Real Message of The Bush Amnesty

The American Conservative ^ | 1/12/2004 | PAT BUCHANAN

[kellynla]

If George Bush’s amnesty for between 8 million and 14 million illegal aliens is enacted, you can kiss the old America goodbye.

Consider what the president is saying with his amnesty. He is telling us that he cannot or will not do his constitutional duty to defend the states from invasion. He is saying that he simply cannot or will not protect our borders or enforce our immigration laws. He is saying he will no longer send illegal aliens back.

Not long ago, this would have produced calls for impeachment and cries that, “If Bush won’t enforce our laws, let’s elect a president who will.”

By offering amnesty and residency to millions who broke in line, broke our laws and broke into our country, Bush is not only rewarding wholesale criminality, he proposes to legalize it.

His amnesty will send this message to the world: the candy store is open, and the Americans cannot protect it. Now is the time to bust in.

As there must be billions of people willing to come and work for a fraction of our minimum wage—and exploit our social safety net—the number who could come under the Bush guest-worker program is almost infinite.

Imagine a car wash that employs 40 African-American, Latino, and white working-class folks at $8 an hour each. A new car wash down the street opens up, offering 40 new jobs at $5.15 an hour. No Americans apply. Under Bush’s proposal, that employer would be free to go to Asia, Africa, and Latin America, round up workers, and bring them in.

The new car wash with its foreign workers then drives the old car wash with its American workers out of business. Taxpayers are then forced to subsidize the newly unemployed—and pay for the medical care, food stamps, rent supplements, welfare, and schooling of all the new immigrants and their families, provide legal services when they get in trouble and pay for more cops to police their neighborhoods.

And every child born of a guest worker would, under our 14th Amendment, become an American citizen, automatically entitled to all the benefits of citizenship. Meanwhile, Bush’s amnesty will do nothing to halt the illegal invasion that continues to this hour. If you would know what America’s social, cultural, and fiscal future will look like, take a ride through Los Angeles, capital of Mexifornia.

But why did President Bush pick now to propose as explosive an idea as amnesty, when it seemed he was holding a winning hand on the issues of taxes, national security, the economy, and gay marriages?

One sees here the cynical ploy of “Boy Genius” Karl Rove. With the filing deadlines for the Republican primaries having passed and no GOP opponent, with no Third Party challenger from the Right, and with Dean the likely Democratic nominee, Rove knows conservatives are boxed in. In the old cliché, “The conservatives have nowhere else to go.”

So Rove is executing an “apertura a sinistra,” an opening to the Left, pandering to Hispanics and Mexican President Vicente Fox, to whom Bush is to pay a visit.

But Rove may be too clever for the president’s good. For there is no hard evidence that Hispanics, other than those militants who detest Republicans, are demanding amnesty. And with Bush’s spending on foreign aid soaring, his deficits rising, and the White House refusing to veto a single spending bill, Rove & Co. may have stretched conservative loyalty to the breaking point.

For some conservatives, this amnesty will snap it. They may just get on their hind legs and fight, for huge majorities have repeatedly registered opposition to any amnesty for illegal aliens. How is the president helped by a bloody battle with his political base in an election year?

Half a century ago, Dwight Eisenhower, informed there were a million illegals in the United States, most of them from Mexico, ordered them sent back. The project was called “Operation Wetback.”

Ike was a strong president. But in George W. Bush, we have a leader unwilling to pay the political price of doing his duty and enforcing the immigration laws of his country because he fears the reaction from the media elite and Mexican-Americans.

When it comes to standing up to truly powerful ethnic lobbies—the Hispanic Lobby, the Cuban-American Lobby, the Israeli Lobby—Bush wilts and folds every time. Nor is it a healthy sign for the future of our republic when its president offers an amnesty to law-breakers, rather than doing his painful duty to protect his country from what has now become an unstoppable foreign invasion.

The real threats to America’s survival do not come from the Sunni Triangle. They come from within, and unfortunately we have a president who either does not understand them or will not look them in the face.

