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The US Senate June 2007 Amnesty Compromise bill - S 1639

On June 18, 2007, the US Senate, in blatant disregard for the wishes of the Sovereign American People, introduced a new amnesty bill, S.1639, as a replacement for the original May amnesty bill S.1348. Here is the full text of S.1369.

Below is information in the original bill. Most of this is still applicable to the new bill.

The US Senate May 2007 Amnesty Compromise bill - S 1348

See this synopsis of the terrible Senate Amnesty bill: S 1348 - the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2007. Here is a searchable version of the bill, broken down by section. Here are amendments to the bill.

Here is the final version of the bill as of May 21, 2007, sponsored by Senator Kennedy, who stated in 1986, when hard-selling to Congress the 1986 "amnesty to end all amnesties":

"This amnesty will give citizenship to only 1.1 to 1.3 million illegal aliens. We will secure the borders henceforth. We will never again bring forward another amnesty bill like this."

Just 26% Favor Senate Immigration Plan

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Initial public reaction to the immigration proposal being debated in the Senate is decidedly negative.

A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey conducted Monday and Tuesday night shows that just 26% of American voters favor passage of the legislation. Forty-eight percent (48%) are opposed while 26% are not sure. The bi-partisan agreement among influential Senators and the White House has been met with bi-partisan opposition among the public. The measure is opposed by 47% of Republicans, 51% of Democrats, and 46% of those not affiliated with either major party.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of voters say it is Very Important for “the government to improve its enforcement of the borders and reduce illegal immigration.” That view is held by 89% of Republicans, 65% of Democrats, and 63% of unaffiliated voters....

Only 29% of voters say it is Very Important for “the government to legalize the status of illegal aliens already in the United States.” Thirty-eight percent (38%) of Democrats believe that legalization is Very Important. Just 22% of Republicans and 27% of unaffiliated voters share that view....

NewsMax Poll: Just 4 Percent Favor Immigration Plan

By a margin of more than 23 to 1, Americans overwhelmingly oppose the Senate's plan for immigration reform, an Internet poll sponsored by NewsMax reveals. Respondents in the poll - which drew more than 100,000 participants - also said they would oppose any 2008 presidential candidate who supports the Kennedy-McCain plan. Here are the poll questions and results:

1. What is your overall opinion of the Senate immigration deal?
Favorable: 4 percent; Unfavorable: 95 percent; No opinion: 1 percent

2. What should be done with the 12 million illegals in the U.S.?
Deport them: 85 percent; Offer them citizenship eventually: 11 percent; Do nothing with them: 4 percent

3. Would you vote for any presidential candidate who supported this deal?
Vote for: 5 percent; Vote against: 95 percent

4. GOP candidates Rudy Giuliani and John McCain have expressed support for the immigration deal. Are you:
More likely to vote for them: 4 percent; Less likely: 93 percent; No opinion: 3 percent

5. GOP candidates Mitt Romney and Tom Tancredo oppose the Senate immigration deal. Are You:
More likely to vote for them: 89 percent; Less likely: 5 percent; No opinion: 6 percent

6. Rate President Bush's handling of the border and immigration issues.
Excellent: 1 percent; Good: 3 percent; OK: 8 percent; Bad: 29 percent; Very poor: 59 percent

Only a few of the significant problems with the amnesty bill

• "The average illegal immigrant [alien] family receives an average of $30,000 in government benefits! Yet they pay only about $9,000 in taxes per year. That creates a $21,000 shortfall that the American taxpayer has to make up. That's like buying each of these illegal immigrants [aliens] a brand new Mustang convertible - each and every year!"
   
  - Robert Rector, PhD, The Heritage Foundation
  "All background checks on those applying for amnesty must be completed within 24 hours, although there is no justification why and plenty of reason to suggest that complete background checks can't be done so quickly." (Bill Tucker on Lou Dobbs, CNN, April 22, 2007)
   
