Posted on 05/23/2007 5:53:37 PM PDT by LdSentinal
As the old saying goes, "what have you done for me lately?"
Judging by the manner in which many of those in attendance at last Saturday's state GOP convention greeted the state's senior Republican senator, Saxby Chambliss, that adage could be the theme for Georgia's majority party.
Despite having defeated an incumbent Democratic senator less than five years ago to win his seat, and notwithstanding his unwavering support of Republican President Bush throughout his first term in the Senate, Chambliss was actually booed and hissed when he took the stage at the convention to speak to the faithful of his own party. What occasioned this distasteful lapse of protocol? Had the state's senior senator voted for a tax increase, decided to support a piece of pro-choice legislation or called for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq?
Actually, what caused the disfavor was the fact that he had expressed support earlier in the week for a compromise, bipartisan immigration reform bill that, among other things, would:
• Add 18,000 full-time agents to the U.S. Border Patrol.
• Dramatically increase the number of beds at detention centers, to reduce the likelihood that illegal aliens will continue to be released pending judicial review of their status.
• Install more fences and detection devices along our southern border.
• Deploy a squadron of unmanned drones to monitor key areas of the U.S.-Mexican border.
• Establish a high-tech verification system by which employers would determine if applicants were in fact illegally in the country.
• Enhance penalties for immigration-related offenses.
Every one of these border-strengthening measures normally would receive strong applause from Republicans. But the fact that they would be followed by a reformed immigration process that includes a mechanism whereby people now in the United States in violation of our immigration laws would be able eventually to secure a "green card" (Permanent Resident Alien or "PRA" card) and thereafter possibly citizenship, has rendered the compromise legislation anathema to many Republicans.
If, however, those who so discourteously booed a sitting senator of their own party on Saturday took the time to actually read and understand the legislation to which not only Chambliss, but also his colleague, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), have tentatively lent their support, they might discover the bill contains a number of other measures that used to enjoy GOP support.
For example, those currently in the country unlawfully would not be eligible to apply for a green card — itself a prerequisite for any eventual citizenship application — until the huge, current backlog of lawful immigrants with pending applications are taken care of. In other words, rather than "going to the head of the line" as some previous immigration plans proposed, under this latest version, candidates currently here without authorization would have to "go to the back of the line." This process alone might take up to eight years (followed by five additional years to complete the track).
Another important — and for Republicans, one would have thought, positive — aspect of the bill Chambliss and Isakson have tentatively agreed to support, is that applicants would be required to submit to a federal government background check, and any raising security concerns or possessing criminal records here or in their home country would not be eligible to proceed with the process. Moreover, all applicants would have to return to their home country — for the vast majority, Mexico — from where they would file their application. And, in a move that has upset many Democrat supporters, preference would be afforded those with higher education and job skills. Even sweetening the pot by providing a special category of temporary workers to assist employers with significant labor needs, including many Georgia farmers, was not enough to shield Chambliss from the wrath of his fellow Republicans.
Is this piece of legislation perfect? Hardly. For one thing, certain of its provisions — including those referencing the REAL ID Act — raise serious privacy concerns. Additionally, several provisions in the bill remain complex or vague, leaving far too much wriggle room for future administrations and congresses. A concern also is that the so-called security measure "triggers," which would have to be met before the process whereby illegal aliens could apply for lawful status, are not sufficiently cast in concrete, and could be evaded in the coming years. Finally, both Georgia senators have indicated that their support for the measure is not absolute, and could evaporate if additional changes occur that weaken the security measures or other provisions.
The bottom line, however, is this legislation includes important — in reality, essential — measures that would enhance physical and procedural mechanisms aimed at ensuring our borders, especially our southern one, do not remain the sieve they have been allowed to become. It also reflects the reality that simply trying to round up more than 12 million illegal aliens already in this country is not a realistic alternative.
