“This is not an amnesty”—NOT!
Dave Brehmer writes:
What is most interesting so far is the claim that a programs that grants a “path” to legal status or citizenship is not an amnesty.
Amnesty is defined generally as, “a period during which offenders are exempt from punishment”; “leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice”; and “to grant a pardon to.”
The proponents of a guest worker program and those generally supportive of illegal aliens “rights,” say that the current plans as put forth by the President and McCain-Kennedy are not an amnesty because there are fines and conditions involved—and therefore it can’t be an amnesty?
I would guess that these people are making reference to the first definition that I listed. However, by saying that an illegal alien has to pay a $2000 (or whatever) “fee” along with the application for a guest worker permit is not a punishment by any definition. Currently, all legal immigrants must pay a fee for the application(s) submitted on their behalf and these can reach into the thousands of dollars.
The added condition that illegals pay back taxes for each year that they have been here illegally is so ludicrous as not even to merit a laugh. As the overwhelming majority of these persons have no documentation to support what they have earned, how can they be held to account for paying a tax on these earnings? Perhaps it would be simpler to assume that they earned the minimum wage for a 40-hour week and tax that figure?
And does anyone honestly believe that the Mexican government will be able or willing to provide criminal background checks on someone here illegally?
As for the claim that applications for illegal aliens to receive kind of legitimate status will go to “the back of the line,” there is currently a backlog in excess of 4-million applications with Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) for those who have been waiting patiently and lawfully. So, if the “temporary worker” is only supposed to be here a limited time (5-6 years), when would their application ever see the light of day?
Ultimately there are only two directions that the illegal alien situation can move in, legalization of over 20-million illegals or massive deportations. A move in either direction is going to foment a civil war. The American public has always been liked to a “sleeping giant,” and if it wakes up to this travesty it will not sit quietly and watch the country shift hands. On the other hand, by the time the giant awakens, the sheer “Hispanization” momentum will not be easily stopped.
Latin America has no interest in improving the economic well-being of its impoverished peoples as long as billions of U.S. dollars are remitted to their coffers (and pockets). The mostly non-aggressive invasion of America fits perfectly within their goals of personal power and wealth at no cost to themselves—typical Latin American politics.
Posted by Lawrence Auster at April 04, 2006 12:39 AM | Send