FITTON: Don’t be fooled by ‘bipartisan’ approach to amnesty

Sunday, February 17, 2013
By Tom Fitton
Washington Times

Illegal immigration bad for U.S. and rule of law

More than a few Republicans in the United States Senate seem to have contracted a severe case of what Harry Truman called “Potomac Fever” (wanting to go along to get along in Washington). Apparently still trembling from the recent election debacle, they have cobbled together a deceptive and destructive “bipartisan” compromise on illegal alien amnesty.

Now, of course, the Senate Republicans aren’t calling their legislative legerdemain “instant legalization” as conservative journalist Charles Krauthammer properly characterized it. They know (as Judicial Watch demonstrated in its Election Day poll) that most Americans, including a good number of Hispanics, want the immigration laws enforced. So instead, in typical politispeak, you’ll hear senators use words like “pathway to citizenship” and “doing it for the children.”

Unfortunately, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, clearly casting an eye to the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, has bought into the amnesty lie and is being used by the left to provide cover for their open borders proposal. As the Florida Sun-Sentinel reported:

“Rubio’s mission is to reassure tea party conservatives that these proposals don’t amount to a blanket ‘amnesty,’ while rallying reluctant Republicans and helping their party gain the trust of Hispanic voters. In a sense, the rising Republican star is working in tandem with President Barack Obama, who flies to Las Vegas today to pitch similar changes in immigration law.”

Therein lays a large part of the problem: As Mr. Rubio should know, if you’re on the same page with Mr. Obama on so-called immigration reform, you’re on the wrong page. Still, instead of persuading the president to change his ways, Mr. Rubio is now on a “charm offensive” to sell a bill of goods to conservatives, from Mark Levin to Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity, with varying degrees of success.

Before he polishes too many apples, though, he should understand that not all Americans are buying what the “Gang of 8” is selling.

As news spread of the proposals, Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions made clear where he stands: “No comprehensive plan can pass Congress as long as this administration continues to defy existing federal law. What good are promises of future enforcement when the Administration covertly undermines those laws now in place?”

There is no question that the Senate plan is unjust. Illegal aliens have broken our laws, and they shouldn’t be rewarded with amnesty and immediate legalization. Here’s something else: Simply talking about providing a “pathway to citizenship” is only going to worsen the already out-of-control illegal immigration crisis by inducing greater numbers of illegal aliens to flood across the border to take advantage of the program. How do we know this?

Back in 2005, Judicial Watch uncovered a Border Patrol survey conducted by the Bush administration in 2004 to determine what impact amnesty would have on illegal immigration. Want to take a guess at the outcome? Even the rumor of Mr. Bush’s amnesty program led to a sharp spike in illegal immigration.

So what do you think is going to happen when illegal alien amnesty becomes the actual law of the land?

Amnesty is unworkable, unjust, undermines the rule of law and will harm the public safety. That is why amnesty was rejected in the Bush administration, was rejected in Mr. Obama’s first term (the Dream Act), and why it should be rejected today.

Tom Fitton is president of Judicial Watch and author of “The Corruption Chronicles” (Simon & Schuster, 2012).

FITTON: Don't be fooled by 'bipartisan' approach to amnesty - Washington Times