[Pippin]

The day he either murders someone with his own hands or cheats on his wife!

[Pippin]

I AM NOT A 'BOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[american spirit]

More like compassionate marxism.

[liberallarry]

You can't have stable expansion unless you're willing to kill/subdue the current occupants of Mexico and colonize it with English speaking Yankee governors and ubermenchen, and loyal legions (not hired local mercanaries) to maintain the new piece

The context of my statement was a guess as to Bush's motives for his policy. I doubt that he would agree with your assumption.

On the other hand, if we adopt a harsh, military approach your assumption will be correct and we will have to do just what you propose.

[Spiff]

Assuming your documentation/enforcement system worked...what would you do about a destabilized Mexico, about American lives and possession under attack in that country?

Regime change in Mexico would do wonders. Kick the marxist elites out. As for American possessions under attack there, you are mistaken as Americans are not allowed to own property in Mexico - not outright.

[EQAndyBuzz]

I never said Bush was lying. Bush is doing what Bush needs to do to be reelected. Which means he needs votes from the left, ala Reagan. Do you seriously think that the President is going to put the House and Senate in Jeapordy and force a vote on this issue 11 months before an election?

Almost every congressman and senator has said this stinks. This is only a play to the latino community in major cities. Come the Wednesday after election day, this dies on the vine.

Every issue the President has addressed over the last 3 months has been extreme left. It is called pandering, but please feel free to correct me if this isn't the proper term. RATS are hitting Bush on the war because he took everything else off the table.

From what I can remember, that is what wins elections. And unless I am mistaken here, we are still voting GW, correct?

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

The program was a good idea and initially a success. However, after the first year it wasn't funded.

Sending them back is only half the battle, since they must be kept out.

However, despite the fact that every poll shows about eighty per cent of citizens want the borders closed to the invasion, the rulers have no intention of listening to their subjects.

[Jim Cane]

On the other hand, if we adopt a harsh, military approach your assumption will be correct and we will have to do just what you propose.

By failing to enact a harsh defense, we will have civil war nevertheless - just a little bit later, and not on our terms.

[WOSG]

"I'm very curious about your reaction to the article I linked in post #33. It left me with the impression that the documentation system wasn't working and couldn't work...which is why I proposed a language test."

Yes, the documentation system isnt working... It is a FARCE because we let fraudulent documents be 'enough' of a fig leaf for employer liability. The employers *know* they are hiring illegals but turn a blind eye to get the cheap labor to stay competitive. Meanwhile, the article you posted proved that indeed we are not enforcing the 1986 employer sanctions. In the article it states:

"Palacios said none of the three contractors questioned his immigration status beyond asking for identification papers. The Social Security and green cards he produced, however, were false. He said he bought them for $160 from a labor recruiter soon after he crossed into the United States. "

The reason the contractors didnt question his status is they need the fake IDs as their excuse to pretend they 'dont know' they are illegals. The article also mentioned the paltry number of deportations and paltry number of employer fines levied... this is not rocket science. If we stop enforcing a law against X, we start seeing X happen openly. We are simply not enforcing the employer sanctions that were in the 1986 immigration reform act.

The way to fix this is to have a documentation verification system that *checks* whether the ID is fake or not, and *require* employers to live up to using it and not hiring those not found valid. The system is a national database that employers can check against to make sure that people are re-using another identity, faking one, or otherwise abusing or mis-stating who they are. It's really not that complicated to make sure that fake Social security numbers, green cards, and identities are not floating around. There are other ideas, like Tancredo's idea to make Social Security ID's tamper-proof that would complement this.

In the above case, the guy with the $160 fake ID would be smoked out and the contractor has a choice: Fire the guy, or face getting fined.