  "A one-business-day time limit is madness, particularly if 48,000 aliens applied in a single day," warns Kris Kobach, counsel under former Attorney General John Ashcroft." (Immigration bill subverts Americanization, English language, Deroy Murdock, Scripps Howard News Service, May 24, 2007)
• "Gang members would be given amnesty if they renounce their gang membership. If an illegal alien is arrested in an enforcement raid and might be eligible for amnesty, the government must provide help in applying for the Z visa and release the illegal alien." (Bill Tucker on Lou Dobbs, CNN, April 22, 2007)
• The bill would decrease the length of the border fence to be built from approximately 854 miles authorized in 2006 to approximately 200 miles. (Bill Tucker on Lou Dobbs, CNN, April 22, 2007)
• Under the bill anyone who absconds after being ordered deported will be eligible for amnesty. If they follow the law and follow a judge's deportation order, they will not be elegible for amnesty - so they would not follow the law and leave. (Bill Tucker on Lou Dobbs, CNN, April 22, 2007)
• Illegal aliens are already faced with a $5,000 fine (19 USC 1459 and 19 USC 1433), but this fine is not enforced. The $5,000 fine stipulated in the amnesty bill is simply a service charge to gain dual citizenship (Mexico already gives emigrants dual citizenship).
• The Z (amnesty) visa could be extended indefinitely for the life of the holder. It is not temporary.
• "If passed, this bill will make taxpayers pay the legal bills for illegal aliens seeking amnesty...." - Ken Boehm, Chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), May 22, 2007.
• H1B visas will be doubled from 85,000 to 160,000, thereby displacing nearly 80,000 American high tech workers annually.
• Under the amnesty, illegal aliens would not have to pay back taxes. But they would be eligible for earned income tax credit. (Lou Dobbs, CNN, May 23, 2007)
• Once granted amnesty, illegal aliens would not have to learn English for four to seven years. (Immigration bill subverts Americanization, English language, Deroy Murdock, Scripps Howard News Service, May 24, 2007, Lou Dobbs, CNN, May 23, 2007)
• The amnesty specifies a "point system" for future legal entry into the U.S. However, this will not fully take effect for eight years. (Lou Dobbs, CNN, May 23, 2007)
• "Section 413 promises U.S. help in getting financial services to Mexico's poor and under-served populations, expanding effort to reduce the transaction costs of remittance flows, helping the Mexican government to strengthen education and job training, and increasing health care access for the poor in Mexico." (Christine Romans on Lou Dobbs, CNN, April 22, 2007) "...we have truly entered a bizarre place, where the president of the United States, President George W. Bush, is representing the interests of Mexican citizens in this country, and Congress, our Senate, is attempting to impose a law that is appropriately the purview of the Mexican legislature." Lou Dobbs, CNN, April 22, 2007)
• "Section 413 asks the U.S. Congress to ramp up the six-year-old bilateral Partnership for Prosperity and highlights the broader North American Security and Prosperity Partnership." (Christine Romans on Lou Dobbs, CNN, April 22, 2007)
• Over the next 13 years alone, it would increase the current number of legal foreign-born green card holders from about 25 million (who arrived over 75 years) to around 50 million. (NumbersUSA.com)
• Robert Rector, Heritage Foundation, just estimated that this particular amnesty will cost the American taxpayers 2.3 tp 2.5 trillion—that's right trillion—dollars!
   
  

  "...The White House misleads with its claims that the amnesty recipients won't get welfare benefits. For the first decade or so they are in the United States, the adults can't get means-tested welfare benefits but their children could. And after that first decade, the adults get to partake of the welfare state as well. For the next 40 years, notes Mr. Rector, they are eligible "for every single type" of these welfare benefits."

  "So the bottom line is that each of these households receives about $30,000 in government benefits, pays about $10,000 in taxes, at a net cost of around $19,000 per year [after rounding]. That's the equivalent of buying each of these households an automobile and every year of their lives as long as they're in the United States." (The immigration time-bomb Washington Times editorial, May 23, 2007)

• The amnesty bill would codify President Bill Clinton's Executive Order 13166 so that only Congress could repeal it. This Order is an entitlement for a translator in any language you want other than English...if you are a recipient of federal funds. (Immigration bill subverts Americanization, English language, Deroy Murdock, Scripps Howard News Service, May 24, 2007)
• Ted Kennedy has already pushed SEVEN amnesties into law. None was followed by a reduction in illegal immigration. This amnesty will be no different.
  1. In 1986, Ted Kennedy's blanket amnesty for 2.7 million illegal aliens promised a lot more enforcement but did not set any requirments for actual reductions in illegal immigration. The illegal flow continued.
  2. In 1994, Ted Kennedy's Section 245(i) Amnesty gave legal residence and jobs to 578,000 illegal aliens. It was a temporary rolling amnesty primarily for extended family members of immigrants who instead of waiting in line, come on to the country illegally. The illegal flow continued.
  3. In 1997, Ted Kennedy's extension of the Section 245(i) rolling amnesty was followed by an increasing flow of illegal immigration.
  4. In 1997, Ted Kennedy also won an amnesty for close to one million illegal aliens from Central America. Illegal immigration sped up s ome more.
  5. In 1998, Ted Kennedy won an amnesty for 125,000 illegal aliens from Haiti. The illegal flow continued.
  6. In 2000, Ted Kennedy got the so-called Late Amnesty, legalizing another 400,000 illegal aliens who claimed that they missed out on Kennedy's 1986 amnesty. Illegal immigration continued unimpeded.
  7. In 2000, Ted Kennedy also won the LIFE Act Amnesty for an estimated 900,000 illegal aliens. It was another reinstatement of the rolling Section 245(i) amnesty., an estimated 900,000 illegal aliens. Illegal immigration accelerated.

Senate Amnesty Could Strain Welfare System

As they debate legalization for illegal immigrants [aliens], Senators would do well to keep in mind the most recent data on welfare use by the people in question. According to the Department of Homeland Security, nearly 60% of illegal aliens are from Mexico and 80% of the total are from Latin America as a whole. A new Center for Immigration Studies analysis of 2006 Census Bureau data, which includes legal and illegal immigrants [aliens], shows use of welfare by households headed by Mexican and Latin American immigrants [aliens] is more than double that of native households. Among the findings:

* 51% of all Mexican immigrant [and presumably illegal alien] households use at least one major welfare program and 28% use more than one program.
– 40% use food assistance, 35% use Medicaid, 6% use cash assistance.

