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Immigration amnesty by any other name still amnesty

There is a hot debate over whether or not the immigration bill currently being debated in the U.S. Senate includes a provision for amnesty. I listened to presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain say that the bill does not include amnesty.

To prove it, McCain listed all the "hoops" that illegal immigrants would have to go through to "earn"? citizenship, including going to the end of the immigrant applicant line, paying back taxes and fines, learning English, and waiting many years. Of course, if they do not want U.S. citizenship, the bill allows them to stay in the country indefinitely without any penalties or "hoops."

But back to amnesty: If some who broke the law to enter this country are allowed to remain, that is amnesty. The biggest prize rarely mentioned is to be allowed to remain in this country, while someone who applied for legal entry has to wait in his native country, a process that takes years.

Those who follow the legal process are punished compared to those who entered illegally. If someone breaks the law and is not held responsible, that is amnesty.

There has been little if any desire of any administration to enforce immigration laws.