The system exists, works, and could be made mandatory for employers:

http://www.fairus.org/ImmigrationIssueCenters/ImmigrationIssueCenters.cfm?ID=2314&c=13


Speaking for the record on November 19, 2003, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Chairman of the House Immigration and Claims Subcommittee, noted that, “A recent study found that 96 percent of participating employers believed the pilot to be an effective and reliable tool for employment verification, 94 percent believed it to be more reliable than the IRCA-required document check, and 83 percent believed that participating in the pilot reduced uncertainty regarding work authorization.” On the same date, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), the ranking member of that subcommittee, stated, “The Basic Pilot is an effective employee verification program that makes it easier and safer for employers to hire foreign workers, which makes it easier for lawful foreign workers to find employment.”

Final thought liberallarry: The real rub is this. The cheap labor employers like the current setup, even if it harms taxpayers, and working Americans. That is why a simple and obvious system that WORKS is being left ON THE SHELF while the illegal immigration flood continues. Tell your HowardDean liberal friends that they are making a mistake by staying in bed with the cheap labor lobby and pushing for amnesty!

[liberallarry]

Regime change in Mexico would do wonders

True. Culture change would be a hundred times better.

Kick the marxist elites out

You think that's going to happen if we deport 10 million Mexicans? Let me put you on my snake-oil list.

you are mistaken as Americans are not allowed to own property in Mexico - not outright

I believe it's you who are mistaken - those restrictions apply only to coastal property. In any case it's irrelevant. Many, many Americans are down there on very long term leases which, for most practical purposes, are the same as ownership.

[88keys]

The project was called “Operation Wetback.”

And did it solve the problem?

Brevity is the soul of wit, and in this case, wisdom...

"U" are quite brilliant with that one, "U"!

This sums up everything about Pat Buchanan that is quite simply wrong...he has the right ideas and principles, but sadly has gone completely over the edge with his rhetoric. (news flash to Pat: you saying "the President is saying" doesn't make you right...especially since your "interpretation" is completely wrong and self-serving!)

"Operation Wetback" did not work in any real sense over any period of time, and I can only imagine the repercussions if any such thing was attempted today (liberallarry is right about that). Those who continue to espouse such a position, with or without also taking the opportunity to second-guess and bash the President, simply do not IMHO help to advance the discussion of what practical means can be used to address the serious immigration problems we face.

This is not to criticize anyone here, as I am certain we all agree on the need to "deport" as possible...it would also be helpful to consider the word "amnesty" in the same light as "is" (as someone previously posted)...despite what some would have you believe, the President is not proposing "instant citizenship, and no penalties for illegals" nor is he proposing "open borders" (another term that is used far too loosely and deceptively)...

A strategic proposal to identify illegal workers and those who illegally employ them is likely to reduce the attractiveness of illegal activity, even if certain immigrants are allowed a "temporary stay"...IMO, this is in part a "carrot", not to "pander for votes" but rather to compensate for the "stick" which is going to follow, namely much more enforcement of existing laws, and much tougher physical border controls...

If you disagree with that theory, consider this...why would President Bush, based on his track record, want to present such a proposal, if we believe everything that's been written about it?

This is a good way to consider all his decisions, many of which are vilified in these pages by those who have very strong feelings of their own about the way things should be...so while I'm at it, I may as well say also that it is entirely the fault of the US Supreme Court that we're stuck with "Campaign Finance Reform"...I do not hold it against GWB for not vetoing it. A veto would have been entirely impractical, and he had every right to think SCOTUS would rule correctly. Alas, they did not, and consider the long-term consequences of the next judicial appointments if they're made by Howard Dean or Wesley Clark or Hillary...

Brevity is good, but so is pragmatism, even if "at length"! ;)

[liberallarry]

By failing to enact a harsh defense, we will have civil war nevertheless - just a little bit later, and not on our terms.

You could be right. That's what we're debating.

[WOSG]

Which of thse provisions will cause Mexico to attack us? Your comment is simply fanstay-land unserious...

The Rep. Tancredo Position on immigration:

The United States has lost control over its immigration policy. Over one million persons enter our nation illegally each year and we have antiquated and error-prone systems for knowing who our legal visitors are and for enforcing their visa time limits. Every poll shows that over 75% of citizens support border security and strict enforcement of our immigration laws. They want our immigration policies fixed. Here is my four-point plan for achieving control of our borders and enforcing sensible immigration policies.

