Immigration 2007 'Appeasement in Our Time'
James H. Walsh
Monday, June 4, 2007
Voltaire said it, "The best is enemy of the good." On the other hand, settling for merely good can preclude the best.


Why should the United States of America in the year 2007 settle for an immigration reform package that is admittedly a mishmash of appeasements, when such legislation has the potential to weaken our Republic, which today ranks among the world's best forms of government?



Has the United States become a nation incapable of coming together to honor its heritage, venerate its founding ideals, and prize its citizenship? Will the nation yield to the secular hedonism and economic narcissism of those politicians and deep-pocket immigration special interests determined to restructure the Republic?



On June 1, 2007, President George W. Bush paraphrased Voltaire in an effort to sell Republicans on the comprehensive immigration legislation proposed by the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate. The president used his bully pulpit to endorse what amounts to appeasement of illegal aliens as a "good" to be achieved at any cost.



The proposed legislation promises to fix a "broken system" that causes "good, decent people" (illegal aliens) to be exploited. Some are being exploited by the alien smugglers known as coyotes; some are exploited by a document forgery industry that provides them with false papers; and some are exploited by U.S. employers, "who unknowingly are hiring them, which is against the law."



Current U.S. immigration laws include 8 United States Code 1325 (improper entry by aliens) and 1324 (transporting, shielding, sheltering, harboring illegal aliens). These laws state that people (good and decent or otherwise) who cross U.S. borders without inspection, who overstay legal visas, or who enter with false or fraudulent documents are subject to prosecution, as are those who aid and abet them. Failure to prosecute these violations amounts to amnesty for lawbreakers.



The immigration legislation being proposed by the U.S. Senate – to avoid being labeled an amnesty bill – provides "consequences" for illegal entry. Among these are payment of a fine for having broken U.S. immigration laws (comparable to paying accumulated parking tickets); payment of back taxes on income earned in the United States; passing a criminal background check; learning to speak, write, and read English; and verifying the number of years spent in the United States illegally. The proposed legislation does not state how these steps on a tiered pathway to citizenship are to be documented. Complicating enforcement of any such legislation would be chronic bureaucratic bungling by government agencies and liberal court decisions on appeals by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) or LaRaza. Amnesty is amnesty, and, from past experience, the United States knows that immigration amnesty only encourages more illegal entries.



Bush stated, "The system is broken because there are people who are exploiting human beings for material gain." The President is right, but among those gaining materially from illegal immigration are U.S. corporations and businesses. These employers, who are avid supporters of the proposed "comprehensive" immigration legislation, are lawbreakers along with the alien smugglers.


Echoing the words of former Mexican President Vincente Fox, Bush noted that illegal aliens are doing the work that Americans will not do. Increasingly, however, American workers lament the number of U.S. jobs being lost to illegal aliens. The liberal left and such radical groups as LaRaza (the Race), MEChA (Movimiento Estudiani Chicano da Aztlan), and MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund) accuse those who seek to enforce U.S. immigration laws of being "racists," but by implication, perhaps they are the racists.



In his plea for passage of the proposed U.S. Senate immigration bill, Bush refers only to "good and decent" people. Federal and state prison systems unfortunately must deal with the less than good and decent illegal aliens. The list of U.S. citizens being killed by the drunk driving of illegal aliens grows daily, even though the press tries to hide the immigration status of these criminals. The FBI reports a rise in violent crime in America; and contributing to this trend are Hispanic gangs, among them MS-13, SUR 13, and Northside Locos.



The Bush administration is touting a "comprehensive" immigration bill that would advance a movement toward open borders begun by the Democrat Party decades ago. The 2007 proposed legislation is a giveaway with unenforceable controls inserted merely to secure passage. The numerous steps in a tiered pathway to citizenship are mere window-dressing to allay the apprehensions of U.S. voters. Under the proposed legislation, illegal aliens will receive an official "green card" without having to meet the pathway to citizenship requirements (that is, no fines, no back taxes, no background check, and no English). From past experience with imperfect immigration laws, U.S. senators know that enforcement safeguards will be overturned by liberal judges, delayed by inept bureaucracies, or ignored by presidential appointees.



The proposed English language requirements, for instance, are being labeled "toothless" by Republican senators. The 2007 bill actually refers to English as the "common" language, rather than the official or national language. In any event, the requirement that immigrants learn to read, write, and speak English has an eight-year grace period, and then the legislation would only require the ability to read and write two sentences in the "common" language.



In 2005 and 2006, Bush signed several immigration control bills into law. These new U.S. immigration enforcement laws, however, are languishing. The "Real ID Act" of 2005, also known as the "Drivers License Act," is being ignored by liberal officeholders in such states as Maine and Montana and in such cities as Boston, New York, Baltimore, and San Francisco. The "Fence Act" of 2006 awaits full funding. Both of these laws are meant to protect the United States from improper entry by aliens, among them criminals, including terrorists.



The 2007 immigration legislation proposed by the Democrat-controlled Congress is designed to appease immigration special interests. A camouflaged amnesty provision will be the keystone of any 2007 comprehensive immigration reform legislation. To placate concerned U.S. citizens, supporters of the bill represent that the legislation has strong employer sanctions and increased border control, knowing full-well that these provisions are meaningless if deliberately unfunded.



The U.S. immigration laws now on the books are not being enforced. Why settle for new and imperfect immigration legislation. Why not listen to the voice of the people - those who are proud to be U.S. citizens – and devote the nation's energies to enforcing the current immigration law of the land? The system is broken and will remain so, just as long as the U.S. government lacks the will to enforce existing immigration laws.



(c) 2007 James H. Walsh.



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