The failure of the Senate this past week to pass cloture on the immigration bill has put the bill itself in doubt. If this bill, as its supporters maintain, is so necessary, why can't the Senate pass it? Is it because of its flaws and shortcomings? Partially. However, I feel in the final analysis, the biggest factor is that the American public is against it. We the people have concluded that it is indeed amnesty. We don't believe the claims of our elected leaders that the border will be closed and that this bill will only lead to dramatic increases of poor people coming here to flee poverty in Mexico and Central America. More importantly, Americans by the millions have made their voices heard to Congress in the form of telephone calls, letters, faxes and emails.
In the past months, our liberal news media has shown us the large demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of pro-amnesty supporters in large American cities, waving Mexican flags and in many cases carrying banners with insulting messages for American citizens. What the media has downplayed has been the above response from citizens (and legal immigrants) to our politicians. Some politicians, like Lindsay Graham (R-SC), have called us "bigots" for simply demanding that Congress do it duty and enforce the law. Homeland Security Director, Michael Cherthoff implied that we wanted to see illegal immigrants get the death penalty. Sadly, several Republicans, from whom we would normally expect support for the rule of law, have jumped ship and joined hands with the open borders crowd led by Edward Kennedy, who doesn't even want to refuse legalization to convicted criminals and absconders who have already been ordered deported! If the Republicans thought they got a wake up call in the last election, they apparently hit the snooze button and went back to sleep.
Some claim that any bill is better than no bill. Really? Tell me why? What is in it for us if millions of illegal aliens "come out of the shadows"? Some talk of earned path to citizenship. Why are we assuming that any of these folks are interested in becoming American citizens? A little presumptuous of us I would say. And why is this not amnesty? Because they would have to pay a fine and jump through a few hoops? The bottom line is that they get to stay in the country and be rewarded for jumping in line. What do we say to all the legal immigrants who have followed the rules and waited? Sorry suckers.
Finally, many people like John McCain (who still deludes himself into thinking he is going to get the Republican nomination) tells us that if we don't like this bill, come up with a better idea. OK, Senator McCain, I will take the challenge. Here is my bill.
1 Build the wall. Secure the border with a massive increase in the Border Patrol, augmented if necessary with the National Guard of the border states. This is also a national security issue. Eventually we will have to secure our Canadian border as well to keep out the assorted Jihadists that Canada lets into their land.
2 Tamper-proof ID cards to be issued to legal guest workers. Those employers who hire huge numbers of illegal workers as a matter of policy should be prosecuted. Tell the corporations that the days of cheap labor are coming to an end. Let the consumers know that this will mean a rise in costs. We will accept that.
3 Obviously, the number of illegals is now too large to round up all of them and deport them. (This due to decades of government neglect). We will have to turn a blind eye to many who are simply working and committing no crime. However, the criminals among them have to be removed. This leads me to the refusal of certain cities to report illegals to ICE. So-called sanctuary cities should be told that if they continue to refuse to cooperate with Federal authorities on this issue, they can do without federal funding. I am not saying that local police should divert their attention from normal policing to look for illegals. However, anytime they come in contact with an offender who is illegal, ICE should be notified. An immigration hold can then be placed, and when the justice system is done with the individual, he is deported.
4 We should also tell that corrupt government in Mexico that if they are so concerned about their citizens, they can start providing decent education and economic opportunities to their citizens instead of keeping Mexico's wealth for themselves. If they are not willing to clean up their own house, then they can prepare for the revolution that will come when their disaffected poor cannot simply emigrate.
5 The guiding principle here should be that we stop the bleeding first. That means first secure the border then we can figure out what to do with those who are already here.
This week, the American people scored an important victory by letting their voices be heard. We have to continue the fight, however. This means that we must continue to put the pressure on our elected officials. As soon as they feel that we have gone to sleep, then they will screw us again. Keep writing and keep calling!
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