Gang of Eight plans makes border insecurity ‘worse’, says Cruz

by Conservative Action Alerts on May 28, 2013

ALERT: Congress MUST Secure the Borders First! Take Action and Blast Faxes!

Conservative American,

The Gang of Eight immigration “fix” will soon face a full vote in the Senate.

The 844-page monster, which few Senators are likely to have actually read, passed from the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.

This bill is not “reform” – it is simply a government-growing scheme pushed in the name of “fixing our broken immigration system.” The fact is, our immigration system is “broken” largely because the borders are left insecure – and, one would think the Gang of Eight plan would’ve made it a point to tackle this fact above all.
Sadly, that’s not the case.

Senator Ted Cruz, one of the five committee members who voted to prevent S. 744 from moving forward, says that the GO8 plan will only make our immigration problems worse.

The Texas Senators says:
[I] “t doesn’t stop illegal immigration. If anything it makes the problem worse by not securing the border and by incentivizing future illegal immigration.”

“Unfortunately, every Democrat on this committee voted against measures that would put real teeth into border security and that would have improved legal immigration.”

The only way to improve our immigration system is to secure the borders first. No nation on earth can exist with totally insecure borders.

Congress does have the ability to determine what immigration is or is not – this is to say that they are Constitutionally commissioned with this task – and must do it wisely!

We must demand Congress: “Immigration Reform means Securing Borders First!”

Blast Faxes and Tell Congress that Immigration Reform starts with Secure Borders! Lawmakers must offer workable step-by-step immigration reforms that secure the borders first and are compatible with the Constitution!

The Secretary Shall …

Of the 844 pages that the Gang has produced, only fifty-eight pages actually address border security – that’s less than seven percent of the entire bill. What’s worse is that of those pages very few measures are specifically laid out to accomplish border controls.

Essentially, the Gang gives blanket authority to Janet Napolitano and the Department of Homeland Security to develop a border-security plan. They give the Secretary and her Department six months to submit a proposal, and the proposal itself must take effect at some point over the course of a decade. In theory, this means that it would be acceptable under the bill’s language for the DHS to postpone (or activate) border enforcement until the final day of the tenth year.

Not only that, the GO8 plan is satisfied with preventing illegal immigration up to 90 percent, and of the ten percent that do enter the country illegally there is no Plan B for apprehension. What type of strong border is secured at only ninety percent?

(Perhaps the ten percent are automatically covered by the Secretary’s unlimited waiver authority – see page sixty-six of the bill – which allows him or her to “waive” all immigration rules for “humanitarian purposes” or for “the public interest.”)

Now we know why Obama Obama himself said that the Gang of Eight plan is “largely consistent” with his views and “the principles that [he has] repeatedly laid out for comprehensive reform.” The GO8 plan means more of the same.

Speaking in a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, Senator Ted Cruz noted the inadequacy of the bill’s language. “We must have a clear definition of what metrics must be reached in order for the border to be secure,” he said, “I am not satisfied with answers offered … as it remains unclear how the provisions in this bill will help achieve a secure border.”

The GO8 border-security plan is unacceptable. Without specific mandates, the DHS will not likely make any significant changes to the way business is done at the border.

Congress must wisely lay out a workable plan for border security – one that is in-line with the Constitution – that includes close oversight and frequent testing to measure results.

Blast Faxes and Tell Congress that Immigration Reform starts with Secure Borders! Lawmakers must offer workable step-by-step immigration reforms that secure the borders first and are compatible with the Constitution!

Liberty and Security

Benjamin Franklin is often quoted when it comes to issues of both liberty and safety: “Those who trade their liberty for a little temporary security,” he said, “shall have and deserve neither.” While this powerful statement is absolutely true, it does not mean that having both liberty and security is impossible.

In relation to our borders, for most our history we had both. Only in recent years has essential border security been stalled for political reasons.

What we need is a return to strong borders, and we must do it without compromising Americans’ liberties. Sadly, the Gang of Eight plan as it is designed will cost Americans a measure of their liberty.

In the event amnesty or “a pathway to citizenship” is granted, Americans will lose some of their liberty because such a measure would cost $6.3 trillion, which every taxpayer will have to fund. Simply, requiring taxpayers to pay additional trillions of dollars in taxes is really a violation of property rights. Money is property. The phrase, “taxation is theft” is not an exaggeration.

While the amnesty illustration is not untrue, our concern here is chiefly with border security itself – something that could easily be set up “for our own good” and yet rob us of our very precious Constitutional freedoms.

Blast Faxes and Tell Congress that Immigration Reform starts with Secure Borders! Lawmakers must offer workable step-by-step immigration reforms that secure the borders first and are compatible with the Constitution!

Freedom of Travel

Immigration necessarily deals with travel, something that the Constitution guarantees each and every American. Natural Law, the philosophy behind much of our Constitution, rightly recognizes that the freedom of travel is a God-given right – that man, created in God’s image, should be free to move as he seems fit.

