insurance and these trespassers now get free medical just for showing up.
I work my butt off for public education and these trespassers now get free public education just for showing up.
Besides being a magnet for more illegal immigration and a huge invitation for fraud and abuse, this amnesty should be avoided at all costs. It’s a slap in the face to all immigrants who followed the law. We should try something different before retracing the 1986 mistake.
Americans who care about the future of this nation should watch Washington closely these next few weeks. The White House and Senate are intent on giving away the store on immigration. These politicians are about to make a bad problem much, much worse.
Says Mike Vanderboegh:
We are at a crossroads in our history. No one can deny it. If this amnesty passes into law, everything after it will be changed in ways that are surely as preventable as they are foreseeable. The Mandarin class of our “betters” has decided they no longer need to listen to us. How then shall we get their attention? What will it take to change the disastrous future they seek to write for us?
To my American brothers and sisters of all races, religions and creeds, who believe as I do — to those who believe not in the false collectivist promises of those who would rule us, but in the individual liberty and prosperity of the shining city on a hill that was and is the promise of the Founder’s Republic.
“If this be treason, then make the most of it!”
Immigration Reform Act, amnesty, illegal alien