1. Secure our Nation?s Borders

* Increase Border Patrol manpower from the present 11,500 to 20,000 (HR 3534).
* Use the U.S. Military until the Border Patrol reaches that manpower level
(HR 277).
* Accelerate the use of new technology and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to identify and help apprehend smugglers and trespassers.
* Double the capacity of the detention centers for apprehended trespassers.
* End the ?catch and release? policy by instituting fines and jail time for repeat offenders.
* Require stiff prison sentences for convicted ?coyotes? and felons who return to the U.S. after deportation.
* Accelerate the implementation of the ?USVISIT? biometric identifier program for all foreign nationals entering the country through our ports of entry.

2. Establish a Genuine Guest Worker Program

* Enact a genuine Guest Worker Bill (HR 3534) to allow any foreign national
to enter the US legally to work for up to one year in a job that cannot be
filled by a citizen. Require employers to advertise all jobs on an internet bulletin board and for two weeks before hiring a Guest Worker.
* Require illegal aliens already in the U.S. to first return home and apply for jobs through the legal processes.

3. Improve ?Interior Enforcement? of Immigration Laws

* Provide adequate resources to the ?Detention and Removal? branch of the
Bureau of Customs and Immigration Enforcement (BICE) to allow apprehension
and removal of all criminal aliens.
* Enact the ?CLEAR? Act (HR 2671) to give local law enforcement incentives
and reimbursements for participating in immigration law enforcement.
* Establish stiff fines and tax penalties for
employers who violate the law by hiring illegal aliens,
and devote adequate resources to identify and prosecute those employers.

4. Remove Incentives for Illegal Immigration

* Employers who hire illegal aliens should face stiff fines and tax penalties (see#2 above).
* Federal and State agencies should be prohibited from recognizing the Mexican Government?s ?Matricula Consular? ID card.
* States that grant driver?s licenses to illegal aliens should suffer
loss of federal highway funds.
* Children born to illegal aliens should not be given citizenship status (HR 1567).
* Federal court rulings and other policies that require health and educational
services to illegal aliens should be overturned.
* Amend Social Security Act to deny credits for wages earned in illegal
employment or to self-employed engaged in illegal activities (HR 1631).
* Insist that the Government of Mexico extradite felony criminals who retreat into Mexico.
* Encourage the Government of Mexico to repeal its Dual Citizenship law.

[88keys]

It took me SO long to type my first post that I'm just reading yours now...the "carrot and the stick" analogy that I used too! This is really just "great minds (IMHO!) think alike" and not "plagiarism"...LOL!!

[liberallarry]

Tell your HowardDean liberal friends...

Ah,ah,aaah, WOSG. Your losing control. I don't have such friends.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"Once you create new entitlements and such, there's no going back, or else you just look like a liar. Your ideology is irretrievably lost."

I totally agree. That's why there will be no amnesty program coming from this admistration which was the point of all of this.

[american spirit]

Good info...I think what this whole issue is going to boil down to is whether we have a fedgov "for the people" as intended or a fedgov "for the corporation". I found the timing for Bush's proposal to be interesting especially after his push for the Free Trade Area of the Americas which I'm sure is the creation of the big banks, retailers, etc. and the open borders crowd wants to use ill. immigration as a way to condition us to somehow accept the invasion of these folks who will no doubt latch themselves onto our welfare system as did their predecessors. Anyone with half a brain or even a liberal should be able to understand that we're witnessing the greatest corporate welfare scam in history with no end in sight for the problems this whole saga will produce for this country......soon to be the American Union a la the EU.

[88keys]

I say, *applause* to you for standing up for your point of view!

Sometimes a good "telling off" is called for (politely, of course, which you were!) and I happen to agree with you.

Well done. ;)

[Pippin]

Thank You!

[WOSG]

"I don't have such friends."

You dont?!?!

Dang you're lucky, most of my family are way-out liberals --- here's how whacked out: my Mom's liking Kucinich!