* 45% of all Latin American immigrant [and presumably illegal alien] households use at least one welfare program and 24% use more than one program.
– 32% use food assistance, 31% use Medicaid, 6% use cash assistance.

* Only 20% of native households use at least one welfare program and 11% multiple programs.
– 11% use food assistance, 15% use Medicaid, 5% use cash assistance.

Read the full report, plus a table and data broken out for the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Texas.

Sen. Sessions Releases List of 20 Loopholes in the Senate Immigration Bill

By U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions, published by The Watchdog June 4, 2007

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) released a list of 20 loopholes in the comprehensive immigration bill today which reveals that the bill is fatally flawed and will not establish a functioning immigration system in the future.

The list of loopholes includes flaws effecting border security, chain-migration and assimilation policies. The list exposes the lack of serious attention given to ensuring that the legislation fixes America’s failed immigration system.

“I am deeply concerned about the numerous loopholes we have found in this legislation. They are more than technical errors, but rather symptoms of a fundamentally flawed piece of legislation that stands no chance of actually fixing our broken immigration system,” Sessions said. “Many of the loopholes are indicative of a desire not to have the system work.”

For example, one loophole in the “enforcement trigger” fails to require the U.S. VISIT system – the biometric border check-in/check-out system established by Congress in 1996, but never implemented – to be fully functioning before new worker or amnesty programs begin. Without the system in place, the U.S. has no method of ensuring that workers and their families do not overstay their visas.

Another flaw in the legislation prevents the benefits of merit-based immigration from taking full effect until 2016. Until then, chain migration into the U.S. will actually triple, compared to a disproportionately low increase in skill-based immigration. As a result, the merit-based system in the bill is only a shell of what it should have been.

A third loophole in the bill allows immigrants to avoid demonstrating a proficiency in English for more than a decade. Illegal aliens are not required to learn English to receive full “probationary benefits” of citizenship. Passing a basic English test is only required for the third Z-visa renewal, twelve years after amnesty is granted.

Sessions will highlight many of the loopholes contained in the list this week during Senate debate on the immigration bill.

* Loophole 1 – Legal Status Before Enforcement:

Amnesty benefits do not wait for the “enforcement trigger.” After filing an application and waiting 24 hours, illegal aliens will receive full “probationary benefits,” complete with the ability to legally live and work in the U.S., travel outside of the U.S. and return, and their own social security card. Astonishingly, if the trigger is never met and amnesty applications are therefore never “approved,” the probationary benefits granted to the illegal alien population never expire, and the new social security cards issued to the illegal alien population are not revoked. [See pp. 1, 290-291, & 315].

* Loophole 2 – U.S. VISIT Exit Not In Trigger:

The “enforcement trigger,” required to be met before the new temporary worker program begins, does not require that the exit portion of U.S. VISIT system – the biometric border check-in/check-out system first required by Congress in 1996 that is already well past its already postponed 2005 implementation due date – to be in place before new worker or amnesty programs begin. Without the U.S. VISIT exit portion, the U.S. has no method to ensure that workers (or their visiting families) do not overstay their visas. Our current illegal population contains 4 to 5.5 million visa overstays, therefore, we know that the U.S. VISIT exit component is key to a successful new temporary worker program. [See pp. 1-2].

* Loophole 3 – Trigger Requires No More Agents, Beds, or Fencing Than Current Law:

The “enforcement trigger” does not require the Department of Homeland Security to have detention space sufficient to end “catch and release” at the border and in the interior. Even after the adoption of amendment 1172, the trigger merely requires the addition of 4,000 detention beds, bringing DHS to a 31,500 bed capacity. This is far short of the 43,000 beds required under current law to be in place by the end of 2007, or the additional 20,000 beds required later in the bill. Additionally, the bill establishes a “catch, pay, and release” program. This policy will benefit illegal aliens from countries other than Mexico that are caught at the border, then can post a $5,000 bond, be released and never show up for deportation hearings. Annual failure to appear rates for 2005 and 2006, caused in part by lack of detention space, doubled the 2004 rate (106,000 – 110,000 compared with 54,000). Claims that the bill “expands fencing” are inaccurate. The bill only requires 370 miles of fencing to be completed, while current law already mandates that more than 700 miles be constructed [See pp. 1-2, & 10-11, and EOIR’s FY2006 Statistical Yearbook, p. H2, and The Secure Fence Act of 2004].

* Loophole 4 — Three Additional Years Worth of Illegal Aliens Granted Status, Treated Preferentially To Legal Filers:

Aliens who broke into the country illegally a mere 5 months ago, are treated better than foreign nationals who legally applied to come to the U.S. more than two years ago. Aliens who can prove they were illegally in the U.S. on January 1, 2007, are immediately eligible to apply from inside the U.S. for amnesty benefits, while foreign nationals that filed applications to come to the U.S. after May 1, 2005 must start the application process over again from their home countries. Last year’s bill required illegal aliens to have been here before January 7, 2004 to qualify for permanent legal status. [See pp. 263, 282, & 306].