Rather than booing Georgia's Republican senators for having the credibility to significantly and positively influence the drafting of this legislation in a Congress controlled by a party that favors essentially open borders, our state's Republicans ought to at least hear them out. Then, they all should roll up their sleeves to help ensure the measures championed by Chambliss and Isakson remain in the bill when and if it heads to the president's desk.
If Georgia Republicans continue to publicly undercut the party's own senators, they will help guarantee passage of a bill with far fewer important safeguards than the current version.
BS Barr.
From the Heritage Foundation.
Rewarding Illegal Aliens: Senate Bill Undermines The Rule of Law
by Kris W. Kobach, D.Phil., J.D. and Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
WebMemo #1468
The most controversial component of the Senate’s Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 is Title VI, euphemistically entitled “Nonimmigrants in the United States Previously in Unlawful Status.” It would create a new “Z” visa exclusively for illegal aliens. This title would change the status of those who are here illegally to legal, essentially granting amnesty to those “previously in unlawful status.” This seriously flawed proposal would undermine the rule of law by granting massive benefits to those who have willfully violated U.S. laws, while denying those benefits to those who have played by the rules and sometimes even to U.S. citizens.
Flawed Provisions
The following are ten of the worst provisions—by no means an exhaustive list—of Title VI of the bill:
A Massive Amnesty: Title VI of the bill grants amnesty to virtually all of the 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the country today. This amnesty would dwarf the amnesty that the United States granted—with disastrous consequences—in 1986 to 2.7 million illegal aliens. It is also a larger amnesty than that proposed in last year’s ill-fated Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act. Indeed, the Senate’s bill imposes no cap on the total number of individuals who could receive Z-visa status.
To initially qualify for a Z visa, an illegal alien need only have a job (or be the parent, spouse, or child of someone with a job) and provide two documents suggesting that he or she was in the country before January 1, 2007, and has remained in the country since then. A bank statement, pay stub, or similarly forgeable record will do. Also acceptable under the legislation is a sworn affidavit from a non-relative (see Section 601(i)(2)).
The price of a Z visa is $3,000 for individuals—only slightly more than the going rate to hire a coyote to smuggle a person across the border. A family of five could purchase visas for the bargain price of $5,000—some $20,000 short of the net cost that household is likely to impose on local, state, and federal government each year, according to Heritage Foundation calculations.
Expect a mass influx unlike anything this country has ever seen once the 12-month period for accepting Z visa applications begins. These provisions are an open invitation for those intent on U.S. residence to sneak in and present two fraudulent pieces of paper indicating that they were here before the beginning of the year.
That is precisely what happened in the 1986 amnesty, during which Immigration and Naturalization Services discovered 398,000 cases of fraud. Expect the number of fraudulent applications to be at least four times larger this time, given the much larger applicant pool.
The Permanent “Temporary” Visa: Supporters of the bill call the Z visa a “temporary” visa. However, they neglect to mention that it can be renewed every four years until the visa holder dies, according to Section 601(k)(2) of the legislation. This would be the country’s first permanent temporary visa. On top of that, it is a “super-visa,” allowing the holder to work, attend college, or travel abroad and reenter. These permissible uses are found in Section 602(m).
A law-abiding alien with a normal nonimmigrant visa would surely desire this privileged status. Unfortunately for him, only illegal aliens can qualify, according Section 601(c)(1).
And contrary to popular misconception, illegal aliens need not return to their home countries to apply for the Z visa. That’s only necessary if and when an alien decides to adjust from Z visa status to lawful permanent resident (”green card”) status under Section 602(a)(1). And even then, it’s not really the country of origin; any consulate outside the United States can take applications at its discretion or the direction of the Secretary of State.
Hobbled Background Checks: The bill would make it extremely difficult for the federal government to prevent criminals and terrorists from obtaining legal status. Under Section 601(h)(1), the bill would allow the government only one business day to conduct a background check to determine whether an applicant is a criminal or terrorist. Unless the government can find a reason not to grant it by the end of the next business day after the alien applies, the alien receives a probationary Z visa (good from the time of approval until six months after the date Z visas begin to be approved, however long that may be) that lets him roam throughout the country and seek employment legally.
