Guest worker program is really amnesty
By D.A. King, The Sunday Paper, April 9, 2006
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”--
Albert Einstein
For the first time in its history, in 1986 the United States granted a blanket amnesty to nearly three million people who had entered the nation illegally and been allowed to live and work here in further violation of the law so vigorously applied to most of the rest of us.
Twenty years ago, the sales pitch to the suspicious American people from their government—and the business lobby that wanted continued access to the illegal “cheap labor” (primarily from Mexico)—was that the amnesty was a “one time” event that would be a guaranteed resolution to the obvious crisis created by unsecured American borders.
The promise was that after the amnesty, United States immigration and employment laws would be enforced, employers who hired illegals would be sanctioned—and the borders would be protected.
The nation was told that amnesty would stop illegal immigration.
Laws were passed that made it a federal crime to employ, assist, shelter, transport, or harbor what the government labels “illegal aliens”—or encourage them to remain in the U.S..
The reality is that only the amnesty promise was kept. Look around.
In the first two months of this year, United States Border Patrol agents made nearly 400,000 apprehensions at our borders. The best official guess is that one of four or five illegal crossers are caught.
In 2003, state Sen. Sam Zamarripa (D-Atlanta) told the Georgia senate that there were twenty million illegal aliens in the United States. An independent study of the resulting illegal underground economy by Wall Street financial firm Bear Stearns, published in January 2005, confirmed Zamarripa’s estimates.
Those with an agenda of camouflaging the truth label them “immigrants”—a slap in the face to the millions who have joined the American family lawfully.
In today’s America, an employer who openly hires black-market labor has a better chance of being struck by lightning than being punished.
The U.S. Senate, urged on by the same powerful lobby that was so successful in 1986, is now debating another amnesty. Aware that some Americans remember the 1986 debacle, the new label is “guest worker program.”
In the most conservative plan among the many in the senate, the country is now being told that if we legalize the current group of illegal aliens and forgive the crimes of their employers—and bankers—the government sworn to protect and observe the rule of law in our republic will then secure the borders and punish any future violation of immigration or employment laws.
Sound familiar?
Illegal aliens who have been allowed to lower American wages for years are now complaining that the most recent illegal arrivals are lowering their own wages.
Sound familiar?
Maybe the amnesty lobby is right. Maybe by rewarding those who defy our laws and traditions—again—we will stop illegal immigration and secure our borders.
Maybe this time is different. Maybe Einstein was wrong.
Maybe we should try enforcing the existing laws…equally?
Read the complete article.
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