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Thursday, February 04, 2010

Gary Bauer Is for Amnesty? [Mark Krikorian]

Gary Bauer has a piece in Politico that starts out sensibly enough, outlining the problems with the push for amnesty. He discusses the grassroots backlash it would engender, as well as the harmful effects on the wages of less-skilled Americans and on the welfare system.

Then this:

If Democrats are serious about reforming immigration, they should propose legislation that strengthens border security and cracks down on illegal hiring. A viable bill would also focus on promoting legal entry of highly skilled workers, who would be strong contributors to the government’s finances. It would also create a system of legalization that’s conditioned on verifiable reductions in the levels of illegal migration. [my emphasis]
Wait — what? "A system of legalization"? So he subscribes to the McCain/Bush position that "amnesty" is different from "legalization." And the "verifiable reductions in the levels of illegal immigration" doesn't mean anything — so long as the amnesty is in the same bill as the enforcement measures, there's literally no way to avoid the same old bait-and-switch. The unholy trinity of the Chamber of Commerce, AFL-CIO, and ACLU will join forces to use the courts (as they have already) to obstruct enforcement, while political appointees in the administration will ensure that the right things are "verified," thus triggering the amnesty.

The only way this can work is if the enforcement happens first, without preconditions or linkages, and only after the public is satisified with the "verifiable reductions in the levels of illegal immigration" do you move on to debate whether amnesty is appropriate and, if so, for whom. It's the very idea of "comprehensiveness" which is flawed — and not just in immigration — rather than its execution in this or that piece of legislation.

02/04 03:53 PM

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