Posted May 12, 2013 at midnight
redding.com

“A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.” That was President Ronald Reagan’s belief when he signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986. That law, also known as the Simpson-Mazzoli bill after its co-authors, Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Romano Mazzoli (D-Ky.) was supposed to regain, and retain, America’s control of its borders.

Today, there are, by government estimates, over 11 million illegal immigrants living within those borders. It is obvious that the law failed, hence the oft-stated position that “our immigration system is broken.” Even the law’s authors, Simpson and Mazzoli, stated in a Washington Post interview in September of 2006 that the law failed because of the “failure of both Democrat and Republican administrations to execute the law properly.” They further stated that the law “required constant funding and after two decades the system is still not in place.” They even expressed surprise that the amnesty of nearly 3 million illegal immigrants drew more millions in.

Because of that law’s failure, illegal immigration is once again in the news. The latest proposal also promises to “solve” the problem, this time by giving de facto amnesty to nearly all 11 million. There is no concern expressed that yet another “one-time” amnesty (the eighth since 1986) would draw more millions into the country illegally. Would we amnesty them, too? Will promises that, in the future, illegal immigrants will be prevented from working and that the border will be truly secured be kept? Given the federal government’s track record on this issue, many people are skeptical that our highest politicians will take this issue seriously, even now. After all, there are special interests to be considered and ethnic groups to be pandered to.

Not surprisingly, none of the supporters of comprehensive immigration reform has mentioned the failed 1986 law and its broken promises, and almost no one in the media has covered it. It’s as if the issue is somehow brand new and this is the first real effort to address it. Clearly, many in politics don’t want the public to know the history of these amnesties because they might balk at rewarding 11 million more.

The United States issues over 1 million Legal Permanent Resident cards each year, the highest number in the world, and this at a time when millions of Americans are unemployed. Why is that not enough? These legal immigrants are of all races and ethnicities, yet Americans who want their borders respected and the laws obeyed are often called racists and xenophobes. Why? No is complaining about legal immigrants or their race, and besides, exactly what race is “illegal”? Even The Associated Press has announced that it will no longer call illegal immigrants what they are — illegal immigrants! One has to wonder how those would-be legal immigrants, who truly are at “the end of the line,” patiently waiting in their own countries for permission to come, feel about illegal immigrants and the politicians who want to reward them for jumping the line.

The issue is illegal immigration and what we should do about it. It is not about the border per se, or Hispanics, Latinos, or Mexicans. It is about our nation’s failure to take its own sovereignty seriously and enforce its laws. It is also about America’s public servants, who took an oath to uphold these laws, wanting to keep the voters from fully understanding the scope of their failure and their latest attempts to avoid their duty. This has been a bipartisan betrayal and no “reform” plan can be implemented without sufficient time for the public to scrutinize both the details and consequences. True reform would be strict enforcement of the laws as they exist.

Alex Landi lives in Mount Shasta.

http://www.redding.com/news/2013/may...m-enforce-the/