The Senate Immigration Bill = Amnesty for Illegals

Statement

The Senate Immigration Bill = Amnesty for Illegals

It doesn't matter how you look at it, the Senate amnesty bill is a raw deal for American workers and the rule of law. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 is a bill that treats illegal immigrants better than those who play by the rules, wait their turn and come in the right way.

The bill is specifically designed to allow the overwhelming majority of illegal immigrants to legally live and work in the U.S. and eventually become permanent residents and then citizens. This is amnesty. Amnesty occurs when an illegal immigrant is not deported as required by law, but is legalized and allowed to stay. Amnesty rewards lawbreakers with the objective of their crime: legal status.

The Senate bill grants immediate amnesty since almost all of the estimated 12-20 million illegal immigrants currently living in the United States will get "probationary" status immediately after enactment.

The bill fails to address national security concerns. Illegal immigrants who receive "probationary" status must consent to a background check but that check must be finished in one day. If not, the Department of Homeland Security must give the illegal immigrant probationary status anyway.

Amnesty advocates claim that since illegal immigrants will not receive "automatic" citizenship, there is no amnesty. But America has granted "automatic" citizenship only five times in our nation's history - to international friends of the United States after they were deceased. The last time the U.S. granted "automatic" citizenship was five years ago when we honored the Marquis de Lafayette, the great French hero of our Revolutionary War. No one who goes through the legal immigration process ever receives "automatic" citizenship.

The Senate amnesty bill creates a new visa known as the "Z" visa. The requirements to obtain a "Z" visa are low and equate to amnesty. The bill requires that "Z" visa holders learn English only after eight years in the country. Prior to that, the bill only requires that upon application for the first "extension" the "Z" visa holder must "attempt to gain an understanding of the English language." That "attempt" is shown by "taking" (not passing) the naturalization test and being placed "on a waiting list for English classes" (not actually taking the class).

Also, "Z" visa holders are not required (in probationary or actual "Z" status) to pay back taxes owed for the time they worked illegally in the United States. That's a tax amnesty.

Amnesty puts lawbreakers ahead of those who are law abiding, favors foreign workers ahead of American workers, and encourages even more illegal immigration.
The Senate amnesty bill's "triggers" don't delay the amnesty and are basically meaningless. One of the bill's "triggers" requires that 370 miles of fence are put in place. President Bush signed last October; "The Secure Fence Act" which requires over 700 miles of border fence, so the 370 miles required by the Senate bill "trigger" is a cut.

The Senate immigration amnesty proposal a bad deal that puts short-term political interests ahead of the long-term interests of the American worker. This proposal would do lasting damage to the country, American workers, and the rule of law.

For facts and figures on Texas immigration, log onto The Migration Policy Institute at http://www.migrationinformation.org/datahub/state.cfm?ID=TX.

You can also find information on immigration at http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis. The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services website contains information ranging from how to visit the U.S. temporarily to laws, regulations and guidelines on obtaining citizenship.

The American people aren't demanding amnesty, they are demanding border security. We need border security, but we don't need amnesty to secure the border.

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