May 28, 2014

The ‘Urgency’ of Amnesty

Democrats push Republicans to “do something” this summer.

In 1986, a Republican Senate and Democrat House passed the Simpson-Mazzoli Immigration Reform and Control Act. It contained three major components: amnesty for three million aliens in the country, closing the border and strict enforcement of laws barring employers from hiring illegals. The Democrats’ compromised on the latter two provisions to win amnesty. Citizens received the sincerest, cross-our-hearts-and-hope-to-die promises that that the laws would be duly and vigorously enforced.

So the bill became law, three million people received legal status, closing the border was forgotten, another wave of illegals swept across the border and enforcement of employer sanctions disappeared like Grandma’s apple pie.

Twenty-eight years later, a new immigration bill is on Congress’ agenda. Amnesty is again the chief provision, this time for 13 million aliens. The second provision is “border security.” How many times have we heard that promise? This bill has no employer sanctions. Although that section of the 1986 act has never been repealed, it seems to have drifted into the Potomac fog, still there but conveniently out of sight and out of mind.

Disrespect for law has been the hallmark of immigration for 40 years. In the 1970s the LAPD secretly instituted Special Order 40 forbidding police from asking anyone they stopped about immigration status. While illegal immigration ballooned in the ‘70s and '80s, it was ignored by politicians. Citizens’ anger finally awoke the walking dead. In 1986, Simpson-Mazzoli was adopted, and in 1994 California’s Proposition 187 passed only to be overturned by a single judge. Still, she left parts intact, and they too have never been enforced.

Today, some Republicans say they won’t pass immigration reform because they cannot trust Barack Obama to enforce it. That’s hardly surprising. After Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the VA scandal and on and on, Obama deserves no trust. And he has directed his administration either to leave the law unenforced or to act upon a bill that isn’t law – the DREAM Act – provoking a flood of young illegals. Yet Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin all threaten that if Republicans don’t act by the August recess, Obama will be forced to act on his own.

But why is the bill so urgently needed? It isn’t, really. Democrats want it because they reliably capture two-thirds or more of the Latino vote, and an infusion of soon-to-be voters could well ensure them a very long-lived congressional majority. Republicans want the bill passed both for cheap labor and in an effort to woo Latinos. A generation ago Latino voters were fairly conservative, but in the interim, the Left has succeeded in Balkanizing this nation. New Latino immigrants are very unlikely to adopt the values of their grandparents. In the 40 years since Democrats succeeded in convincing blacks that Republicans are the bad guys, blacks have consistently voted 90% Democrat.

Unfortunately, the ultimate reason the bill is needed is that the federal government has simply ignored the law. Of course, laws have been flaunted in other arenas, but immigration will have as profound an impact on our nation as any issue on the table today.

And political reality requires us to deal with these people who plan to stay here regardless of the law. But instead of a comprehensive bill resembling ObamaCare, let’s do this in small steps. We need to triage the problems. The worst mistake would be creating yet another entitled group. Immigrants should have to progress through the same steps as their forebears in years past. One step is studying American history; another must be achieving a modest fluency in English.

Tens of thousands of people around the world desperately want to emigrate here but weren’t fortunate enough to be born within walking distance of our southern border. They’ve followed the law, and however possible should be rewarded for it. The trick here is what’s meant by the word “reform.”

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.