GarySpfc - I hear your sentiment...but we have to be willing to be intellectually honest here - Especially regarding amnesty - The notion that GWB is offering "amnesty" is simply a false premise.
I agree, but who is being intellectually honest? George W. Bush has one definition of amnesty, and most law professors have another. The definition of amnesty as given by
Kris Kobach, law professor, and former head of the Immigration section in the Department of Justice is, "Moving an individual from a guilty to an innocent position, without them paying the required penalty." Note, Professor Kobach's credentials. These illegal aliens are not being deported, which is the penalty for entering the US illegally.
Here are some of the most common
felonies committed by illegal aliens, and all of these are offenses, which call for deportation..
8 usc 1325 entering the US unlawfully (misdemeanor first time, felony second time)
8 usc 1326 entering the US after being deported
18 usc 1546 using false documents to obtain work authorization
18 usc 1028 using false identification document
42 usc 408 misuse of a social security number
18 usc 1344 setting up a bank account with false information
I agree, but who is being intellectually honest? George W. Bush has one definition of amnesty, and most law professors have another. Well 9 times out of 10 I'd go with the exact opposite of what most college professors are saying about anything! (but that's another story).
Furthermore there are always maximum penalties and or penalties on the books that judges see fit to give a lesser degree of punishment (and that still isn't amnesty).
When one gets a speeding ticket and has to pay a hefty fine but is put on probation for 6 months without accruing *points*...is that amnesty?
Furthermore the notion that we are going to round up 11 million people and remove / deport them is simply silly. It ain't going happen (and you and I both know it). Hell we could hardly remove one little Cuban boy back to his Father in Cuba without this country erupting on itself.
Outside of the very serious logistics alone of trying to do such -