There are a few pieces of the proposal that, if you cut out the amnesty, make sense. After all, this is ALLEGEDLY “enforcement first”, that’s how it’s being sold, right?
Problem is, the whole concept of provisional amnesty or the “Z” visa immediately wrecks the concept of “enforcement first.” And further, you and I both know that if this bill is enacted as a whole, the “triggers” (which are BS anyway) will be quietly removed when the Democrats expand their majorities in 2008.
The only thing that will work is a tough, almost Draconian, enforcement strategy with both “exterior” (border fence, increased security, more Border Patrol, troops on the border if need be, and cracking down on Mexico) and “interior” (mass deportations, cracking down on employers knowing employing illegals, making an employment verification database work, repeal of anchor babies) enforcement. ONLY THEN, after strict enforcement is in place, the border is sealed, and illegals are streaming home by the millions, forcibly or not...only then can we even begin to think about guest worker programs or “Z” visas.
A “comprehensive” bill simply means that the enforcement parts of it can be ignored, and the amnesty parts can be enforced. It happened in 1965, it happened in 1986, and it’ll happen in 2007.
}:-)4