Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The false dilemma behind the Bush Amnesty
January 17th, 2004 | Sabertooth

Posted on 01/17/2004 10:01:59 AM PST by Sabertooth

Debate rages, and will through 2004, about President Bush’s “not an Amnesty” Amnesty proposal to legalize the 8 to 12 million Illegal Aliens his Administration has said are currently here in our country.

Amnesty proponents and enablers uniformly offer only three solutions to the Illegal Alien problem.

1. Coexistence: Just maintain the status quo through inaction.
2. Amnesty: This is appeasement, and surrender.
3. Xenophobia: Build a police state.

That’s a pretty thin list, and as we’ll see, not an accurate one. Its exclusive presentation amounts to a fallacy of False Dilemma.

It should be noted that Amnesty is a nearly inevitable consequence of Coexistence. Not surprisingly, therefore, Amnesty proponents commonly raise the specter of Xenophobia so that they can paint dark insinuations and distract attention from the symbiosis of their appeasement with the failed policy of Coexistence. Calling other people Nazis is a neat way of cloaking one’s own kinship with Neville Chamberlain.

If we had accepted the same false dilemma in the War on Terror, we'd never have fought it. We'd be the same as Democrats, who’ve made a willingness to appease a party litmus test.

The War on Terror didn’t begin on September 11th, 2001, it began with the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, and was conducted against us by Al Qaeda and our enemies all throughout the 1990s. President Clinton, however, opted not to take the fight to the enemy, and so the Clintonistas held throughout the 90s that terrorism was an intractable problem with which we'd just have to Coexist , and made their policies accordingly. Not surprisingly, when President Clinton had an opportunity to take Osama bin Laden into custody, he lacked the courage to do so. Clinton’s spine also failed him on three occasions where our Special Forces were in position to kill bin Laden. By the end of his Presidency, Clinton’s appeasement of terror was in full bloom; visits from uber-terrorist Yassir Arafat were a source of pride to him, and ultimately, he even granted pardons to Puerto Rican terrorists.

Pardons and clemencies, like Amnesties, absolve wrongdoers of further responsibility for past crimes. When a policy of Coexistence with wrongdoing is pursued long enough, absolution of wrongdoing will eventually become part of the negotiation to make the craven failure to confront it appear magnanimous.

On September 11th, 2001, the War on Terror changed. America didn't accept the false dilemma of Coexistence, Appeasement, or Xenophobia. Coexistence had failed, and with it went any thought of absolution for wrongdoing. Clintonian appeasement was over. Xenophobic notions of “kill ‘em all, let God sort ‘em out,” and “nuke Mecca” were also ruled out, because we’re Americans, and hold ourselves to higher standards of morality and ingenuity.

What then, of the fallacy presented in the false dilemma of the Coexistence / Amnesty / Xenophobia triad?

We rightfully threw it on the ash heap of History.

We took a fourth, Asymmetric approach to the Terrorists, and are now reaping the benefits. After wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, suddenly Libya is turning over their WMD programs without a shot being fired; Iran is on the bubble and contemplating the same thing; Syria and the PLA are increasingly isolated; and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are finally getting the message that coddling Al Qaeda is a losing proposition. Early on in the WoT, it was understood that victory is a policy which reaps a sweet harvest. While the investment in the initial successes was relatively high, they generated a momentum that is making inexpensive windfalls of subsequent victories.

Yet none of this could have happened if we’d followed the appeasement tendencies of the Democrats. In ten years, we’d have been looking at a Middle East full of North Koreas, which was the crown jewel of President Clinton’s failed policy of Coexistence and appeasement.

Naturally, being innate appeasers, the Democrats and Clinton also have pursued Coexistence and Amnesty in dealing with the problem of the millions of Illegal Aliens currently living in our country. Three times in the 1990s, Clinton signed legislation enabling Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Naturalization Code, thereby granting Amnesties to more than a million Illegals Aliens (twice with at GOP House and Senate). Appeasement failed, of course, as it must, and by the end of Clinton’s eight years, there were millions more Illegals than when he started.