The problem is that there is no single, readily searchable database of all of the dangerous people in the world. While the federal government does have computer databases of known criminals and terrorists, these databases are far from comprehensive. Much of this kind of information exists in paper records that cannot be searched within 24 hours. Other information is maintained by foreign governments.
The need for effective background checks is real. During the 1986 amnesty, the United States granted legal status to Mahmoud “The Red” Abouhalima, who fraudulently sought and obtained the amnesty intended for seasonal agricultural workers (even though he was actually employed as a cab driver in New York City). But his real work was in the field of terrorism. He went on to become a ringleader in the 1993 terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center. Using his new legal status after the amnesty, he was able to travel abroad for terrorist training.
Amnesty for “Absconders”: Title VI’s amnesty extends even to fugitives who have been ordered deported by an immigration judge but chose to ignore their removal orders. More than 636,000 absconders are now present in the country, having defied the law twice: once when they broke U.S. immigration laws and again when they ignored the orders of the immigration courts.
The Senate’s bill allows the government to grant Z visas to absconders. Though the bill appears to deny the visa to absconders in Section 601(d)(1)(B), Section 601(d)(1)(I) allows U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials to give an absconder the Z visa anyway if the absconder can demonstrate that departure from the United States “would result in extreme hardship to the alien or the alien’s spouse, parent or child.”
This is a massive loophole because so many things can be construed to constitute “extreme hardship.” This might include removing a child from an American school and placing him in a school in an impoverished country, or deporting a person with any chronic illness. Attorneys representing aliens would also argue that if any member of an absconder’s family is a U.S. citizen, then the other members must remain in the United States, because the separation of family members would constitute extreme hardship.
This would also be a reward to those who have defied U.S. immigration courts. Those who have successfully fled justice could receive the most generous visa ever created, but those who complied with the law and have waited years to enter legally would have to wait longer still. (Indeed, the massive bureaucratic load caused by processing Z visas would undoubtedly mean longer waits for those who have played by the rules.) Further, those who have obeyed the law and complied with deportation orders would not be eligible for Z visas.
The effect of this provision may already be felt today. Why would an illegal alien obey a deportation order while this bill is even pending in Congress? If the alien ignores the deportation order, he may be able to qualify for the amnesty; but if he obeys the order, he has no possibility of gaining the amnesty.
Reverse Justice: The bill would effectively shut down the immigration court system. Under Section 601(h)(6), if an alien in the removal process is “prima facie eligible” for the Z visa, an immigration judge must close any proceedings against the alien and offer the alien an opportunity to apply for amnesty.
Enforcement of Amnesty, Not Laws: The bill would transform Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from a law enforcement agency into an amnesty distribution center. Under Sections 601(h)(1, 5) if an ICE agent apprehends aliens who appear to be eligible for the Z visa (in other words, just about any illegal alien), the agent cannot detain them. Instead, ICE must provide them a reasonable opportunity to apply for the Z visa. Instead of initiating removal proceedings, ICE will be initiating amnesty applications. This is the equivalent of turning the Drug Enforcement Agency into a needle-distribution network.
Amnesty for Gang Members: Under Section 602(g)(2) of the bill, gang members would be eligible to receive amnesty. This comes at a time when violent international gangs, such as Mara Salvatrucha 13 (or “MS-13”), have brought mayhem to U.S. cities. More than 30,000 illegal-alien gang members operate in 33 states, trafficking in drugs, arms, and people. Deporting illegal-alien gang members has been a top ICE priority. The Senate bill would end that. To qualify for amnesty, all a gang member would need to do is note his gang membership and sign a “renunciation of gang affiliation.”
Tuition Subsidies for Illegal Aliens: The Senate bill incorporates the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act). The DREAM Act effectively repeals a 1996 federal law (8 U.S.C. § 1623) that prohibits any state from offering in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens unless the state also offers in-state tuition rates to all U.S. citizens. Ten states are currently defying this federal law. Section 616 would allow these and all other states to offer in-state tuition rates to any illegal alien who obtains the Z visa and attends college.
