Tuesday, January 29th, 2013 and is filed under Blog, Immigration
There is something Orwellian about the spectacle of a Senator who employed an illegal immigrant sex-offender unveiling an “immigration reform” proposal. In addition to Bob Menendez’s presence at the press conference yesterday, the competition over who could speak more Spanish, along with McCain’s passionate assertion that this proposal is virtually the same as the Kennedy plan, made this spectacle a full-court circus. It was even more absurd to watch McCain sell this proposal as a way of winning elections for Republicans, as Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin smirked behind him.
In terms of substance, here are some points to consider:
Moreover, were we to implement some sort of amnesty in return for enforcement, we can never do so while Obama is president. He has granted defacto amnesty while amnesty was illegal; why in the world would he follow the few limitations on amnesty in an amnesty bill? He has vitiated the 287(g) program and sued states that upheld the federal laws; we are supposed to believe that he will uphold the new laws once he gets his candy? Remember, the Supreme Court largely upheld Obama’s lawlessness.
Ultimately, this proposal does nothing to give us confidence that we won’t repeat the mistakes of 1986. Amnesties ultimately invalidate any legal immigration process. Marco Rubio rightfully said the following during a debate with Charlie Crist in 2010:
As far as amnesty, that’s where the governor and I disagree. He would have voted for the McCain plan. I think that plan is wrong, and the reason why I think it’s wrong is that if you grant amnesty, as the governor proposes that we do, in any form, whether it’s back of the line or so forth, you will destroy any chance we will ever have of having a legal immigration system that works here in America.
With John McCain affirming that this is ostensibly the same proposal, I would hope that Senator Rubio heeds his own warning. His 2010 warning was prescient. The only way such a proposal could work is if enforcement is decoupled from amnesty, and implemented first. Only after several years of implementation, in which we could ensure that the executive is enforcing the laws, that the laws are working, and that the courts don’t void the laws, can we discuss amnesty. Otherwise, we’re headed to the path of amnesty now; enforcement never.
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