Now we have a Republican Administration, as well as a GOP House and Senate. The Clintonian policies of Coexistence with and Amnesties for Illegal Aliens have clearly failed. So, President Bush has taken the initiative and offered an “Immigration Reform” proposal that would legalize not just a million Illegals, as Clinton did, but millions of them. Rather than turning from the failed Clinton policies, President Bush is embracing an even more radical version of them.

So now, pro-Amnesty Republicans and their enablers are offering the same solutions on Illegals as the Democrats did: Amnesty (even though they split hairs and pretend otherwise. They are attempting to frame the debate with the same false dilemma that the Democrats did with the War on Terror: Coexistence, Amnesty/appeasement, and Xenophobia.

Where is the fourth option, Asymmetry? It has worked so well in the WoT; why are we not exploring Asymmetric solutions to the Illegal Alien problem?

We can effectively solve much of the Illegal Alien problem, without Amnesty, if we apply a similar, Asymmetric approach to that of the War on Terror. Obviously, it's not necessary or moral to conduct a war against Illegals, but by applying systematic pressure to all of the factors that encourage the Illegals to violate our laws and sovereignty, we can win early victories that generate and sustain a momentum whereby the problem starts to solve itself.

The key is to get the Illegals to leave our country on their own initiative.

They Will Deport Themselves

There are plenty of steps we can take to do this.

Eighteen Illegal Alien solutions that are better than any Amnesty

Not only is encouragement of Illegal Alien self-deportation humane and cost effective, there has already been considerable success in this regard with Pakistani Illegals.

25% of Pakistani Illegal Aliens Deported Themselves since 2001 -
Facts against the Bush Amnesty

If we project that modest 25% self-deportation rate of the Pakistani Illegals onto the the 8 to 12 million Illegals that DHS Secretary Tom Ridge concedes are here, we’re talking about 2 to 3 million fewer Illegals in a short period of time. However, the Pakistani Illegals self-deported in response to a set of incentives that was far from comprehensive. A much higher rate of self-deportation of Illegals is certainly feasible, if we simply roll up our sleeves and get on with it.

Historian Victor Davis Hanson recently said:

We never would have had this conversation [about Illegal Aliens] in 1950. There was no conversation about a wall or a fence. It was very simple: If you came across the border illegally, you were deported. The employer was not to hire people who were here illegally. It's very simple to do, but it just requires a degree of courage.
Paradise Lost? (Victor Davis Hanson comments on Bush's immigration proposal)
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (FR link) - January 10, 2004
Bill Steigerwald with Victor Davis Hanson

As with the War on Terror, so too with the Illegal Aliens; it’s now time to throw the false dilemma of Coexistence, Amnesty, or Xenophobia on the ash heap of History. Amnesty failed under Presidents Reagan and Clinton, and will fail under President Bush if it’s attempted.

Rewards for lawbreaking beget more lawbreaking.

Diligent enforcement of our immigration laws succeeded in the 1950s, and would again; but we would be better served by a more humane, Asymmetric approach today, whereby relatively few deportations would result in a great many self-deportations of Illegal Aliens.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: Arizona; US: California; US: New Mexico; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: aliens; amnesty; bushamnesty; gop; illegalaliens; illegals; immigration; selfdeportation
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 201-220221-240241-260261-270 next last
To: Marine Inspector
I'm in the business of stopping illegal immigration and the Presidents plan will neither stop illegal immigration or terrorism and it will not impact either in any negative way. --Marine Inspector

When those who man the front lines tells you how it is, we should have the sense to listen.

--Boot Hill

221 posted on 01/17/2004 6:32:31 PM PST by Boot Hill (Hang 'em high)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 100 | View Replies]

To: Sabertooth
Excellent post, summary and arguments.

BUMP!

--Boot Hill

222 posted on 01/17/2004 6:36:20 PM PST by Boot Hill (Hang 'em high)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ninenot
"`(b) Each application under this section-- `(1) shall be made to-- `(A) a judge of the court established by section 103(a); or `(B) a United States Magistrate Judge under chapter 43 of title 28, United States Code"

Like I said, the Patriot Act is harmless. Just as before the Patriot Act was ever penned, law enforcement still has to go to the judge for their warrant.