* Loophole 5 – Completion of Background Checks Not Required For Probationary Legal Status:

Legal status must be granted to illegal aliens 24 hours after they file an application, even if the aliens have not yet “passed all appropriate background checks.” (Last year’s bill gave DHS 90 days to check an alien’s background before any status was granted). No legal status should be given to any illegal alien until all appropriate background checks are complete. [See pp. 290].

* Loophole 6 – Some Child Molesters Are Still Eligible:

Some aggravated felons – those who have sexually abused a minor – are eligible for amnesty. A child molester who committed the crime before the bill is enacted is not barred from getting amnesty if their conviction document omitted the age of the victim. The bill corrects this loophole for future child molesters, but does not close the loophole for current or past convictions. [See p. 47: 30-33, & p. 48: 1-2]

* Loophole 7 – Terrorism Connections Allowed, Good Moral Character Not Required:

Illegal aliens with terrorism connections are not barred from getting amnesty. An illegal alien seeking most immigration benefits must show “good moral character.” Last year’s bill specifically barred aliens with terrorism connections from having “good moral character” and being eligible for amnesty. This year’s bill does neither. Additionally, bill drafters ignored the Administration’s request that changes be made to the asylum, cancellation of removal, and withholding of removal statutes in order to prevent aliens with terrorist connections from receiving relief. [Compare §204 in S. 2611 from the 109th Congress with missing §204 on p. 48 of S.A. 1150, & see missing subsection (5) on p. 287 of S.A. 1150].

* Loophole 8 – Gang Members Are Eligible:

Instead of ensuring that members of violent gangs such as MS 13 are deported after coming out of the shadows to apply for amnesty, the bill will allow violent gang members to get amnesty as long as they “renounce” their gang membership on their application. [See p. 289: 34-36].

* Loophole 9 – Absconders Are Eligible:

Aliens who have already had their day in court – those subject to final orders of removal, voluntary departure orders, or reinstatement of their final orders of removal – are eligible for amnesty under the bill. The same is true for aliens who have made a false claim to citizenship or engaged in document fraud. More than 636,000 alien fugitives could be covered by this loophole. [See p. 285:19-22 which waives the following inadmissibility grounds: failure to attend a removal proceeding; final orders of removal for alien smuggling; aliens unlawfully present after previous immigration violations or deportation orders; and aliens previously removed. This appears to conflict with language on p. 283:40-41. When a direct conflict appears in a statute, the statue is interpreted by the courts to the benefit of the alien.].

* Loophole 10 – Learning English Not Required For A Decade:

Illegal aliens are not required to demonstrate any proficiency in English for more than a decade after they are granted amnesty. Learning English is not required for an illegal alien to receive probationary benefits, the first 4-year Z visa, or the second 4-year Z visa. The first Z visa renewal (the second 4-year Z visa) requires only that the alien demonstrate an “attempt” to learn English by being “on a waiting list for English classes.” Passing a basic English test is required only for a second Z visa renewal (the third 4-year Z visa), and even then the alien only has to pass the test “prior to the expiration of the second extension of Z status” (12 years down the road). [See pp. 295-296].

* Loophole 11 – Earned Income Tax Credit Will Cost Taxpayers Billions In Just 10 Years:

Current illegal aliens and new guest workers will be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, a refundable tax credit designed to encourage American citizens and legal permanent residents to work. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this loophole will cost the U.S. taxpayer up to $20 billion dollars in just the first 10 years after the bill’s enactment. To be consistent with the intent of the 1996 welfare reforms – which limited new immigrants from receiving public benefits until they had been legal permanent residents for five years – the bill should withhold EITC eligibility from amnestied aliens until they become legal permanent residents. Closing this loophole will save the taxpayers billions of dollars. [See p. 293 after S.A. 1190 was adopted, p. 307, p. 315, §606. All that is required for EITC eligibility is a social security number and resident alien status. Nothing in the bill’s tax provisions limit EITC eligibility. The issuance of social security numbers to aliens as soon as they apply for amnesty will ensure they are able to qualify for the EITC.]

* Loophole 12 – Affidavits From Friends Accepted As Evidence:

Records from day-labor centers, labor unions, and “sworn declarations” from any non-relative (acquaintances, friends, coworkers, etc) are to be accepted as evidence that the illegal alien has satisfied the bill’s amnesty requirements. This low burden of proof will invite fraud and more illegal immigration – even aliens who are not yet in the U.S. will likely meet this burden of proof. DHS will not have the resources to examine whether the claims contained in the “sworn declarations” of the alien’s friends (that the alien was here prior to January 1, 2007 and is currently employed) are actually valid. [See p. 293: 13-16].

* Loophole 13 – Taxpayer Funded Legal Counsel and Arbitration:

Free legal counsel and the fees and expenses of arbitrators will be provided to aliens that have been working illegally in agriculture. The U.S. taxpayer will fund the attorneys that help these individuals fill out their amnesty applications. Additionally, if these individuals have a dispute with their employer over whether they were fired for “just cause,” DHS will “pay the fee and expenses of the arbitrator.” [See p. 339:37-41, & p. 332: 37-38.]

