The clock is now ticking on an all-out effort by pro-amnesty Democrats and Republicans to quickly win a full and generous amnesty for hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions, of illegal aliens. With a commitment from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring up amnesty for a vote by early next month, and with the news media carrying out an intense propaganda campaign for amnesty, they hope to push the bill through the Senate, then stampede the House into hasty passage.
This is the moment when conservatives must not only oppose amnesty, but must clearly state what needs to be done to deal with the crisis of more than ten million illegal aliens, with more arriving every day.
Building Trump’s wall, wherever geographic features do not make it unnecessary, is only one part of the solution. The wall should be supplemented with whatever technology and additional personnel are needed to maximize its effectiveness.
Requiring that employers use E-verify, so that illegal aliens cannot find work, is surely the most important item that must be in any legislation. Additional resources must be provided so that, when identified, larger numbers of illegal aliens can be deported each year. The law concerning “unaccompanied minors” must be amended so that all can be quickly returned to their country of origin instead of allowing their removal to be delayed by a mountain of red tape.
Since many illegals first arrive on a legal visa, then fail to leave when the visa expires, a system and technology for accurately keeping track of arrivals and departures is essential.
Sanctuary cities must no longer be allowed to impede law enforcement. Strong penalties in the form of losing Federal funds must be written into law to bring them into line.
Furthermore, even the legal immigration system requires change. Chain migration for families must be replaced by a merit-based system, bringing in the skilled workers our country needs. The “diversity” lottery should be eliminated, as should programs for “temporary” emergency residence if that is going to be treated by Washington’s bureaucratic establishment as a right to stay here permanently.
We must also beware if the pro-amnesty crowd offers a compromise, granting some form of amnesty in return for improved enforcement. We must remember that amnesty, once written into law, is there forever. Enforcement, however, can be ignored by a future president or starved of funds by a future Congress. Such a “compromise” is one-sided, since amnesty supporters get what they want but can easily renege on their concessions.
Can a strong immigration bill pass this Congress? Overcoming a Senate filibuster seems unlikely, and pro-amnesty House Republicans claim they have enough votes to block passage even there.
And that brings us to the most important point. The crisis of illegal immigration is not likely to be solved until we have a better Congress, one that will be serious about reforming our current system.
Some think that 2018 offers no hope of improvement in Congress. The conventional wisdom is that this will be a “wave election” for the Democrats, sweeping them into control of both the House and Senate. But there are signs that the “conventional wisdom” is changing. On Thursday the highly-regarded Sabato’s Crystal Ball examined the pattern of elections held since Trump’s victory, comparing them to the pattern following Obama’s election in 2012, and found that the so-called surge in Democratic voting has been overrated. It warned that the numbers “should give pause to those who think a major Democratic wave in November 2018 is a sure thing.”
Just a few days earlier, Jeff Greenfield of Politico wrote an article, “The Thin Blue Wave,” in which he pointed out many reasons why Democratic expectations may be too optimistic.
And all of that research pre-dated last weekend’s government shutdown, which left the Democrats divided and fighting with each other, after taking what turned out to be a politically unpopular stance.
Don’t let the media drumbeat about a Democratic wave leave you discouraged and apathetic. It’s a long way to November, and several trends are working in favor of electing more members of the House and Senate who will take a common sense position on illegal aliens and immigration.
FedUp PAC will be leading the way to nominate and elect such candidates. However, we can only help them if you help us.
