Good riddance to the "immigration" bill

If you've listened to talk radio for five minutes during the past two weeks, or even read some of the mainstream news reports, you can't have missed the anger in Republican circles over this debacle of an immigration bill. We expect Republicans to show more sense than they've shown, particularly after losing the election this past November. But they haven't learned their lesson yet, or at least some of them haven't.

And despite generally being a supporter of President Bush, I have to strongly disagree with him on immigration reform.

The more I learn about this bill, the worse it looks. And it may come back. Take a look at some of the provisions:

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/6/8/101354.shtml?s=lh

-Allows illegal immigrants who were in the country as of Jan. 1, 2007, to come forward, pay fees and fines, pass a background check and receive an indefinitely renewable four-year Z visa to live and work legally in the U.S.

-Allows Z visa holders to get on a path to citizenship after an approximately eight-year green card backlog is cleared if they pay fines, hold down jobs and learn English. Heads of households would have to return to their home countries to apply.

-Creates a new temporary worker program that would allow up to 200,000 guest-workers per year to enter on two-year Y visas that could be renewed twice, provided they returned to their home countries for a year between each stint. Sunsets the program after five years.

-Prevents the Y and Z visa programs from taking effect until security and enforcement triggers are met, including adding 20,000 border agents, 370 miles of fencing, 300 miles of vehicle barriers, and a new worker verification system to prevent the hiring of illegal workers.

-Creates a new employment-based point system for new immigrants to qualify for green cards based on their education and skill level, and eliminates or limits visa preferences for family members of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.

-Includes a special, less burdensome path to legal status for undocumented agricultural workers and high school graduates who came to the U.S. illegally with their parents.

Here's the bottom line: this bill is not about fixing our illegal immigration problem. It's about legalizing twenty million government dependents who will vote Democrat, and who will provide cheap labor for big business. This isn't a case of either Democrats or Republicans singly giving in to lobbyists. This is bipartisan wrecking of the country.

I've been more involved with letting my voice be heard on this bill than on anything so far. I called and e-mailed both my state senators to express my opposition to the bill. I e-mailed Mitch McConnell to express my hope that he would oppose the bill. I went to a town meeting held by my local representative to get my point of view across.

The bottom line is this: once the bill is signed, all bets are off. Given that the government has had no desire to enforce immigration law for the past twenty years, I have no reason to believe that new laws will be enforced either. Once these illegals are made legal, there will be no incentive to penalize them or send them home. It will never happen. To be even more plain, the government cannot be trusted to enforce the laws that they have written.

Immigration doesn't need to be dealt with in one massive comprehensive boondoggle of a bill. It needs to be done one step at a time. First things first: seal up the border. Second, revamp the system so it's not so difficult for those who want to legally come here to do so. Third, take away all incentive and then penalize employers who hire illegals. Those who are just here for money will leave on their own sooner or later, and those who want to assimilate and become Americans can do so. Finally, make English the national language. Make it the glue that helps to create our common culture.

RIP Immigration bill. Good riddance. Let's keep it dead. Sorry President Bush. Sorry John McCain and Lindsey Grahamnesty. You're wrong on this one.