* Loophole 14 – In-State Tuition and Student Loans:

In-state tuition and other higher education benefits, such as Stafford Loans, will be made available to current illegal aliens that are granted initial “probationary” status, even if the same in-state tuition rates are not offered to all U.S. citizens. This would normally violate current law (8 U.S.C. §1623) which mandates that educational institutions give citizens the same postsecondary education benefits they offer to illegal aliens. [See p. 321: 8-31].

* Loophole 15 – Inadequacy of the Merit System:

The “merit system,” designed to shift the U.S. green card distribution system to attract higher skilled workers that benefit the national interest, is only a shell of what it should have been. Though the merit system begins immediately, it will not increase the percentage of high skilled immigrants coming to the United States until 2016, 8 years after enactment. Of the 247,000 green cards dedicated to the merit based system each year for the first 5 years, 100,000 green cards will be reserved for low-skilled guest workers (10,000) and for clearing the current employment based green card backlog (90,000). From 2013 to 2015, the number of merit based green cards drops to 140,000, and of that number, 100,000 green cards are still reserved each year for low-skilled guest workers (10,000) and for clearing the current employment based green card backlog (90,000). Even after 2015, when the merit system really begins (in 2016) by having 380,000 green cards annually, 10,00 green cards will be reserved specifically for low skilled workers, and points will be given for many characteristics that are not considered “high-skilled.” For example, 16 points will be given for aliens in “high demand occupations” which includes janitors, maids, food preparation workers, and groundskeepers. [See p.260: 25 – p. 261: 20, p. 262, & The Department of Labor’s list of “occupations with the largest job growth” available at www.bls.gov/emp/emptab3.htm].

* Loophole 16 – Visas For Individuals That Plan To Overstay:

The new “parent” visa contained in the bill which allows parents of citizens, and the spouses and children of new temporary workers, to visit a worker in the United States is not only a misnomer, but also an invitation for high rates of visa overstays. This new visa specifically allows the spouse and children of new temporary workers who intend to abandon their residence in a foreign country, to qualify to come to the U.S. to “visit.” The visa requires only a $1,000 bond, which will be forfeited when, not if, family members of new temporary workers decide to overstay their 30 day visit. Workers should travel to their home countries to visit their families, not the other way around. [See p. 277:1 – 33, and p. 276: 38-43].

* Loophole 17 – Chain Migration Tippled Before Being Eliminated:

Though the bill will eventually eliminate chain migration (relatives other than spouses and children of citizens and legal permanent residents), it will not have full effect until 2016. Until then, chain migration into the U.S. will actually triple, from approximately 138,000 chain migrants a year (equal to 14% of the 1 million green cards the U.S. currently distributes on an annual basis) to approximately 440,000 chain migrants a year (equal to 45% of the 1 million green cards the U.S. currently distributes on an annual basis). [See pp. 260:13, p. 270: 29 – pp. 271: 17]

* Loophole 18 – Back Taxes Not Required:

Last year’s bill required illegal aliens to prove they had paid three of their last five years of taxes to get amnesty. This year, payment of back taxes is not required for amnesty. The bill requires taxes to be paid at the time of application for a green card, but at that time, only proof of payment of Federal taxes (not state and local) is required for the years the alien worked on a Z visa, not the years the alien has already worked illegally in the United States. Though Senator McCain’s S.A. 1190, adopted by voice vote, claimed to “require undocumented immigrants receiving legal status to pay owed back taxes,” the amendment actually only required proof of payment of taxes for “any year during the period of employment required by subparagraph (D)(i).” Since the bill does not contain a subparagraph (D)(i), nor require any past years of employment as a prerequisite for amnesty, the amendment essentially only requires proof of payment of taxes for future work in the U.S., not payment of “back taxes.” [See p. 307, and p. 293 as altered by S.A. 1190, amendment p. 2: 19-20.]

* Loophole 19 – Social Security Credits Allowed For Some Illegal Work Histories:

Aliens who came to the U.S. on legal visas, but overstayed their visas and have been working in the U.S. for years, as well as illegal aliens who apply for Z visa status but do not qualify, will be able to collect social security credits for the years they worked illegally. Under the bill, if an alien was ever issued a social security account number – all work-authorized aliens who originally came on legal visas receive these – the alien will receive Social Security credits for any “quarters of coverage” the alien worked after receiving their social security account number. Because the bill requires social security account numbers to be issued “promptly” to illegal aliens as soon as they are granted “any probationary benefits based upon application [for Z status]” (these benefits are granted 24 hours after the application is filed), an illegal alien who is denied Z visa status but continues to work illegally in the U.S. will accumulate Social Security credits. [See pp. 316:8 – 16, and pp. 315: 32-39]

* Loophole 20 – Criminal Fines Not Proportional To Conduct:

The criminal fines an illegal alien is required to pay to receive amnesty are less than the bill’s criminal fines for paperwork violations committed by U.S. citizens, and can be paid by installment. Under the bill, an illegal alien must pay a $1,000 criminal fine to apply for a Z visa, and a $4,000 fine to apply for a green card. Eighty percent of those fines can be paid on an installment plan. Under the bill’s confidentiality provisions, someone who improperly handles or uses information on an alien’s amnesty application can be fined $10,000. Administration officials suggest that the bill’s “criminal fines are proportionate to the criminal conduct.” Why, then, is the fine for illegally entering, using false documents to work, and live one-tenth the fine for a paperwork violation committed by a government official? [See p. 287: 34, p. 317: 9, p. 315:6-8, & remarks made by Secretary Gutierrez on Your World with Neil Cavuto, 4:00 May 31, 2007]

Interesting articles on the amnesty bill

Latino Groups Play Key Role on Hill - Virtual Veto Power in Immigration Debate, By Krissah Williams and Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post, May 16, 2007

"...After laboring in obscurity for decades, groups such as the National Council of La Raza [THE RACE], the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the National Immigration Forum are virtually being granted veto power over perhaps the biggest domestic issue coming before Congress this year...."

