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"He backs a compromise plan crafted by senators, which, among other steps, would tighten borders, add 6,000 National Guard troops to augment Border Patrol agents, add new barriers and border sensors to reduce illegal immigration and provide an identification system for immigrant workers. It also would create a guest worker program."

Translation: Amnesty now -- in exchange for a promise of better law enforcement in the future.

Translation: Amnesty now -- in exchange for a promise of better law enforcement in the future.

Remember this blast from the past?

http://www.cis.org/articles/2002/terrorpanel.html

Instead of enforcing the law, some have suggested giving green cards to illegal aliens already here, thereby quote unquote eliminating the illegal alien population. Of course, this would not solve the problem of future illegal immigration and we did give out green cards to nearly three million illegals in 1986 and of course we know that they have been entirely replaced. But the point is some have argued even after September 11th that granting amnesty would be helpful to national security because it would allow law enforcement to know who is in the country. For this reason some amnesty advocates have even taken to calling it quote unquote registration of illegal aliens. However, in the past amnesties have actually helped terrorists and did not impede them in any way. Mahmud Abouhalima received a green card under the 1986 amnesty by falsely claiming to be an agricultural worker. Giving him a green card facilitated his terrorism because it was only after he received his green card that he was able to make several trips to the Pakistani-Afghan border, where he received the terrorist training he used in the '93 attack on the World Trade Center. Had Abouhalima not been given amnesty, he would not have been able to travel abroad and return to the United States as a trained terrorist.

The case of Mohammed Salameh, who rented the truck used in the '93 Trade Center bombing is also interesting. It shows why amnesty won't hinder terrorism. His application for amnesty was denied. However, because then, as now, there is no mechanism in place to force people who are denied a green card to leave the country, he continued to live and work in the U.S. illegally and ultimately took part in the '93 attack on the Trade Center as well. Thus, in the past, terrorists who applied for amnesty either received it, making their operations much easier, or when turned down, they simply continued to live in the United States illegally and to engage in terrorism unhindered.