The United States Government, being the Government of the People of the United States, must always protect Americans’ travel freedoms. It is their responsibility and duty, and is necessary to maintain our free society.
Americans must be always permitted to leave or enter the United States as they please if they have the capacity and will to do it. This means that travel for Americans must remain uninhibited by government, despite any “political climate” outside of our borders and despite “emergency” situations.

Border security, which is essential to managing any country, is not a pass for Big Government to further grow the already-existing police state. In other words, border policy to keep others out should never be used to “keep us in.”

Blast Faxes and Tell Congress that Immigration Reform starts with Secure Borders! Lawmakers must offer workable step-by-step immigration reforms that secure the borders first and are compatible with the Constitution!

No National ID

For years, many Big Government lawmakers have argued the need for a National ID or a Real ID card to keep immigration organized. Such provisions are included in the Gang of Eight plan. The notion that a national ID will fix the immigration system is simply not true; what it will do, however, is rob us of our freedom.

No immigration reform legislation should mandate that all Americans carry a National ID.

The National ID program would require that all Americans carry with them a government identification card based on their Social Security number. Fingerprints and retinal graphing would be included in the card along with other biometric identification information.*

This type of government-mandated National Identification plan is not essential to border security whatsoever and must be rejected. Americans under no circumstances should allow Congress to require such an absurd Big Brother tactic that could’ve come straight out of the novel 1984!

Government surveillance and tracking of American citizens should not be established in the name of immigration reform!

Congress must ensure that any border security plan is compatible with our constitutional liberty – they must uphold our travel freedoms and reject all attempts to mandate a national ID card!

Blast Faxes and Tell Congress that Immigration Reform starts with Secure Borders! Lawmakers must offer workable step-by-step immigration reforms that secure the borders first and are compatible with the Constitution!

Trust and Time

If it weren’t for Senator Marco Rubio, the Gang of Eight is comprised of less-than-admirable Senators: most notably Sens. Schumer and Durbin on the Blue Side, and Sens. McCain and Graham on the Red. With these men, we should not forget about the parable of the Tree and Its Fruit. So far, not much of anything these individuals have done legislatively is commendable.

Conservative Action Alerts contributor, Steve Deace, writes: “We simply don’t trust these people, and not just on this specific policy debate. We don’t trust them on anything. And why should we? The last two times they rushed massive and precedent-setting legislation like this because ‘something must be done’ we got the criminal enterprise known as TARP, and the anti-Constitutional ultimate big government power grab known as Obamacare.”

Seeing that lawmakers want to rush and ram this expansive, all-in-one immigration is even more cause for concern. Why can’t we wait? Many legislators know that immigration is not a quick fix. Senator Jeff Sessions wants to see this happen over a period of months and in a step-by-step fashion. We agree.

“What we need, and must have,” Senator Sessions says, “is a full and thorough national discussion over every component of this bill. The timeline presented by Chairman Leahy – as well as Leader Reid and President Obama – is unacceptable. The committee must have a detailed series of public hearings on the Gang of 8 immigration bill after it is produced followed by an extended markup process. A sound committee process will take months – not weeks.”

As the Gang of Eight Immigration Bill is set to hit the Senate very soon, we must make sure that our demands to Congress are clear: “Secure the Borders First!” and take immigration one-step at a time!

Blast Faxes and Tell Congress that Immigration Reform starts with Secure Borders! Lawmakers must offer workable step-by-step immigration reforms that secure the borders first and are compatible with the Constitution!

The Constitution gives the U.S. Congress power to “establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization” – or, to determine the laws that govern immigration. This is one of the federal government’s few legitimate powers, one that has been exercised since our very first immigration law in 1790.

With immigration as much a mess as it is, and as complicated as it is, lawmakers must offer remedies wisely and slowly – not through a one-size-fits all “comprehensive” plan. We don’t need an “Obamacare” of immigration. We need many single-issue bills, and we need months to debate them in broad daylight.

Not only that, we need to identify and work on real priorities. Before discussing any type of “pathway to citizenship” or amnesty program – which the Heritage Foundation claims would cost $6.3 trillion – lawmakers must deal with the root of our immigration problem, first and foremost: insecure, unmanaged borders.

Blast Faxes and Tell Congress that Immigration Reform starts with Secure Borders! Lawmakers must offer workable step-by-step immigration reforms that secure the borders first and are compatible with the Constitution!



For America,
Conservative Action Alerts

www.ConservativeActionAlerts.comP.S. Don’t forget to send your free letters to your lawmakers here (you can also print it to share with others).

*The National ID program would also be integrated into all workplaces, allowing only card-carriers employment opportunities. Employers would be required to cross-check all cardholders’ information with a federal database in order to grant them any type of employment.

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Tagged as: amnesty, constitution, everify, Freedom of Travel, gang of eight, immigration reform, national ID card, Real ID, rule of law


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