Bush removes provision requiring back taxes from illegal immigrants [invaders], by Michael Kranish, Boston Globe, May 19, 2007

..."The Bush administration insisted on a little-noticed change in the bipartisan Senate immigration bill that would enable 12 million [illegal aliens... criminals] to avoid paying back taxes or associated fines to the IRS, officials said. -- An independent analyst estimated the decision could cost the IRS tens of billions of dollars..."

PREMEDITATED MERGER - North America 'partnership' fast-tracked in border bill - Calls for speedier regional economic integration between U.S., Mexico World Net Daily, May 20, 2007

"The controversial "Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007," which would grant millions of illegal aliens the right to stay in the U.S. under certain conditions, contains provisions for the acceleration of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, a plan for North American economic and defense integration, WND has learned.

The bill, as worked out by Senate and White House negotiators, cites the SPP agreement signed by President Bush and his counterparts in Mexico and Canada March 23, 2005 ­ an agreement that has been criticized as a blueprint for building a European Union-style merger of the three countries of North America....

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., also was quick to label the bill 'amnesty.'

The senator said it 'rewards people who broke the law with permanent legal status and puts them ahead of millions of law-abiding immigrants waiting to come to America.'

'I don't care how you try to spin it, this is amnesty,' DeMint said.

'I hope we don't take a thousand page bill written in secret and try to ram it through the Senate in a few days," he added. "This is a very important issue for America and we need time to debate it.'

REWARDING LAWBREAKERS, by Kris Kobach, New York Post, May 21, 2007

The immigration bill set to hit the Senate floor this week has over 300 pages - yet few people have seen the details. Proponents, led by Ted Kennedy, waited until the last minute to make the draft public - so most senators will be in the dark when they debate it.

But the text is now circulating on Capitol Hill, and the content is astonishing. Just when it is becoming clear that overwhelming majorities of Americans - of all parties and all races - say they want to see stronger enforcement of our laws, the bill would take the country full speed in the opposite direction.

As promised, the bill will legalize most of the 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens now in the country via a new "Z visa." Each would pay $3,000 - only slightly more than the going rate to be smuggled into America.

But provisions buried in the fine print are far more outrageous. Here's a sampling:

1) To qualify for the Z-visa amnesty, an illegal alien need only have a job (or be the parent, spouse, or child of someone with a job) and come up with a scrap of paper suggesting he was in the country before Jan. 1 of this year. Any bank statement, pay stub, or similarly forgeable record will do.

Expect a mass influx unlike anything this country has seen before, once the 12-month period for accepting Z visa applications begins. These rules are an open invitation to sneak in and present a fraudulent piece of paper indicating that you were already here.

2) Supporters of the bill call the Z visa "temporary" - neglecting to mention that it can be renewed indefinitely until the visa holder dies. Thus, we have the country's first permanent temporary visa. On top of that, it's a super-visa - allowing the holder to work, attend college or do just about anything else.

Are you a law-abiding alien who's interested in switching to this privileged status? Sorry. Only illegal aliens can qualify.

3) Many criminals and terrorists will find it easy to get a Z visa. The bill allows the government only one day to conduct a so-called "background check" on the applicant. If the (already overstretched) feds can't find anything in that single day, the alien gets a probationary visa that lets him roam at will and seek employment legally.

Plainly, the bill's authors don't have a clue how the government maintains info on criminals and terrorists. It has no single, searchable database of all dangerous people. Much data exists only in paper records that can't be searched in 24 hours. Other information is held by foreign governments.

In this real-world version of "24," if the federal government fails to find the key facts soon enough, we all lose.

4) The bill effectively shuts down our immigration-court system. If an alien in the removal process is eligible for the Z visa, the immigration judge must close the proceedings and offer the alien the chance to apply for the amnesty. The wheels of justice won't just turn slowly, they'll go in reverse.

5) The bill transforms the federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from a law-enforcement agency into an amnesty-distribution center. If ICE officials apprehend an alien who appears eligible for the Z visa (in other words, just about any illegal alien), they can't detain him. Instead, ICE must help him apply for the Z visa.

Rather than initiating removal proceedings, ICE will be initiating amnesty applications. It's like turning the Drug Enforcement Agency into a needle-distribution network.

6) The bill even lets gang members get the amnesty. This comes at a time when violent international gangs have brought mayhem to our cities. More than 30,000 gang members operate in 33 states, trafficking in drugs, arms and people.