The injustice of this provision is obvious. Illegal aliens would receive a taxpayer subsidy worth tens of thousands of dollars and would be treated better than U.S. citizens from out of state, who must pay three to four times as much to attend college. In an era of limited educational resources and rising tuitions, U.S. citizens, not aliens openly violating federal law, should be first in line to receive education subsidies.
Further, legal aliens who possess an appropriate F, J, or M student visa would not receive this valuable benefit. Nor would they be eligible for the federal student loans that illegal aliens could obtain by this provision.
Taxpayer-Funded Lawyers for Illegal Aliens: The Senate’s bill would force taxpayers to foot the bill for many illegal aliens’ lawyers. Under current law, illegal aliens are not eligible for federally funded legal services. Section 622(m) of the bill would allow millions of illegal aliens who work in agriculture to receive free legal services. Every illegal alien working in the agricultural sector would have access to an immigration attorney to argue his case through the immigration courts and federal courts of appeals—all at taxpayer expense. This provision alone could cost hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
Amnesty Before Enforcement Triggers. Proponents of the Senate approach have consistently claimed that it would allow delayed amnesty only after certain law enforcement goals are met. The text of the bill, however, tells a different story. Section 1(a) allows provisional Z visas to be issued immediately after enactment, and Section 601(f)(2) prohibits the federal government from waiting more than 180 days after enactment to begin issuing provisional Z visas.
These provisional Z visas could be valid for years, depending on when the government begins issuing non-provisional Z visas, according to Section 601(h)(4). Moreover, the “provisional” designation means little. These visas are nearly as good as non-provisional Z visas, giving the alien immediate lawful status, protection from deportation, authorization to work, and the ability to exit and reenter the country (with advance permission). These privileges are listed in Section 601(h)(1).
Conclusion
What becomes unmistakably clear from the details of the Senate’s bill is that it is not a “compromise” in any meaningful sense. Indeed, the sweeping amnesty provisions of Title VI cripple law enforcement and undermine the rule of law.
Kris W. Kobach, D.Phil, J.D., professor of law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, served as counsel to the U.S. Attorney General in 2001-2003 and was the attorney general’s chief adviser on immigration law. Matthew Spalding, Ph.D., is the director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at The Heritage Foundation.
Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Forget the frills, secure the border THEN we’ll talk.
Bob Barr lost his mind several years and ago. Have they found a home for him yet?
How are you going to run a background check on an illiterate with the name of Juan Garcia or Manuel Lopez or Pedro Garza in the 24 hours mandated by this sham of a bill? Bob Barr must be lobbying for the Tyson chicken plants in GA that shut down last year for the May Day illegal alien demonstrations.
And how would we be able to read this 600-page secretive document agreed upon behind closed doors without public debate?
As if I didn’t already read it myself, this would really cement it’s BS.
How dare the peasants express dissatisfaction to their overlords and betters?
Stick it in your ear Bob. And go back to sleep.
I’m still trying to find who’s doing the health screenings... remember those?
The Senator who was booed (let his name go unspoken in this realm) supported legislation that amnestied every Latino narcotics peddler who had not yet been arrested at the border for "transporting" ~ all other offenses were to be ignored.
He should have read the legislaton first. Barr ought to read it too, or maybe he did and thinks that what America needs most is more dopers and stoners.
Build the fence. Stop illegal immigration. None of the rest of it is worth anything, except to burden and destroy this country. Stop the political hypocrisy — focus on America and what it needs — instead of liberal politics and the pursuit of votes at any price to America.
Anybody who buys into the “good stuff” in the bill will be done or enforced is an idiot.
If Georgia Republicans continue to publicly undercut the party's own senators, they will help guarantee passage of a bill with far fewer important safeguards than the current version.
And if they don't pitch in to kill this abomination, we risk this nation and set about turning it into a third world s*&thole.
Are you still here, Bob? I thought we told you not to let the door hit you on the ass....