Oh gee, like, wow man, the Sky is Falling!

223 posted on 01/17/2004 6:44:37 PM PST by Southack (Media bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 211 | View Replies]

To: txdoda; sarcasm
I'm just saying *if* this law read employers MUST verify SS # (at time of hiring), anytime illegals were found working with false SS#'s, then the employer could be fined.

Yes, they could be fined, but I don't think the SSA wants to. They know who are using fake SSN's now and won't share that info with the immigration authorities.

Marine Inspector

224 posted on 01/17/2004 7:14:14 PM PST by Marine Inspector (TANCREDO 2004)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 214 | View Replies]

To: Boot Hill
When those who man the front lines tells you how it is, we should have the sense to listen.

I wish the idiots in Washington would have the sense to listen.

Anyhow, thanks.

Marine Inspector

225 posted on 01/17/2004 7:16:49 PM PST by Marine Inspector (TANCREDO 2004)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 221 | View Replies]

To: Sabertooth
Ping
226 posted on 01/17/2004 7:20:28 PM PST by AnimalLover
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sabertooth
"non-descript powdered drink mix" BUMP!
227 posted on 01/17/2004 7:24:39 PM PST by Itzlzha (The avalanche has already started...it is too late for the pebbles to vote!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sabertooth
Sabertooth, good commentary. In discussions, I've also commented on the 'false dichotomy' of there only being some impossible and 'xenophobic' mass deportation or total inaction.

See my article on this:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1059957/posts

There is a lot we could do to get rid of incentives for illegal immigration (eg 'anchor babies' and 'chain migration') and enforcement holes (eg our total inability to deport criminal aliens quickly and efficiently, our total lack of documentation verification/employment law enforcement). We should try fixing that, and then seeing if a guest worker program is needed. Problem is, the 'cheap labor' lobby likes it broken better than having it fixed.

Also ... "The problem is, any Democrat would be worse. Setting aside the rest of their foolishness for the moment, we need to understand that every one of the Democrat Presidential candidates supports worse Amnesties for Illegal Aliens than that proposed by President Bush." ... this is a good point to remember in the debate.
228 posted on 01/17/2004 7:25:51 PM PST by WOSG (I don't want the GOP to become a circular firing squad and the Socialist Democrats a majority.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ben Ficklin
What's wrong with Bush's plan and many proposals that would make it better:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1059957/posts
229 posted on 01/17/2004 7:27:52 PM PST by WOSG (I don't want the GOP to become a circular firing squad and the Socialist Democrats a majority.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: Southack
"In fact, of all the illegal aliens that were forced to return to Mexico in 1954, the majority of them went back voluntarily." Why?

I surmise: Because then they didnt have to suffer the indignities of detention and the inconveniences of being deported to a place they were unfamiliar with. (ie Veracruz, Monterrey).

The bottom line is that in the 1950s, deportation was tried and deportation worked, and 10 years later, illegal immigration was at low levels. ONly after the 1965 immigration law did illegal immigration ramp up again.

We will need to repeal the 1965 immigration law if we want to fix illegal immigration.

230 posted on 01/17/2004 7:36:53 PM PST by WOSG (I don't want the GOP to become a circular firing squad and the Socialist Democrats a majority.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 141 | View Replies]

To: dcwusmc; reluctantwarrior
But the whole idea is (or SHOULD BE) to GET THE ILLEGALS OUT OF THE COUNTRY.

I suppose people are going to have slightly diffent goals concerning immigration. Mine is to reduce illegal immigration to the lowest level that is workable. I don't want the current illegals to gain either citizenship or green cards ahead of those who did things legally. And I think the current illegals should pay some price for having violated the law. Basically I'm open to suggestions provided we stick to those principles.

There have been several proposals for penalties on those currently here illegally that fall short of deporting them. There have been suggestions that they pay a fine, or that they get a special visa that delays for several years their option to get legal permanent residence. Earlier in this thread reluctantwarrior suggested allowing them to apply for guest worker visas, provided they go back to their home country to do so.

The bottom line for me is that to have a solution that's politically possible I think we have to have options short of deporting and barring all of today's illegals.