Deporting illegal-alien gang members has been a top ICE priority. This bill would end that: Under it, a gang member qualifies for the Z-visa privileges as long as he simply signs a "renunciation of gang affiliation." He can keep his tattoos.

In Sen. Kennedy's America, "immigration enforcement" will become an oxymoron. And - just like the last time we offered an amnesty, in 1986 - millions of new illegal aliens will flood the country to apply for the amnesty fraudulently.

This bill isn't a "compromise" in any meaningful sense. It is a surrender.

Kris W. Kobach, a professor of law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, served as counsel to the U.S. Attorney General, 2001-03. He was the attorney general's chief adviser on immigration law.

Rewarding Illegal Aliens: Senate Bill Undermines The Rule of Law, by Kris W. Kobach, D.Phil., J.D. and Matthew Spalding, Ph.D., The Heritage Foundation, May 23, 2007.

This article lists ten of the worst provisions — by no means an exhaustive list — of Title VI of the bill. Here is the article.

Speech by Sen. Jeff Sessions on SB-1348 - Immigration, May, 2007

This speech was given by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) regarding the flaws of the immigration reform legislation currently under consideration. See the full text of the speech.

Immigration bill subverts Americanization, English language, by Deroy Murdock, Scripps Howard News Service, May 24, 2007

To judge how important assimilation is to Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., peruse their immigration bill, now before the Senate. "Assimilation" appears only once in this legislation, and not until the 343rd of 347 pages. "Americanization" never emerges.

Too bad the most sweeping immigration measure since 1986 shortchanges assimilation. Whether America ultimately absorbs 12,000 or all 12 [to 20] million illegal aliens estimated to live here, it will be better for them and this nation if they speak, study and vote in English, understand America's Constitution and political culture, respect our history and civic traditions, and honor our flag and national heroes. Otherwise, bedlam awaits....

Unfortunately, as Hudson Institute senior fellow John Fonte told the House Immigration subcommittee May 16, "There are no serious assimilation components to the legislation." Dual citizenship, naturalized Americans voting here and overseas, non-English classrooms and multilingual ballots all thrive, despite McCain-Kennedy's "comprehensive" scope.

"Under this bill, every [illegal] immigrant and every American citizen is his own little bubble of linguistic entitlement," says Jim Boulet Jr., executive director of English First. This is so, thanks to President Bill Clinton's Executive Order 13166. As Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., told the Senate Tuesday, this is "an entitlement for a translator in any language you want other than English...if you are a recipient of federal funds."

Under E.O. 13166, for instance, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development on Jan. 22 mandated language outreach by subsidized-housing providers. HUD, for instance, recognized one housing sponsor for hiring "translators fluent in Hindi, Urdu, Dari, Vietnamese and Chinese to translate written materials and advertising for the local press in those languages."

HUD's regulations state: "No matter how few LEP (limited-English-proficient) persons the recipient is serving, oral interpretation services should be made available in some form."

McCain-Kennedy would codify E.O. 13166, so only Congress could repeal it.

Until then, President Bush unilaterally could cancel Clinton's executive order. This, too, he has failed to do.

Illegals also could gain amnesty without English proficiency. Up to four years after receiving brand-new, permanently renewable Z (amnesty) visas, they merely must "demonstrate an attempt to gain an understanding of the English language." This is like saying that thinking about maybe asking someone out means you are dating. Z-visa holders can "demonstrate an attempt" through "placement on a waiting list for English classes." For McCain-Kennedy, waiting equals speaking...

Fiscal conservatives should faint at Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Rector's estimate that this bill creates "a net cost to taxpayers of $2.3 trillion in retirement-related benefits" for amnestied illegal aliens. One fresh entitlement: Free immigration attorneys for illegal-alien farm workers.

Cops and counter terrorists should worry that McCain-Kennedy requires that eligible illegal aliens receive probationary Z visas by the "end of the next business day." Within that deadline, law-enforcement and national-security officials simply cannot isolate innocent aliens from those who aspire to rob, rape or plant bombs. Alas, there is no single, searchable, international-scoundrels database.

"A one-business-day time limit is madness, particularly if 48,000 aliens applied in a single day," warns Kris Kobach, counsel under former Attorney General John Ashcroft. "Would 48,000 daily applications be unusual? Try dividing 12 million illegal aliens by 250 business days, if they all applied the first year."

Americans who want secure borders wonder why the 700-mile southern-frontier-fence Congress authorized last year stretches only 370 miles under McCain-Kennedy....

By pushing this bill, John McCain is alienating GOP primary voters. Come 2008, he may become one lonely maverick. Meanwhile, by embracing this legislation, Bush is smashing his loyal Republican base to smithereens.

McCain-Kennedy is as wildly popular as algebra homework on prom night.

Congress should dropkick it into the Rio Grande.

America's Dubya Dilemma: Denial or Dementia?, by Citizen Conservative, News By Us, June 2, 2007

George W. Bush’s intractable and wholly unholy obsession with the Mexicanization of the United States has bewildered, confounded, and infuriated conservatives and other patriotic Americans from all ideological backgrounds.

In particular, conservatives found the president’s most recent verbal assault particularly galling because Bush resorted to blasphemy when he accused those who oppose amnesty of not wanting to “do what is best for America.”

