The Irresponsible Immigration Bill: The Grim Details They Don’t Tell Us
Now we know at least one Congressman gets it right…
(Any more? Our readers would love to hear from you)
—–Original Message—–
From: Rep Weldon [mailto:rep.weldon@mail.house.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 4:43 PM
To: XXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Response from Representative Weldon
Dear XXXXXXXXXX:
Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns regarding the recent immigration proposal by Sen. Kennedy and President Bush. It is good to hear from you, and I am glad that we are in agreement.
As you know, the U.S. Senate recently considered a bill to provide amnesty to between 12 and 20 million illegal immigrants. President Bush, who teamed with Senator Ted Kennedy, in drafting the bill, is poised to sign it should it make it to his desk. I very much oppose this proposed legislation.
I have thoroughly reviewed the bill that was introduced last week in the U.S. Senate. There are many troubling provisions of this bill that simply are not being reported, and I believe it is important that you know what these provisions are. I appreciate this opportunity to share them with you.
During the immigration debate last year, as a member of the Immigration Reform Caucus, I worked with like-minded Members of Congress to kill the Senate amnesty bill. Instead, we successfully passed a border security bill in the House. Unfortunately, liberals in the Senate killed that bill when it got to the Senate for consideration.
I am against the Kennedy-Bush proposal which would grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. I want to share with you the concerns I have over the bill and what I am doing to oppose it.
However, with the Democrats in control of both the House and Senate, it will be an uphill fight to stop this proposal.
The bottom line is that this bill rewards those who break our laws by granting them amnesty while penalizing those who abide by our immigration laws. If this were to become law, the disastrous repercussions would be felt by our children and grandchildren for decades to come. This bill is so bad; it is hard to know where to start.
The proposal grants Amnesty First — The Senate bill makes 12-20 million illegal immigrants legal immigrants overnight. All one must do to receive the new permanently renewable “temporary” Z visa is to show two documents proving they were in the country illegally before January 1, 2007. Bank statements, pay stubs, or other easily forgeable documents will suffice. Or, they can just get a sworn affidavit from someone saying that they have been in the U.S. illegally. This is a recipe for fraud, just like it was with Senator Kennedy’s last amnesty bill in 1986. How can you have a “permanent temporary” visa and not call that amnesty?
Twenty-four Hour Background Check Loophole — The Kennedy-Bush proposal requires that the amnesty be provided within 24 hours of receiving an application. While the government does have a database of known criminals and terrorists, much of this type of information is in paper records that cannot be searched in 24 hours. In fact, Mahmoud Abouhalim, the ringleader of the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, fraudulently received amnesty in 1986. While the1986 amnesty was intended for agricultural workers, Mahmoud was a cab driver in New York City. This amnesty permitted him to travel in and out of the U.S. on a regular basis to train and plan for his terrorist act.
Revokes Over 600,000 Deportation Orders — Over 600,000 fugitives who were convicted by a U.S. court for violating immigration laws and failing to follow court ordered deportation are granted amnesty. What does this teach them about the rule of law?
Meanwhile, those who followed court orders and left the U.S. when ordered to do so will be forced to remain out of the country. Yet, the worst offenders are rewarded with amnesty.
Gang Members Eligible For Amnesty — The bill makes it easy for gang members to be granted amnesty. Gang members need only say they did not know that their involvement in the gang contributed to the gangs illegal activity and sign a statement renouncing their gang membership to get amnesty. We’re supposed to take them at their word that signing a piece of paper has changed them.
Law Enforcement Handcuffed — The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would be transformed overnight from a law enforcement agency to an amnesty-granting agency. ICE agents would be relegated to handing out amnesty applications.
Cut Rate College Tuition for Illegal Immigrants — The bill repeals current law which otherwise prevents public universities from giving illegal immigrants a break on tuition. Legal aliens would still be forced to pay the higher tuition rate. The lower rate is reserved for illegal immigrants only.
Chain Migration Accelerated By 330,000 Green Cards Per Year — Presently, chain migration accounts for about 112,000 green cards per year. This bill will increase that number to 440,000 per year for the next eight years. Chain migration is expanded under this bill, not curtailed.
Increases Temporary Worker Visas To 600,000 Per Year — The bill increases the number of temporary work visas that would be permitted to as many as 600,000 per year,. This will exacerbate the illegal immigration problem, since over half of those currently in the U.S. illegally are those who simply overstayed their visas.
Provides Taxpayer Funded Attorneys for Illegal Immigrants — The Kennedy-Bush proposal provides millions of illegal immigrants with access to American taxpayer funded legal services.
