FrontPage Magazine<\/em><\/a><\/p>\nThe \u201ccomprehensive immigration reform\u201d bill cooked up by the Senate has a decided Obamacare stink to it. Like that disaster, the immigration bill is rushing to solve a whole host of complex problems with a massive, muddled bill few Senators will have the time or inclination to read in its entirety, with the same plethora of unforeseen expensive consequences, all perfumed with the same dubious CBO estimates of money saved and revenue increased. No more encouraging is the similar political bum\u2019s rush being given to anybody\u2013\u2013i.e. House Republicans\u2013\u2013who dares to suggest some due diligence and prudence might be in order.<\/p>\n
This unseemly haste should raise our suspicions. So too should be the deceiving rhetoric and incoherence lacing the arguments from supporters. Most egregious is the outrageous failure to discriminate between legal and illegal immigration. These are separate issues, but the Gang of Eight amnestistas collapse them together for tactical reasons. They can evoke all the sentimental, Emma Lazarus \u201cnation of immigrants\u201d rhetoric to sell their legislation, hiding the social dysfunctions and massive expenses caused by\u00a0illegal<\/i>\u00a0immigration behind feel-good stories of plucky\u00a0legal<\/i>\u00a0immigrants creating new industries and enriching American identity. Anyone who brings up those costs of illegal immigration will then be demonized as \u201canti-immigrant,\u201d \u201cxenophobes,\u201d \u201cnativists,\u201d or \u201cracists,\u201d all question-begging epithets designed to avoid the current legislation\u2019s failure to address any of those costs.<\/p>\n
Then there is the bathetic rhetoric about illegal aliens that also deflects our attention from those costs. John McCain waxed hysterical in the Senate not long ago as he decried the fact that illegals had to \u201clive in the shadows.\u201d What can he possibly mean by that? That they can\u2019t work, attend school, run businesses, obtain EBT cards, shop at malls, visit hospital emergency rooms, be protected by the police, or buy cars and flat-screen televisions? They do all these things and more, so how dark can those \u201cshadows\u201d be? Indeed, in states like California\u2013\u2013home to the largest number of illegal aliens, 2.5 million\u2013\u2013state law has invited them to live as openly as anybody else. A few years ago, the student body president of Fresno State was an illegal alien who flaunted his status at various \u201cDream Act\u201d rallies. Not even wrecking a car while driving under the influence cast him into the \u201cshadows.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCain went on to decry how illegal aliens are \u201cexploited.\u201d Let\u2019s see, they risk their lives crossing scorching deserts, at the tender mercies of the criminals transporting them, so they can be \u201cexploited\u201d? That\u2019s some exploitation that allows you freedom, access to government services, free emergency-room health care, and enough economic opportunity to allow illegal Mexican immigrants to send about $10 billion back to Mexico every year. They left Mexico in the first place to avoid the real exploitation caused by a corrupt government, endemic violence, and a culture of stratified social hierarchies that make economic and social advancement difficult.<\/p>\n
Worst of all is the demand that there be a \u201cpath to citizenship.\u201d Why? Why can\u2019t illegal aliens be given a legal status that removes the threat of deportation but does not grant them the privileges of U.S. citizenship they did not earn the way legal immigrants do? My wife\u2019s grandfather, a Volga German who emigrated from Russia, never became a citizen. He did all right. I know why the Democrats are demanding citizenship. They will reap millions of voters and millions of new clients for their welfare-dependency industry. But what do Republicans think they\u2019ll get?<\/p>\n
I remember\u2013\u2013they think that these \u201chard-working, family values, religious\u201d illegal aliens are \u201cnatural\u201d Republicans and will vote conservative once the GOP shows how much they love them. This is delusional. These new voters will vote Democratic, because the Democrats cater to their interests. And simply repeating the \u201chard-working, family values, religious\u201d mantra isn\u2019t going to make it true. Not because there aren\u2019t illegal aliens who have those qualities. I\u2019ve personally known more that do have them than all the Gang of Eight put together. The point is, the amnestistas and their legislation do not codify a workable mechanism for sorting out which do and which do not. Citizenship will be granted indiscriminately, with only the most egregious felons sifted out. And even then, only felons stupid enough to apply for amnesty will get caught. The rest will just keep on living as they already are. All the rest, including those who have 2 DUI\u2019s or have illegally received welfare benefits, will get to become citizens, and then start bringing their extended families along for the ride.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because the enforcement provisions of this bill are moonshine. If the feds were interested in sorting the illegal wheat from the chaff, they would have been doing it already, and every illegal alien in an American penitentiary would have long ago been shipped back to their home countries. E-verify would already be universal, and businesses that hire undocumented workers would be prosecuted. If they really wanted to secure the border, they would have done it already. The fact is, this legislation is about specific present benefits bought with vague future promises to make illegal aliens \u201cgo to the back of the line\u201d in order to become citizens. Living in the U.S. is not the \u201cback of the line.\u201d Going back to Mexico is. Ask those aspiring to become Americans who have been waiting decades for legal entry where\u00a0they<\/i>\u00a0think the \u201cback of the line\u201d is.<\/p>\n
This bill if passed will guarantee that 30 years from now we\u2019ll still have an illegal alien problem. When the last amnesty passed in 1986, there were 3 million illegal aliens. Now we have 11 million. Just what in the current bill protects against that moral hazard? Once again a bunch of elites insulated from the consequences of their legislative malfeasance are passing the costs of their political and economic self-interests onto others.<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2009 FrontPage Magazine. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Bruce S. Thornton FrontPage Magazine The \u201ccomprehensive immigration reform\u201d bill cooked up by the Senate has a decided Obamacare stink to it. Like that disaster, the immigration bill is rushing to solve a whole host of complex problems with a massive, muddled bill few Senators will have the time or inclination to read in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[111,22],"tags":[268,861,1059,131,527],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1AB","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6100,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/immigration-if-the-bill-passes\/","url_meta":{"origin":6113,"position":0},"title":"Immigration: If the Bill Passes","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Both Obama's record and the results of past immigration \"reforms\" paint a bleak picture. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online There are lots of reasons to believe that most of what is promised in the current so-called comprehensive immigration-reform bill won\u2019t be honored if it is passed by the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Immigration"","block_context":{"text":"Immigration","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/immigration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6995,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/republicans-go-on-an-immigration-reform-bender\/","url_meta":{"origin":6113,"position":1},"title":"Republicans Go On an Immigration Reform Bender","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/\u00a0FrontPage Magazine\u00a0 Rather than twisting the political knife in the gaping wound that is Obamacare, House Republicans are off on a \u201ccomprehensive immigration reform\u201d toot. The latest news has the Speaker putting off any action for now, and waiting until after the midterm elections in order\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Immigration"","block_context":{"text":"Immigration","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/immigration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/519px-Greatwall_large-259x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7589,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/immigration-and-americas-failure-of-nerve\/","url_meta":{"origin":6113,"position":2},"title":"Immigration and America\u2019s Failure of Nerve","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Bruce Thornton\u00a0\/\/ FrontPage Magazine The number of unaccompanied children from Central America into the U.S. has reached 47,000 since October, and may hit 90,000 by the end of this year. The official story is that they are fleeing drug-gang mayhem and political violence in their home countries, and so are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mexico"","block_context":{"text":"Mexico","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/mexico\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/br-450x288.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1763,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/another-partisan-push-for-another-comprehensive-reform\/","url_meta":{"origin":6113,"position":3},"title":"Another Partisan Push for Another ‘Comprehensive Reform’?","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services Candidate Barack Obama promised immigration activists, \"I think it's time for a president who won't walk away from something as important as comprehensive reform when it becomes politically unpopular.\" Now pressure groups are demanding Obama come through on his pledges. In response, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "March 2010"","block_context":{"text":"March 2010","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2010\/march-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6301,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/our-lost-howard-beale-moments\/","url_meta":{"origin":6113,"position":4},"title":"Our Lost Howard Beale Moments","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/\u00a0FrontPage Magazine Remember Howard Beale, the deranged anchorman from\u00a0Network? During one broadcast he tells the viewers to turn off their televisions, go to the window, and yell, \u201cI\u2019m mad as hell, and I\u2019m not going to take it anymore!\u201d In one of the iconic scenes from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8580,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/still-blind-to-the-costs-of-illegal-immigration\/","url_meta":{"origin":6113,"position":5},"title":"Still Blind to the Costs of Illegal Immigration","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"What really explains Trump\u2019s rapid climb to the top of the polls. by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/ FrontPage Magazine Donald Trump\u2019s blunt and clumsy comments about illegal immigration sparked the usual firestorm of criticism from the well heeled of both parties. Particularly vocal were those Republicans who think that an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Immigration"","block_context":{"text":"Immigration","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/immigration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo via FPM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/pl_5-500x281.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6113"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6113"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6125,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6113\/revisions\/6125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}