The Gang of 8 in the Senate during 2013 and 2014 tried to manipulate the American people with an immigration bill that was amnesty with no border security assured. The bill was a repeat of 1986 when President Ronald Reagan signed an amnesty for nearly 3 million illegal aliens and expected border security. It never happened.
Now we have a Gang of 6 insisting on the same legislative fraud as happened in those past proposals.
This time, instead of Senator Marco Rubio being the Republican Trojan Horse, it is Senator Lindsay Graham. Why would a Republican senator buy into this nonsense that does not come close to meeting the president’s requirements for making the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy (DACA) permanent? It is because the Republican leadership is bought and paid for by political contributions from corporate America through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. They want cheap labor while the Democrats want new voters who will always vote for the party offering big government programs.
Why is the Gang of 6 proposal a fraud? First, we know that the president insists on border wall funding, an end to chain migration, an end to lottery visas and additional funding for customs and border patrol agents. If he gets this basic group of policy changes for American security, he has already agreed that DACA be made permanent.
The Gang of 6 proposal offers amnesty for DACA-qualified illegal aliens who arrived before June 15, 2012 and were younger than age 17. There would be a period of conditional permanent residency with the conditional status being removed by completing 2 years of college or military service or 3 years of work. They could also be eligible for citizenship after at least 10 years of residency if a DACA-qualified illegal alien or 12 years of residency if you are not DACA-qualified.
This creation of legal status for illegal aliens is always what Democrats are looking for in an immigration bill. The problem is they go no further.
Chain migration is how some have come to this country and committed or attempted to commit terrorist acts. What do the Gang of 6 do about ending this irresponsible policy? They prohibit the DACA residents from sponsoring their parents for green cards. But, the proposal would give the parents immediate and indefinitely renewable legal status and work permits. So, here we have the first fraud in this alleged immigration reform proposal.
Further, they claim to eliminate the category for adult sons and daughters of green card holders. But, they simply transfer the 26000 people a year admitted under this program to a different chain migration program for spouses of green card holders and their children. This, of course, means no net decrease in chain migration. In effect, it is a shell game simply moving the pieces around on the chess board to keep illegal aliens in a status quo position.
Now we turn to the visa lottery. The Gang of 6 would take half the lottery visas presently available and gives them to applicants from lottery countries based on merit. The other half of these visas go to aliens who are now in the Temporary Protected Status category. When those visas for Temporary Protected Status are gone, which should take 12 years, the Gang of 6 would award these visas to applicants who apply in the merit lottery program. This means no reduction in green cards issued annually. Another sleight of hand by the Gang of 6.
What about the wall? The disingenuous proposal offers $1.6 billion for this project. Do they really think President Donald Trump and the voters who elected him in large measure based on the wall, are that politically illiterate? We know that this will do little or nothing for the intended wall for border security, and the likelihood of getting additional future funding for a truly meaningful wall on a scale of 1 to 10 is about minus-six. The wall will be forgotten in the halls of Congress if we do not demand its full funding now.
Also, there is no funding for ICE or any interior enforcement in this proposal. Again, the Gang of 6 ties the hands of enforcement against illegal immigration into our homeland.
There is no mandate or expansion for E-Verify. This is a crucial program that could quickly allow an employer to determine if a job applicant is in this country legally. We do it for firearms purchases from licensed gun dealers and we do it every time we use our credit card with a retail merchant to get approval for the purchase. How can we avoid the common sense and effective tool of E-Verify? It is because these senators do not really want control over our borders. What they refuse to recognize is that without jobs for illegal aliens, they simply would be deterred from entering this nation unless they do so legally.
Further, they do nothing about sanctuary cities or the abused asylum system. And, since 40% of illegal aliens have overstayed their visas, one would think our elected officials would want to have a meaningful and enforceable entry-exit system. They do nothing about this dysfunctional system in their proposal. They also have no funding for the backlogged immigration courts.
Fool me once and it is on you, fool me twice and it is on me, fool me three times and I deserve what I get. We do not deserve to get what Richard Durbin and Lindsey Graham are offering. We deserve what the president is demanding, He was elected on that platform and the voters will should be honored.
As George Santayana said: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” We refuse to be doomed.
Mike Siegel is a notable talk radio host.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.