Barr should be thankful they were only booed and not chased with torches and pitchforks!
Would that be a floater or a sinker?
I also emailed his website with that info from the Heritage Foundation. I breathlessly await his reply.
1- CLOSE THE BORDERS,
2-SEND THE NATIONAL GUARD IN FORCE TO SECURE IT,
3- BUILD THE FENCE WE WERE PROMISED
THEN WE WILL TALK! PERIOD!
After a lengthy debate it should go before the American people for a vote, why? because each and every one of us and our children will be paying for it! This should not be decided by compromised, back-door dealing, UN American congressmen.
Both!
Gotta disagree with Barr on this, but I won’t resort to the usual knee-jerk Libertarian ad-hominems as other critics on this thread. (Nevermind the fact that the GOP, not the LP, is the party that’s ramming this through)
Once you go ACLU you never come back. Adios Bob Barr.
LOL.
“Every one of these border-strengthening measures normally would receive strong applause from Republicans”
Oh, please. Without amnesty+ Congress passed the fence bill. Without Amnesty + Congress at least twice passed laws increasing immigration enforcement, the first Bush kiboshed by not funding it.
It’s becoming a tired routine that “enforcement” has to be tied to giving Bush and the wage depression lobbies their amnesty+
It’s a flat out lie.
Also, so what if I “like” parts of the bill. Everyone should weigh the complete measure to support or deny it.
Barr reads here like a horse-trading politician.
Maybe it’s the Business lobby wage depression money flowing into the ACLU.
Bob Barr is either misleading the reader or ignorant about some of the particulars of this bill.
I agreed to Reagan’s amnesty plan because someone promised that we’d find ways to slow illegal immigration to a trickle. Sadly, we got a huge flood after that day.
The current plan is akin to a plan to bail water on the Titanic, when what is needed is a way to plug the holes. Plug the holes, fix ICE so that people have a way to come in legally, and then we’ll talk about the fate of the illegals now here.
Sadly, when the current illegals become legal, employers won’t want them as much as they are wanted now, because employers fear that the Feds will be called for employment abuses. They will join an already-high legal Hispanic unemployment rate.
Maybe but the rest of us are right about it.
It's an amnesty, a sell out and a complete POS.
Bob Barr can kiss my grits.
Bob Barr is almost as irrelevant as Jimmah C.
Using that analogy I would also say part of their plan is to make the holes bigger so we can get at the water easier.
These are times in which the U.S, citizenry must wake up and pay attention to what is going on; to not do so means the loss of what America is all about.
“Forget the frills, secure the border THEN we’ll talk.”
They can’t even obey there own law. This Senate bill ignores the Secure Fence Act signed into law last year and only requires construction of 370 miles of fence as opposed to the 854 miles mandated by the law passed last year... And how many miles of fence has been built of that original 854 miles? About 14 miles thanks to some tough leadership in California.
Forget the frills, secure the border THEN we’ll talk.
AMEN!!!!
1. None of that matters if you just let them all in legally anyway.
2. We all know they will never even implement all of that.
3. Bob, you are a jackass.
Thanks for your post (#2).
Credit the freeper I stole it from. :)
If anyone feels it as worth the effort here is Barr’s
website with his email.
http://www.bobbarr.org
Old Bob Barr has fallen a long way from his perch in 1996. Man, this guy has lost it.
Hey Bob! Tell your bosom buddies, your fellow travelers, at the American Communists (kill) Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that you just don’t have any more political capital to sell to them for thirty pieces of silver. Then go emulate Judas.
 |
Good post!
.
Bob Barr is off the rails now
I’ve been working on one graphic all day, don’t have a clue what’s going on.
That’s what I wanted to say.
Thanks, and ditto that for me!
Bob Barr showed his true colors when he cozied up with the A.C.L.U.
All day!
I did that Eagle graphic fairly quickly last night
But sometimes I get one that just won’t cooperate with my intentions
And the longer I work on it the more irritated I get
Like a book or movie that starts badly and you are sure will get better
But they never do
No, they never do.
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.