231 posted on 01/17/2004 7:44:33 PM PST by AzJohn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 200 | View Replies]

To: Sabertooth
As with the War on Terror, so too with the Illegal Aliens

Thanks for tying a lot of this stuff together. If you expand and publish it please consider including the myriad of abuses we've tolerated (often unknowingly prior to the elimination of the FCC "Fairness Doctrine" freeing open discussion).

Such things as activist courts; "citizens lawsuits" to force (often willing, cooperating, and financing the lawsuits behind the scenes) government agencies to abrogate property rights; hyphenated groups' advocacy organizations whose aim is to enhance foreign governments while ostensibly representing hyphenated "Americans," an example IMO is India, www.usindiafriendship.net and www.usinpac.com; obvious front organizations such as the National Lawyers Guild; and numerous others who have moved "beyond being Americans."

This is the war within the WoT. Some are calling it the cold civil war.

I'm sure Freepers could compile a list a mile long. Of course such a tome runs the risk of being too much but all these things are part of the cacophony that has awakened this "greatest generation's" sleeping giant. Now if the giant just had a leader.

232 posted on 01/17/2004 7:45:50 PM PST by WilliamofCarmichael
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: WOSG; Sabertooth
"We will need to repeal the 1965 immigration law if we want to fix illegal immigration."

Please elaborate.

233 posted on 01/17/2004 7:48:21 PM PST by Southack (Media bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 230 | View Replies]

To: ninenot
Cato is a THE libertarian think-tank. Way back on this thread (before #50) I posted an article including a link to a conference held at Cato regarding the President's proposal. The post is worth a read.

I read your earlier posts (and I have heard of the Cato Institute). I did not view the video that you linked to, and I gather I would have seen the misrepresentation you refer to exhibited there. I'll take your word for it that it happened.

234 posted on 01/17/2004 7:50:10 PM PST by AzJohn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 205 | View Replies]

To: Print
Very true, and for some reason this isn't getting much attention.
235 posted on 01/17/2004 9:14:59 PM PST by Pelham
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: judgeandjury
RE: "Operation Wetback, which was carried out in 1954, accomplished this very successfully. Once illegal aliens began to be rounded up by American authorities, large numbers of illegal aliens started to leave the U.S. voluntarily. In fact, of all the illegal aliens that were forced to return to Mexico in 1954, the majority of them went back voluntarily."

That is a great reminder and worth repeating. I believe there was a program for "willing workers" and "willing employers" at the time called the bracero program. yet ILLEGALS still came.

We had leaders of stature in those days, regardless of the many options outlined none will be enforced today. Period.

To be fair to the leaders of today the problem is there are too many hyphenated groups with too much power for the government to do much of anything. There are the likes of the ACLU pukes, activist courts, anti-"profiling" and "hate crime" laws, and most of all, $$$$$$$ for puke politicians.

I'd love to see Dwight Eisenhower reaction to these pipsqueaks.

236 posted on 01/17/2004 9:16:21 PM PST by WilliamofCarmichael
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 139 | View Replies]

To: AzJohn; Marine Inspector
As far as I am concerned, anyone who comes through the front door to this country is welcome to stay and contribute. However, if you come through the back door or try to sneak through the window, you are no better than a burglar or other criminal lowlife. Getting you out of the country is the ONLY satisfactory solution. Prison first... depends on what ELSE you do.

However, being the fairminded guy I am, if you do not get caught and have to be deported, but leave VOLUNTARILY, I would allow you back in after a 5-10 year timeout. IF you stop by and check in with the Border Patrol on the way out the door and give up your biometric info. Then if you sneak back in later and get caught, you are tried, convicted and sent to a prison in your home country to serve your sentence. (I have heard that Mexican jails WILL make you a believer!) Come back again? Perhaps an automatic death sentence or something. If we have to catch and deport you in the first place, it would be somewhere between twenty years and NEVER that you could come back. And the death sentence would be waiting for you if you tried to SNEAK back in at any time.

In other words, you get treated as the vile CRIMINAL you are if you do not play by the rules as established.

