Thread: Illegals Do Not Deserve a Free Pass By Edward Koch

Illegals Do Not Deserve a Free Pass

Tuesday, 04 May 2010 10:27 AM

By: Edward Koch

The push is on for providing amnesty to the estimated 12 to 20 million illegal aliens in this country.

The supporters of this effort include President Barack Obama, former president George W. Bush, Sen. John McCain, Majority Leader Harry Reid and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer. Sen. Schumer is now chairman of the immigration subcommittee previously chaired by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, a major amnesty proponent.

Amnesty supporters see themselves as taking the high road and claim that amnesty opponents are opposed to immigration, when nothing could be further from the truth. Many amnesty opponents actually support expanding legal immigration.

Currently, the U.S. has the highest legal immigration in the world. Every year, we allow 750,000 immigrants to enter the country legally and make them eligible for citizenship within five years. Two hundred and fifty thousand asylees are also permitted to enter annually.

Those legal immigrants have the right to work and earn a living; the asylees are eligible to work six months after applying to work. If we need more immigrants, as many think we do to expand the workforce of our graying population, then we can easily increase the number of legal immigrants.

If we give the current illegals amnesty, you can be sure that 20 or so years from now, there will be a clamor for another amnesty bill as the illegals will continue to pour in.

For example, the Simpson-Mazzoli bill, adopted by Congress in 1986, was hailed as the last amnesty bill we would need because the borders of the U.S., then a sieve, would be better protected. However, our borders continued to be porous, and the number of illegals burgeoned, and here we are again with the illegals and their supporters seeking amnesty once more for ever larger numbers.

No country in the world has open borders that foreigners can enter at will, certainly not Mexico. Arizona has an estimated 500,000 illegal aliens living in the state and in 2009, the border patrol agents arrested 241,000 illegal aliens, which is why that state enacted controversial legislation out of frustration.

Arizona’s citizens are outraged by the presence of many criminals among the people crossing their border — remember there is an ongoing drug war in Mexico with thousands of Mexicans being killed and wounded south of the border by other Mexicans.

Arizona does not want that war to spill over into Arizona. Arizona citizens are also distressed with the demands made by illegals upon medical and educational services.

Regrettably, the Arizona legislation went too far, allowing local police to ask individuals “reasonably suspectedâ€

Kennedy never met an amnesty he didnt like

That is Ted Kennedy not John.

Kock's article is great.

"Those legal immigrants have the right to work and earn a living; the asylees are eligible to work six months after applying to work."
Of course the do what's your point ?/ We were talking about illegal immigrants.....

Koch said:
Regrettably, the Arizona legislation went too far, allowing local police to ask individuals “reasonably suspectedâ€