Make-believe policy on immigration

Cross posted from DeMediacratic Nation

A Senate bill that the president prefers would allow a majority of illegal immigrants to take a path to permanent residency and citizenship after paying fines, fees and back taxes and learning English. The harsh House bill emphasizes enforcement and offers no provision for illegal immigrants or future guest workers - Clarence Page, columnist - “Make-believe policy on immigration“

I always enjoy it when these two sides of the illegal immigration issue are put out there. You will always know on which side of the argument the author stands. Clarence wants “comprehensive” immigration reform; not the “harsh House bill.”

“Comprehensive” reform allows for all sorts of hurry up and get it out the door deals chock full of contradictory language, which pretty much negates any good it may provide. I do realize that pols will be pols and that the “harsh House” route can contain the same type of legalize, but at least in smaller pieces it should be easier to hold the gang to account. But, “people power” as posted by Morning Coffee this a.m. seems more possible with less smoke and mirrors involved.

The idea of any government doing anything in a “comprehensive” manner, with a one-size fits all prescription strikes me as a bit far fetched. Whereas, a “harsh” issue by issue, step by step approach should at least allow more effective results.

Question: would the recent “comprehensive” reform, were it now enacted resolve the problem? I don’t think so, as the media for one would go to sleep on this issue and would only revisit it a short few years from now when it became apparent that we had another 10+ million illegal entrants to contend with again. We’ve been here before and the pols were all set to deal with it as they had in the past; they’re a lazy, self-absorbed, full of sh*t bunch when you get right down to it.

As per the course, many in support of the “comprehensive” angle want the argument to be that the House bill is bad, racist, xenophobic, pro evil big business, etc. They ask thinks like; what about the poor low wage earner or the criminally low minimum wage?

According to Page we all enjoy the advantages of the “Make-believe” immigration policy:

If the jobs paid more, more Americans probably would take them. But that would run the risk of reducing profits for employers or raising prices for consumers. Rather than risk a price increase for lettuce, many Americans prefer to look the other way. The result is what I call a make-believe immigration policy of laws that few people feel bound to respect.

However, Page doesn’t really know what the “advantageous” really would be willing to endure in the name of real immigration legislation. We’re likely already paying via taxes, for farm subsidies on that lettuce so maybe it would get even cheaper if it was imported (which it bloody likely already is).

Ultimately, Page’s stance is against what the Coalition Against Illegal Immigration is all about. So when he says “the result is what I call a make-believe immigration policiy of laws that few people feel bound to respect,” I get the distinct impression that he really hasn’t been listening or reading very well.

We’re sick and tired of “make-believe immigration policy…that few people feel bound to respect!”

Op/ed piece here

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.**

Senate Immigration Bill builds a Wall… but the wrong kind.

Cross posted from Morning Coffee

From The Washington Times

State and local police would be prohibited in key ways from helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement combat illegal immigration under Senate legislation, a wall that opponents say would lead to rampant fraud, hamper efforts to deport future illegals and threaten national security.
”The Senate bill would actually make us less safe,” said Rep. Ed Royce, California Republican and chairman of the International Relations Committee’s subcommittee on international terrorism and nonproliferation. It “would roll back the ability for state and local officials to cooperate with federal officials.”
Out of deference to the confidentiality concerns of foreigners in the U.S., the bill would bar state and local police from detaining aliens simply for being in the U.S. illegally. Police could arrest the aliens only if they commit certain additional violations of federal immigration law such as marriage fraud or document counterfeiting.

This same type of “Wall” prevented our Law Enforcement & Intelligence communities from cooperating prior to 9-11.

Under current law, he said, a police officer may in the course of his duties ask a suspect about his immigration status. For verification, the officer can call the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC), a database in Vermont that maintains the status and identities of aliens suspected, arrested or convicted of criminal activity. If it turns out that the suspect is in the U.S. illegally, the officer may arrest the alien.
But under the Senate bill, the officer’s power to arrest would be curtailed, Mr. Kobach said. State and local police would no longer be permitted to arrest aliens for “civil” violations of federal immigration laws, such as overstaying their visas or failing to attend the classes required under their student visas.

Mr. Kobach told the House panel last week that four of the 19 September 11 hijackers had committed immigration violations and had been stopped by state and local police before the attacks. In particular, he pointed to Ziad Samir Jarrah, the Lebanese terrorist in the country on a six-month tourist visa that he had overstayed.
On Sept. 9, 2001, Jarrah was stopped going 90 mph on Interstate 95 in Maryland and given a $270 speeding ticket, which was later found in the glove compartment at the Newark airport in New Jersey, where he boarded United Flight 93.
”If the officer had asked a few questions and determined that he was illegal, he could have made the arrest,” Mr. Kobach said. “If the officer had called the Law Enforcement Support Center, which operates 24/7 out of Vermont, the officer could have concluded that he was illegal and could have made the arrest.”
Since September 11, Mr. Kobach said, the Justice Department has encouraged state and local law-enforcement agencies to step up their use of the LESC during routine police work.

The name of the Senator who inserted this into the Senate Bill should be made public, as well as any debate and the roll call vote they had on it (if any).

Hat tip to California Conservative

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.

People power

Cross posted from Morning Coffee

One of my favorite columnists is Dr. Thomas Sowell; His column today in Townhall.com is well worth reading.

No issue discussed in this column has brought in so much virtually unanimous mail, so full of outrage, as the issue of amnesty for illegal aliens living in this country.

Much of this mail also expressed a sense of futility. “What can I do?” these letters and e-mails often asked. “I am just an ordinary citizen.”

Sometimes these letters and e-mails said, “I have written my senator” (or representative) — and either received no reply or got back an obvious form letter, not really responding to the concerns expressed. Some said that they wrote to their local newspaper but these letters were not printed.

“I am just one person,” some said. “What difference do my views make?”

What difference? Public outrage made the Senate and the President of the United States back down from their amnesty bill.

Also look at what is happening in state and local governments throughout the nation. Many are passing laws and providing stricter enforcement against those who hire illegal immigrants etc.

That’s the bottom line that counts — not whether you get a personal reply to your letter to a member of Congress or whether your letter to your local newspaper gets printed.

Never think that you don’t count. You are what count most of all. Politicians understand votes if they don’t understand anything else. They are virtually obsessed with public opinion polls.

Democracy means that each individual voter cannot expect to prevail on every issue because there are other voters with other views. But that does not mean that the public is powerless when a clear majority knows what it wants and doesn’t want.

The media, the politicians, and the intelligentsia may all be overwhelmingly on the opposite side but the people will prevail. That is how bilingual education was defeated at the polls in California and why the amnesty bill is now dead in the United States Senate.

Make no mistake about it. The elites always think they know better, that the public’s views are just mindless stereotypes or ugly prejudices.

They think we can always be fooled with a little rhetoric and clever political spin. Sometimes these elites succeed in confusing the issues and pulling a fast one on the public. But, as Abraham Lincoln said long ago, “You can’t fool all the people all the time.”

No small part of the outrage over the immigration issue came from people’s sense that their intelligence was being insulted by those they elected.

The biggest insult was the endlessly repeated claim that illegal aliens “take jobs that Americans won’t take.” Even in agriculture, where illegal aliens have their biggest impact, three quarters of the workers are not — repeat, not — illegal aliens.

In some particular localities, some particular work may be done primarily by illegal aliens. But that does not mean that this work would go undone without them. More pay attracts more people.

New York’s mayor Michael Bloomberg is still pushing the line that there would be economic collapse without illegal immigrants. But, despite the scary picture of 12 million illegals being suddenly deported, the cold fact is that 12 million young Americans in the prime of life were removed from our economy to go into the military during World War II and the economy did not collapse.

These 12 million young men went into the military a lot faster than 12 million illegals can be rounded up and deported.

Yet the American economy boomed, producing an incredible amount of output, half of it going into the military to equip and support our own troops and to supply the British and the Russians with vast amounts of war materiel.

Incidentally, the real issue is not how feasible it is to round up and deport 12 million illegals. The real issue is how you prevent 12 million from becoming tens of millions more by allowing amnesty.

There were only about 3 million illegal aliens when an amnesty bill was passed 20 years ago, leading that number to quadruple. Do we want today’s 12 million illegals to quadruple?

The other big insult to our intelligence was the claim that amnesty is not amnesty when you call it something else. But, when the people didn’t buy it, the politicians had to stop selling it.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.

McCain for President in 2008? Guess Again…

Cross posted from CommonSenseAmerica

Free Republic has a great opinion poll asking:

If the 2008 Republican primary for president were held today and the following candidates were listed on your ballot, which one would you choose?

The results may surprise and delight you.

Vote here. Check out the results here.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.**