GOP Immigration chairman rips Gingrich’s ‘amnesty’ plan

The Hill ^ | 113011 | Jonathan Easley

[Fred]

The Republican chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus blasted GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Tuesday for calling to allow some illegal immigrants to remain in the country.

Speaking on CNN’s “John King, USA,” Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) likened the former House Speaker’s plan to drilling a hole in the bottom of a sinking boat to let the water out.

“Newt, I don’t care who you are,” Bilbray said. “Quit sending the mixed message that we are going to somehow reward or accommodate you if you broke the law while there are those waiting patiently and playing by the rules, waiting to come into this country legally.”

[oh8eleven]

The Republican chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus ...
And where's your plan Mr. Chairman? WTF are you doing about it ... right now!

[G Larry]

Well Brian, I haven't noticed any hard-nosed legislative solutions emanating from YOUR office.....

[illiac]

If he does not like it, it is all the better that Newt may be right......

[catbertz]

Exactly! There may be aspects of Newt’s candidacy that I appreciate, but his immigration stance is a failed approach. How many times will we be forced to repeat the same mistake?

[heiss]

It is not amnesty, it is legalization of illegals!

There is no need for any grand plan (of which amnesty is always key part). Simply enforce law, mandate e-verify and start building fence.

[kabar]

Bilbray is right. Newt is pushing an amnesty. How about this plan:

 Formulate a merit based immigration system that brings in the skills and talents to keep us competitive in the global economy;

 Reduce immigration levels based on need more closely approximating 300,000 a year;

 Eliminate extended chain migration, i.e., family reunification, limiting it to the nuclear family;

 Secure the border;

 Enforce existing immigration laws to reduce the current illegal alien population and limit future illegal immigration, i.e., attrition thru enforcement. Enforcement would include: (1) ending the job magnet; (2) increasing coordination at the federal level by eliminating barriers to information sharing among agencies; (3) leveraging state and local enforcement resources; (4) fully implementing the US-VISIT Program to track and deport visa overstays; and (5) make mandatory and improve such programs as E-Verify and 287 [g] authority to assist employers and law enforcement in identifying illegal aliens;

 Eliminate birthright citizenship and the visa lottery program;

 Ensure that anyone who enters this nation illegally is not rewarded by being permitted to stay and work here; i.e., no amnesty;

 Streamline the processing and adjudication of immigration cases;

 Promote pro-immigrant measures that help newcomers assimilate and embrace the values and principles of our Founders and the Constitution.

[Oldexpat]

I really don’t care whether they have been here 25 years or 25 days. They should remain illegal until they are thrown out or die. If we actually enforced our immigration laws and labor laws we could allow a lot more deserving people to visit friends and families in the US. Right now millions of people can’t come and visit because we have so many who have stayed or come illegally.
It takes at least a year and tons of money and paper work for an American to bring a legit legal spouse. Why should those who have jumped the river or fence get a special deal. Why should they get a chance to work and stay while they wait for their special deal?

[Oldexpat]

I really don’t care whether they have been here 25 years or 25 days. They should remain illegal until they are thrown out or die. If we actually enforced our immigration laws and labor laws we could allow a lot more deserving people to visit friends and families in the US. Right now millions of people can’t come and visit because we have so many who have stayed or come illegally.
It takes at least a year and tons of money and paper work for an American to bring a legit legal spouse. Why should those who have jumped the river or fence get a special deal. Why should they get a chance to work and stay while they wait for their special deal?

[South40]

[umgud]

We can’t round up and deport 12 million illegals and we can’t piss off the Hispanic vote, so I guess we gotta leave things the way they are or hand out amnesty./s

[kabar]

Definition: Amnesty, from the same Greek root as "amnesia," forgives past crimes and removes them from the record for future purposes. In the context of immigration, amnesty is commonly defined as granting legal status to a group of individuals unlawfully present in a country. It overlooks the alien's illegal entry and ongoing illegal presence and creates a new legal status that allows the recipient to live and work in the country.

You don't need a path to citizenship to be an amnesty. Newt is supporting an amnesty no matter how he trys to change the meaning of the word.

Any legislation that legalizes the status of those who broke our laws by entering our country illegally and allows them to stay is amnesty. We must not only prevent the Democrats and some moderate Republicans from hijacking the meaning of the word amnesty, but the public must be made aware about the true impact of an amnesty.

The Heritage Foundation concluded that the cost of amnesty alone would be $2.6 trillion in just additional entitlement costs. And the number of additional LEGAL immigrants who would join those who were the recipients of amnesty through chain migration, i.e., family reunification, would approach 70 million over a 20-year period, assuming there are only 12 million illegal aliens. We cannot assimilate such numbers. An amnesty would destroy the United States of America with the stroke of a pen.

[South40]

Can You Spot The Pro-Amnesty RINO?

[kabar]

The proponents of amnesty are wont to create the false choice between a blanket amnesty and mass deportation of 12 to 20 million illegal aliens. In reality, we have other choices and alternatives that don’t reward people who have broken our laws with the right to stay and work here and an eventual path to citizenship. The 12 to 20 million illegal aliens did not enter this country overnight and they will not leave overnight. Attrition through enforcement works.

[G Larry]

That’s nice.....

Know anybody running for Prez who’s going to implement your approach?

Are they polling in double digits?

[Hugin]

The solution is to seal the border, vigorously enforce the laws already on the books, and support states like AZ and AL in their attempts to deal with it. If it’s impossible for illegals to get hired or get benefits, a fair portion will self deport.

I like Newt, but he’s wrong on this one.

[oh8eleven]

Can You Spot The Pro-Amnesty ...

[tennmountainman]

I am not a Gingrich fan and won’t vote for him, but I agree
with your post about this Chairman, who happens to be from CA.

CA has been overrun and IS NEVER COMING BACK.

Why doesn’t this Chairman pass a bill out of his committee, if he is so serious about immigration?

[ez]

You folks need to start looking at the big picture. Sure, Newt’s immigration plan is a third way compromise between hard line conservative policy and squishy moderate politics, but that is only one issue out of many. They used to call it not being to see the forest for the trees.

[Vigilanteman]

Excellent. To which I would add my own "amnesty" plan after a period of reasonable enfocement:

1. The first million reporting for voluntary deportation would be given a nice hot box lunch and air-conditioned bus ride with reclining seats over the border with a checked baggage allowance of two suitcases per person.

2. The second million would get a standard bus ride with a decent sack lunch, bench seating and a one suitcase per person checked baggage allowance.

3. The third million would get a ride back in a box car or tractor trailer with what they could carry on and be provided with cold cuts, bread, bottled water and granola bars.

All of the foregoing would get an amnesty consisting of the right to apply for legal entrance in the future without having their illegal entry and residence held against them.

After that, my amnesty program would be declared ended and any remaining would be fingerprinted, deported and declared permanently ineligible to re-enter the country as they were discovered.