Has this president gone barking mad? Or has he gone madder, to be more precise?

When and how did America deteriorate to the point where a Republican president lashes out against GOP colleagues for insisting on rule of law?

Since when has it been un-American to demand secure borders, enforcement of existing laws, and punishment rather than rewards for those who have deliberately invaded our nation and plundered taxpayer funded services like common criminals?

How is it that a strong commitment to preserving American culture and language makes one a racist or a bigot?

As strange as it seems, it almost appears as though the president has decided that amnesty is needed as a weapon in the war on terror here at home.

Consider please: Bush seems bound and determined to execute a preemptive strike against America, via amnesty, in order to destroy the nation before Al-Quaeda can attack....

Think about it. Why would Osama waste a suitcase full of perfectly fine dirty bombs to blow up Los Angeles when five million illegal aliens from Mexico have already invaded LA, elected a Mexican national as mayor, and made that once proud city a sanctuary for corrupt, third world gangsters, and essentially uninhabitable?...

If, and when, the amnesty travesty is signed into law, the Bush administration, with those dubious distinctions to its credit, will have the following items to contend with:

* Hire and train 18,000 new border patrol agents. Dubya’s record in this area is painfully awful, primarily because he refused to fill the border positions authorized by congress several years ago.

* Monitor the to and from movements of millions of heads of household aliens who would be required to return to their home country in order to qualify for citizenship consideration;

* Process background checks for millions of aliens, including follow up actions (deportation?) required for those found to have disqualifying criminal histories;

* Track the progress of millions of aliens in acquiring English skills required for those aspiring to citizenship;

* Collect fees and fines to be paid by illegal aliens;

* Track down and deport hundreds of thousands (millions?) of aliens who have criminal records and who are most unlikely to apply for amnesty, and

* Monitor hundreds of thousands of aliens who must leave America after two years as guest workers and who must remain in Mexico for a full year before applying for another work permit. Track the number of times this nonsense is authorized to assure compliance with amnesty law.

...because everyone expects that the invasion of America will continue unabated and may, in fact, escalate as a result of amnesty, the federal government will need to have the capability for tracking and dealing with invaders arriving after January 1.

The bottom line: “Comprehensive reform” is neither reform, nor comprehensive. It is a ruse, a cruel and awful joke, and completely unenforceable.

Dubya and the Democrats are obviously counting on all the tough language in the proposal to fool concerned politicians and other Americans into believing that the administration is about to get serious about securing the borders and enforcing the laws.

In truth, Bush and his Destroy America Team have no interest whatsoever in preventing, or even limiting, the invasion of America.

To borrow a phrase from the immortal Yogi Berra, the current amnesty bill is “De Ja Vu, All Over again!”

Indeed, if the amnesty travesty of 2007 ever becomes law, our nation will have deliberately repeated the tragic mistake of 1986. You might even say that America’s greatness and security were sacrificed for cheap fruit.

Hispanically speaking, that is.

Conservative Leaders and Columnists on the Senate Amnesty Bill

Bruce Bartlett:

"This looks like the Medicare debacle all over again....The White House will twist arms to get House Republicans to abandon their principles for [Hispanic] votes that will never emerge."

William F. Buckley, Jr.

"If Congress had begun reform by stabilizing the Mexican border, it might more credibly have gone on to elaborate residually desirable changes in the mess Congress has permitted."

Rush Limbaugh

"This bill should be called the 'Comprehensive Destroy the Republican Party' Act of 2007."

Denis Prager

"To say the Senate bill is not an amnesty proposal is just plain dishonest."

Paul Weyrich

"If this bill passes, the Republican Party will not recover from it."

Robert Rector

"The long-term fiscal effect of the bill will be to add $2.5 trillion to the cost of our taxpayer-funded retirement system."

Tony Blankley

"They [pro-amnestyDemocrats] don't care if the border fence works or not, they just want the amnesty and the votes that follow."

Victor Davis Hanson

"The more Western elites ignore their own laws, allow unassimilated ethnic ghettos…the more their own nations will begin to resemble the very places immigrants fled from."

Heather MacDonald

"Contrary to White House propaganda… it is not nativism but facts and principle that lie behind opposition to the Senate's latest amnesty proposal."

James Carafano

"Many of the same politicians who support the Senate draft immigration bill are also trying to gut the requirements of REAL ID. No doubt the proposed electronic [workplace] verification system would suffer the same fate…."

Ann Coulter

"The people who make arguments about 'jobs Americans won't do' are never in a line of work where unskilled immigrants can compete with them. Liberals love to strike generous, humanitarian poses with other people's lives."

Hugh Hewitt

"The push for this bill is a disaster, Mr. President….It is a bad bill because no one believes the government can conduct millions of background checks. No one believes the bill will halt the next 12 million, No one believes [Bush] will assure the fence gets built. No one believes the employer verification system will get done or work…."

David Frum

"It's divorce. That's what has happened between President Bush and his party over this immigration bill. And if they insist on pursuing it, I fear it is what will happen between the Senate GOP leadership and the party base as well."

Chuck Muth

"No, Mr. President. The American people understand this issue perfectly well. We do not need 'comprehensive' new immigration laws; we simply need to enforce existing laws."