Analysis and Comments on the Comprehensive
Immigration Reform Bill SB744, proposed by the Gang of Eight
Debunking talking points and why SB744 must not be allowed to pass
- By Hal Netkin
IS OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM BROKEN?
Yes, but not because there are inherent flaws in the system. So how did our immigration system become broken -- who broke it?
It's a no-brainer: You don't have to be a genius to figure out that our presidents, past and present, our Washington law makers egged on by special interest groups, and open border lobbyists, broke our immigration system by not calling for the enforcement of our immigration laws. In fact, illegal aliens would not have the incentive to enter our country so easily without the help of our government.
HOW DOES THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HELP AND ENCOURAGE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION?
The Gang of Eight (hereafter referred to as the Gang) says that under SB744 legalized illegal immigrants (an oxymoron if I ever heard one) would not be eligible to receive federal benefits until all enforcement triggers are met. What they are not telling the public is that the states are and will be free to hand out their own benefits to whom ever they want and make their own policies towards illegal aliens. For example, in 2004, the Los Angeles mayor and city council created the Office of Immigrant Affairs. In council meetings, illegal "immigrants" were assured that their illegal status would not prevent them from receiving benefits. The city Office of Immigrant Affairs was created even though the county already has such an office. The city advertises benefits to illegal aliens with public outreach. In 1999, the citizens of Los Angeles were told when the new city charter was up for a vote, that the purpose of Neighborhood Councils as described in the charter was to promote more citizen participation in government and make government more responsive to local needs. There was no footnote asterisk in the sample ballot that said "by citizen, we mean that absolutely anyone living in the community is a citizen." In 2003, I received this response to my email to the city attorney. (Never mind illegal aliens -- how about registered felon sex offenders. In October, 2003, I received this response to my email to the city attorney.)
The feds help illegal aliens by looking the other way when it comes to simple enforcement. For example, the IRS does not report tax fraud by illegal aliens while vigorously enforcing tax laws against Americans. See also this video.
WHAT IS FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG WITH THE SENATE'S "COMPREHENSIVE" IMMIGRATION REFORM?
The Gang wants legalization of an estimated 11 million illegal aliens with the "promise" that the border will be made secure to prevent another future cycle of millions more illegal entries. If Arizona's SB1070 experience has taught us anything, it's that any new enforcement measure will be tied up in the courts for years. The amnesty part of the deal would be implemented immediately, while the promised enforcement would languish in the courts and might never survive.
BUT DOESN'T SB744 FIX THE PROBLEMS BY LEARNING FROM THE FIRST 1986 AMNESTY?
The Gang says that SB744 is not an amnesty because those illegal aliens who snuck into the U.S. or overstayed their visas before 2012 will have to pay a fine, learn English, pay back taxes, and get into the "back of the line" (my sister-in-law who has been waiting in Mexico for 13 years for her visa to legally immigrate to America, is considering sneaking over the border to get into the back of the Gang's line, paying a fine, and learning English (she has no back taxes to pay).
LET'S EXAMINE SB744's CONDITIONS THAT MUST BE MET BY ILLEGAL ALIENS TO BE LEGALIZED
NOT AMNESTY: No matter how the Gang spins the words, their plan is amnesty. If illegal aliens are rewarded by allowing them to escape penalties prescribed by the law and giving them precisely what they broke the law to obtain, that's amnesty! The law does not allow the law's prescribed penalty to be changed to a fine.
WHAT DOES GOING TO THE END OF THE LINE MEAN? I'm having trouble figuring out how illegal aliens would go to the end of the line. Let's take illegal aliens from Mexico. Wouldn't the end of the line be in Mexico. Apparently, the Gang is talking about waiting in the back of the line to become citizens. The truth is that citizenship for those here illegally really isn't high on their priority list -- living and working legally is their dream -- not citizenship. Let's be honest, Democrats want a path to citizenship for eleven million legalized illegal aliens and the relatives they will eventually bring to the U.S. to make the Democrat party a majority party -- even if it takes 13 years. As in California, no Republican in the U.S. will stand a chance of being elected. America will virtually become a one party country strongly influenced by Mexico.
PAYING A FINE: All those suckers who are playing by the rules waiting at the end of the line in Mexico and other countries would be happy to pay a fine to be legally admitted to the U.S. But based on passed history, it's a good bet that fines will be waived or ignored. In 2001, my brother-in-law who was illegally in the U.S., was eligible for a temporary 245 (i) provision. To qualify, a fine of $1.500 would have had to have been paid. It has been over 12 years and no one from ICE has yet to ask for payment of the fine.
PAYING BACK TAXES: I know from experience how that works. After I petitioned for my wife who had worked in the U.S. illegally, she received a form that asked her to estimate her total income over the period she had been receiving pay under the table. She estimated that she owed the IRS $1,500. It's been 24 years since she filled out that estimated tax form and no one from the IRS has ever asked for the money.
LEARNING ENGLISH: That's a nice goal, but the Gang's SB744 does not say what the consequences would be if a legalized alien failed to learn English. You can bet that this provision would not be enforced.
UNINTENDED (or maybe not unintended) CONSEQUENCE OF OBAMA CARE:
Since the Gang's immigration proposal doesn't allow legalized illegal aliens to receive federal benefits, they would be exempt from Obama Care's individual mandate that employers would have to pay. For example, let's say that Acme Manufacturing has sixty employees that would have to be covered by Obama Care's mandate to pay $5,000 to cover the cost of health care for each of the legal workers. That's 60 X $5,000 = $300,000. By firing the 60 legal American and permanent resident workers and replacing them with legalized amnesty workers, Acme saves $300,000. Obama Care virtually encourages employers to replace their legal workers with legalized amnesty workers
FEDS: A HISTORY OF BROKEN PROMISES: From the Center for Immigration Studies
Breaking promises is one thing. But how about ignoring existing immigration law. The Gang says that illegal immigrants must come out of the shadows so that we know who they are and where to find them. To prove that this promise will never be kept, we only have to look at existing requirements for legal permanent immigrants. Existing law requires that non-citizen permanent residents (green card holders) are required to report change of address within 10 days of moving. See the USCIS regulation here. This regulation is totally ignored by green card holders and the USCIS does not enforce the regulation. Given this information, do you believe that the Feds will keep track of all the newly legalized aliens?
WATCH THIS VIDEO: Huckabee interviews film maker, Lynch, July 6, 2013
TRUST BUT VERIFY:
The majority Republican House of Representatives opposes SB744 for good reason. As mentioned, SB744 immediately legalizes illegal aliens but only promises to secure the border, albeit (former) head of the Dept of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and President Obama claim that the border is as secure as it ever has been. Remember the promised double layer fence? History shows that promises of border security are just empty words.
The Gang says that our present immigration system is in a crisis mode and that it must be immediately fixed with SB744 "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" to get 11 million illegal immigrants out of the shadows. At the same time, the Gang says that all those living illegally in the U.S. amounts to a de facto amnesty. If that is so, there is no crisis.
THE HOUSE BILL SHOULD REQUIRE ENFORCEMENT FIRST
Without a crisis, there is no reason that all the security measures - border security, visa tracking, work enforcement - be put in place and certified before dealing with 11 million illegal aliens.
This letter from Mark A. Mendlovitz, Ph.D. to national talk show host Michael S. Medved
written in 2006 regarding the then proposed senate bill, applies perfectly to the current Senate bill SB744. Read it here.
