Wading through the Senate immigration bill


"Reform"my left foot, it's more of the same
I haven't had a chance to review the Senate immigration bill in detail. If my read is correct, I am not going to take the time. I can sum it up for you in one sentence.

More of the same.

If you are interested, Hugh Hewitt has a pretty good discussion on the subject.

And N.Z. Bear did an amazing job of breaking the bill into sections with annotations and open comments.

I think some of my favorite comments so far come from this OpinionJournal article. Emphasis added.

But this is no way to debate the most sweeping change to our nation's immigration laws in two decades--especially since the last comprehensive attempt, the Immigration Reform and Control Act, failed so spectacularly. The new bill is set to pass with much less analysis in the Senate than the 1986 law, known as Simpson-Mazzoli, had. Senators did not even receive the bill draft until midnight Saturday. After a test vote scheduled for today, Majority Leader Harry Reid is planning a final vote on the bill this Thursday, only one week after the compromise was struck. Shouldn't senators have time to actually read the bill they're being asked to vote on?

<snip>

Why the rush? Because, to be blunt, the senators don't trust the American people to make sound judgments on such emotional issues as family reunification and national sovereignty. But the proper response to this is to engage the public in the discussion, not to short-circuit the deliberative process. One of the reasons the American people are cynical about government is that they don't believe its officials take the time to discharge their duties properly. Now a 1,000 page immigration bill is being put before senators for a vote without anyone having the time to study its details. Many will merely be leaning on talking points prepared by their staff.

Buried in the bill's legalese, there are promises to enforce the law along with technological bells and whistles, but it repeats the two main mistakes from the 1986 reform. It forgives those who broke the law but are already here. And it places the responsibility for monitoring and enforcement squarely on employers.

See, illegal immigration is a hot potato. Despite what their constituents feel, every national politico wants to bend the demographics so that they personally benefit. So there will be the occasional show raid and draconian crackdowns on some of the worst offending companies, but for the most part Congress doesn't want the law enforced because they don't want the flak and they want the future votes.

Just like the last seven attempts at immigration reform, this bill sanctions a two-tier legal system. Can you imagine forgiving any other group for breaking Federal laws?

What happens to those people who avoid paying taxes?

How about those people who supply medical marijuana?

How about those people who want to buy a gun without a Federal background check?

Can you imagine Congress granting amnesty to ANYONE who broke those laws?

Can you imagine Congress granting amnesty to anyone who broke a FEDERAL law?

That is what I mean by a two tiered legal system. Already illegals are mostly excused from the immigration laws. And since local police see the revolving door, serious crimes by some illegals are overlooked as well.

And notice that Immigration took a page from the IRS. They are spying on you without actually having to pay someone else to do it. Your employer HAS to report your immigration status, otherwise all assets of that company can be seized.

Nice, huh?

Here's my solution. I want open borders, but I don't want one penny of tax money to go to any immigrant. I want any non-citizen who commits a felony to be immediately kicked out of the country with no hope of return. And I want that strictly enforced.

Meanwhile non-citizens who are here can't be counted in the census and they can't vote.

I do think that non-citizens need an economic incentive to become citizens, but I haven't worked out a practical one yet. Especially since I want to do away with the income tax. Maybe we could do away with the income tax entirely except for a 1% income tax with no exemptions levied on resident noncitizens.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - May 21, 2007 at 05:33 AM  Tag


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