Border Security Last Priority — While supporters of the bill say it makes border security a priority, the language of the bill does not match up. It automatically allows illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. and requires thefederal government to begin issuing permanently renewable “temporary” z visas to illegal immigrants within 180 days of enactment. It is simply not true that border security provisions must be met before amnesty is provided. Furthermore, the border security thresholds are very low and can be met so quickly that there is little reason to believe they will enhance border security beyond what is in place today. These security thresholds include: (1) cutting the border fence from 700 miles down to 370 miles; (2) 27,500 alien detention beds - already met; and (3) 4,000 additional Border Patrol Agents - already on schedule for 2009.
This Bill Offers A Larger Amnesty Than Last Year’s Bill — This year’s bill offers amnesty to everyone who was illegally in the U.S. on January 1, 2007. As bad as last year’s bill was, it at least required that they prove they had been in the U.S. illegally for at least five years.
Tax Breaks for Illegal Immigrants — The bill fails to require that those granted amnesty pay all the back taxes that they have failed to pay.
Learning English Not a Priority — The Senate bill only requires that “z” visa holders learn English after eight years. After four years they are only required to “attempt to learn English” including taking, but not passing, the naturalization test and being placed on a waiting list for English classes.
No Entry/Exit System for Guest Workers — The Senate bill will only lead to another illegal immigrant problem. There is no exit-entry system in place, yet the Senate bill moves forward with amnesty and expansion of guest worker visas. We will have no way of knowing with certainty that the person leaving the U.S. is the person that was granted entry.
Amnesty Fee: Single ($3,000), Family of Five ($5,000) — The price of a “z” visa is set at $3,000 for a single person, and $500 for each additional family member. $3,000 per person is about the cost for a “coyote” smuggling a person into the U.S.
The Cost of Amnesty — It is critically important that everyone know what the cost of amnesty will be because these are costs that will be borne by future generations of Americans — our children and grandchildren. An analysis by the Heritage Foundation has found that on average, the American taxpayer subsidizes a low-income immigrant household to the tune of $19,588 each and every year. The impact under the Kennedy-Bush proposal of adding 12-20 million low-income immigrant households at a single time would be overwhelming.
The economic analysis found that American families generally pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits during their working years but receive more in benefits when they retire. The study found that low-skilled immigrants consume more in benefits from government services both during their working years and in retirement.
In adopting amnesty in the Kennedy-Bush proposal, we would be saddling our children and grandchildren with a financial burden that they simply cannot bear. As we consider the costs, below are some facts to consider:
o 12 to 20 million - The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S.
o $397 Billion - The cost to American taxpayers of providing social services to illegal immigrants since 1996.
o 4 Million - The number of illegal immigrant children in our overcrowded public schools.
o $1.5 billion - The cost of incarcerating 337,200 illegal immigrants in U.S. jails and prisons in just the last 6 years.
o 650,000 - The number of illegal immigrant fugitives who have ignored deportation orders and remained illegally in the U.S.
o 1.9 million - The number of babies born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants since 2002.
o $268 Billion - The amount of money wired to Latin America since 2001 - money earned here but not spent here.
o 10 million - The number of skilled jobs taken by illegal immigrants.
My Promise To You — I am 100% opposed to amnesty — no matter what they call it. The Kennedy-Bush proposal must be rejected and I will do all that I can to defeat it. We must do better by our children.
I promised to make this nation a better nation for our children than it is today. Granting amnesty to 12-20 million illegal immigrants does not do that.
Saddling our children and grandchildren with as much as $2 trillion in additional expenses will not do that.
Further jeopardizing the long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare will only make their future working years and retirement years more difficult.
Americans are very generous and welcoming to those seeking to move to the United States. Most of us have descended from relatives who immigrated to this country seeking a better life. However, embracing amnesty for millions who have willfully broken our laws makes a mockery of our nation and our generosity and weakens the fabric of our country. It sends the wrong message and penalizes the millions of individuals who are seeking to enter the U.S. legally.
We should not be rewarding those who break our laws by moving them to the front of the line. We should keep our word to those seeking to immigrate legally.
There are some people in Washington counting on short and/or no memories from the last amnesty effort in 1986. Here’s what I mean by that: Senator Kennedy, a key player in both amnesty bills, said on the U.S. Senate floor in 1986, “This amnesty (in 1986) will give citizenship to only 1.1-1.3 million illegal aliens. We will secure the borders henceforth. We will never again bring forward another amnesty bill like this.”
We clearly have been misled on this matter by some in Congress in the past who use deception to advance their own agenda. It’s time for the American people to voice their opinion on such tactics.
Finally, I was troubled by President Bush’s characterization of opponents of this bill, when he stated on May 29: “If you want to kill the bill, if you don’t want to do what is right for America, you can pick one little aspect out of it, you can use it to frighten people.” Well, I have laid out for you more than a dozen serious problems with this bill.
I will be doing more updates on this important matter as this bill moves through Congress. If you would like to be on my e-mail immigration update list, please log onto my website, weldon.house.gov. On the right hand column click on “Contact Us;” in the body of the e-mail write “Please send me immigration updates.”