And, lest you think me xenophobic or anything, my wife and stepson are immigrants from Jamaica who played by the rules to stay here, jumping through all the hoops they were supposed to. Allowing ILLEGALS to stay for any reason is a slap in the face to me and my family, and to ANY OTHER LEGAL IMMIGRANT.

You want ILLEGAL ALIENS to pay some sort of (unspecified) price. But please don't kick them out or really punish them for breaking the law just to GET here, let alone whatever other CRIMINAL activity they may engage in... So sorry, Charlie, but they gotta GO. OUT of my country. Period. You and yours will NOT be slapping me and mine like that any more.
237 posted on 01/17/2004 9:27:47 PM PST by dcwusmc ("The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 231 | View Replies]

To: Southack
Where is the heavy penalty for not registering and would they actually punish said illegals and businesses that would still hire illegals? I don't think so.
238 posted on 01/17/2004 9:30:47 PM PST by kuma
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Southack
See this thread for what is needed repeal in the 1965 immigration law:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1059957/posts

A snippet ...
3. Repeal aspects of the 1965 immigration laws that distort our immigration patterns and reward 'least likely to success' immigrants in the legal permanent residency lottery.
A. End family sponsorship and 'chain migration'. Do not let adult parents and siblings of immigrants from getting in on family sponsorship. Family sponsorship should be restricted to the sons, daughters and spouses of citizens and permanent residents. These changes were a key part of the proposal of the Jordan commission on immigration. They should be adopted.
B. Place hard limits on immigration. Just as there are limits for employer sponsored categories, there should be a total hard limit of legal immigration. It should be not more than .2% of population per year, or about 700,000 per year. Lower limits are both possible and desireable.
3c. "Prioritize skilled workers over unskilled workers: The CIR recommended reducing the ceiling for employment-sponsored immigration, ending unskilled immigration, and ending the diversity visa lottery."
3d. We should use only the temporary worker visa for the unskilled workers, ie, discourage the use of a permanent employer sponsorship for the unskilled worker. We should set fees on the temporary worker visa program so that extremely low-wage employment is discouraged in this program. Guest workers should not bring their families unless the pay for the employment is more than twice the poverty-level wage. The reason for this is to discourage a 'race to the bottom' that hurts the wage rates of Americans on the bottom rung of the economic ladder. It should not be our policy to import workers simply to undercut those Americans most in need of employment opportunities.
3e. We should also end the 'diversity' visa programs that encourages 80% of immigration to come from the third world, while excessively discouraging European immigration. This is related to the previous 2 points, as the 'diversity' visa program in effect is a discouragement of the potentially most skilled immigrants and encouragement of least skilled immigrants from 3rd world countries. This is counterproductive to the most effective immigration policy. H.R. 775, the Security and Fairness Enhancement for America Act, introduced by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), would repeal this problematic program, which suffers from fraud and abuse by illegal aliens. http://www.fairus.org/Legislation/Legislation.cfm?ID=2288&c=66
3f. A simple replacement for this would be to restrict immigration so that no more than 20% of our immigration comes from any one country.

3g. "Simplify immigration categories: The CIR supported the basic set-up of our current immigration system, which divides immigrants into categories, but recommended that the categories be simplified to three: nuclear family members, professional and skilled workers, and refugees/other humanitarian admissions." http://www.fairus.org/ImmigrationIssueCenters/ImmigrationIssueCenters.cfm?ID=1169&c=12
3h. Require all future immigrants to declare their future intent to bring in family upon arrival. This way, families can immigrate in a controlled, orderly fashion without the current deceptions being used against the American public

... we also of course need to end the practice of giving automatic citizenship to the babies of foreign tourists and illegal alien pregnant mothers who come here to 'make' an anchor baby.

Anchor baby + chain migration = lack of control on legal immigration.
239 posted on 01/17/2004 10:22:07 PM PST by WOSG (I don't want the GOP to become a circular firing squad and the Socialist Democrats a majority.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 233 | View Replies]

To: AzJohn
Please take a look at these suggestions:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1059957/posts
240 posted on 01/17/2004 10:24:26 PM PST by WOSG (I don't want the GOP to become a circular firing squad and the Socialist Democrats a majority.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 231 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 201-220221-240241-260261-270 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson