The high tide of the Open Borders campaign
From the Federation for American Immigration Reform, here is a summary of the unbelievable bill that was
passed by the Judiciary Committee last night. Amidst this insanity there seems one spot of good news: I do not see among the bill’s measures any increase of legal immigration. One of the proposals before the Committee was to increase green card visas by one million per year. (As far as I can tell, FAIR does not have this useful document, which they sent to me as an e-mail, posted at their website, so I reformatted it in html for this website.)
General Amnesty (Graham R-SC, Kennedy D-MA Amendment)
- All 12 million currently resident illegal aliens would be permitted to apply for a work visa after paying back taxes and a $1000 penalty.
- The visas would last for three years and be renewable for three more years.
- After the forth year, these 12 million newly-minted legal aliens-their family members who will ultimately be permitted to join them pushing the numbers through the roof-would be permitted to apply for a green card setting them on a path for citizenship.
- Approved 12-5.
- Yesterday’s Villains include Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Mike DeWine (R-OH) who joined all Democrats by voting for the most sweeping amnesty in American history.
- Cowardly Lion Award goes to Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) who was conveniently out of the room and did not vote.
Agricultural Worker Amnesty (Feinstein D-CA Amendment)
- All 1.5 million illegal alien agricultural worker would receive a new “blue card” that would allow them to remain in the United States as long as they work in agriculture for a small portion of two years.
- Following this period all of these 1.5 million newly-minted legal aliens-their family members who will ultimately be permitted to join them will at minimum double the numbers-would be permitted to apply for a green card, placing them on a path toward citizenship.
- Approved 11-5 on a roll call vote (votes by Senators not immediately available, but mirror those of the general amnesty vote above).
Guests Who Never Have to Leave (Kennedy D-MA Amendment)
- Provides 400,000 new guest worker visas annually.
- New guest workers given renewable 3 year terms of work authorization.
- Following 6 years, the new “guests” may apply for green cards, placing them on a path toward citizenship if they can show that they are learning English and pass background checks.
- Approved 11-6 by roll call vote (votes by Senators not immediately available but mirror those of the general amnesty vote above).
Want to Go to College? U.S. Citizens Go To The Back of The Line!
In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens Anyone? (Durbin D-IL Amendment)
- Repeals current law barring in-state tuition for illegal aliens unless the same benefit is made available to out of state residents.
- This will effectively require middle and lower income Americans to directly compete with illegal aliens for limited freshman class seats at state colleges and universities.
Invitation to Overstay Visas
Decriminalize Visa Overstayers Anyone? (Durbin D-IL Amendment)
- Makes overstay of a visa-40 percent of all illegal aliens are visa overstayers-a civil violation and removes all criminal penalties.
- Approved 11-6 by roll call vote (votes by Senators not immediately available but mirror those of the general amnesty vote above).
Final Bill Approved by Committee Roll Call Vote of 12-6
Voted For Committee Approval
Arlen Specter (R-PA)
DeWine (R-OH)
Graham (R-SC)
Brownback (R-KS)
Leahy (D-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Biden (D-DE)
Kohl (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Feingold (D-WI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Durbin (D-IL)
Voted Against Committee Approval
Hatch (R-UT)
Grassley (R-IA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Sessions (R-AL)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Coburn (R-TN)
Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 28, 2006 01:46 PM | Send