Again, thank you for contacting me. If I can be of any assistance to you in the future, please do not hesitate to call on me. It is an honor to serve you in Congress.
Sincerely,
Dave Weldon
Member of Congress
—
That’s U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, M.D. (R-FL)
Right. On. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
Please pass this on and Digg the story to spread the word!
RELATED:
Weldon: Amnesty Bill Dies in Senate…Hopefully for Good
Senate Supporters Still Vow to
Push Amnesty Bill Through
Immigration ‘Reform’ Unpopular With Law Enforcement
Democrat Whining In Immmigration
Reform’s Aftermath
Linda Chavez’ “Fear and Loathing”:
Either Agree With Her Or She’ll Call You Names
(includes many more links!)
June 13th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
The only change I would make to his response is that those interlopers are criminal aliens, not “illegal immigrants.”
Vipers. Both the criminals who are here illegally and the ones who support their illegal behavior.
June 13th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Thank you for posting this. This is absolutely the best thing I have read about this bill. I love the pure political theatre of it all, and exposition of the relationship between republicans/conservatives and the truth. With so many holes in this argument, it was hard to know where to begin, but then I realized that it was so much more satisfying watching the party implode, seeing it turn on itself, and utilize the scummy, disgraceful tactics typically reserved for liberals, that I could not come up with a single reason to refute all of these arguments.
So the question really comes down to this: are we better off letting the Michelle Malkins of this world tie their britches in a knot, or should we do what’s right for the country?
June 13th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Rocky, for once I agree with you in principle: for once, let’s do what’s right for the country.
Let’s begin with making each and every one of us, criminal alien or not, responsible for his or her own actions, instead of laying off the blame on “society,” “capitalism,” “parents,” “the police,” etc.
Which also means judicial activist judges would be out of fashion, Tubby Teddy would be behind bars, Jorge W would be on trial for “high crimes and misdemeanors,” and trash radio (no, not Rush, I mean garbage rap) would suddenly have to answer questions about how much it affects physical and mental cruelty of “home boys” toward women.
As far as immigration goes, I heard a guy screaming on the radio today about how the western U.S. was Mexico’s and how illegal it was for the ICE to round up a couple of hundred illegals in a processing plant in Oregon. There’s no reasoning with people like that, those who cannot understand the concept of war, and, we won, you lost, you ceded this territory to us so now it’s ours.
Not a difficult concept if one tries real hard to grasp it.
And because we won, they lost, we get to write the rules, not them.
Too tough to follow?
June 14th, 2007 at 8:16 am
Rome is burning, Rocky. If you think that’s “political theater,” then you must be a carnival sideshow.
The problems with illegal immigration are evident in many ways, and the American people have had enough. That’s the truth.
Websites like this are full of examples why. Your obviously not reading and that’s why you “can’t come up with a single reason to refute” anything.
Keep your frontdoor open. You’re begging for unexpected company…
June 21st, 2007 at 4:22 pm
[...] Of course. Probably the same people who think the Kennedy/Bush immigration bill makes sense. Bad idea. On Thursday, two Democratic lawmakers, Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida and Sen. Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, told a human rights commission that Guantanamo must be closed if the United States is to regain credibility and authority on human rights. [...]
June 26th, 2007 at 11:44 am
[...] RELATED: With Polling Like This… California Immigration Raids: What Can We Washington Learn? Selling Out America to Illegal Aliens Immigration Tide Turning? The Irresponsible Immigration Bill: The Grim Details They Don’t Tell Us Linda Chavez’ “Fear and Loathing”: Either Agree With Her Or She’ll Call You Names [...]
June 26th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
The millions of immigrants that are here in our country should be forced to return to their own countries and make their own governments conceed to their demands instead of flip floppin our laws. Do you think for a moment that their governments would put up with flying another flag unside down over their own colors. Not for one minute would they put up with it. We don’t enforce the immigration laws we already have on the books, so what makes our government think they can enforce such wide open laws as they have proposed with this bill?! I thank you for listening to me and may God almighty help us if we pass this unimaginable bill such as it is!!
Roger
Okla.
July 9th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
The age-old pesky U.S.-Mexico border problem has taxed the resources of both countries, led to long lists of injustices, and appears to be heading only for worse troubles in the future. Guess what? The border problem can never be solved. Why? Because the border IS the problem! It’s time for a paradigm change.
Never fear, a satisfying, comprehensive solution is within reach: the Megamerge Dissolution Solution. Simply dissolve the border along with the failed Mexican government, and megamerge the two countries under U.S. law, with mass free 2-way migration eventually equalizing the development and opportunities permanently, with justice and without racism, and without threatening U.S. sovereignty or basic principles.
Click the url to read the solution.