Enforcement Holiday: Immigration Bill Allows Criminal Illegals ‘Safe Harbor’
A provision in the “Gang of Eight” bill would amount to a 2.5-year-long law enforcement holiday, during which time law enforcement will be forced to suspend deportation efforts against criminal illegal aliens and allow them to apply for legalization.
What that means is that while illegal immigrants “come out of the shadows,” as Gang of Eight members like to say, and fill out their applications for legalization or amnesty, enforcement of America’s interior immigration laws will be suspended completely. Essentially, the bill’s provisions create a few-year-long period of suspeneded immigration enforcement immigration while illegal aliens apply for legalization.
The provision, which applies to all illegal aliens who would seek legalized Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) status and to all “blue card” status applicants for illegal immigrant farm workers, has been in the bill since its introduction. As the Gang of Eight and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid attempt to speed this bill across the finish line in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, some who are worried about the bill’s potential future impact are trying to highlight these specific provisions more.
For instance, NumbersUSA director of government relations Rosemary Jenks wrote in a recent op-ed for Breitbart News that the senate bill would make “the United States essentially an enforcement-free zone for a minimum of 18 months (six months for the Secretary of Homeland Security to write two plans to secure the Southern border, then a one-year amnesty application period), but more likely three years (since the Secretary can extend the amnesty application period for another 18 months).”
“During this entire period, no illegal alien can be deported without being given an opportunity to apply for amnesty,” Jenks wrote.
Jenks wrote that President Barack Obama’s current “executive amnesty for so-called DREAMers is instructive on how this will play out” as under that policy if ICE agents encounter illegal aliens, “and such encounters generally occur because the alien is in jail for another crime—and the alien says he is eligible for the amnesty, ICE must take him at his word and release him with instructions on how to apply for amnesty.”
“ The only exception is if the alien already has been convicted of a felony or three or more ‘serious’ misdemeanors—the same standard set out in the Gang amnesty bill,” Jenks wrote.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3036290/posts
Our sources say they expect a final vote to end all debate on the legislation today at 11:30 a.m. If that vote passes, then a final vote on the bill is expected at 2 p.m.
Toll-Free 888-995-8349, or if circuits are busy call their direct numbers HERE.
1. Vote NO to the motion to end debate on the bill and
2. Vote NO on final passage.
The Senate already passed the Corker-Hoeven amendment to the bill earlier this week that added $38 billion in special interest carve-outs to secure votes of on-the-fence Senators. These include:
A carve-out for Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R) and Mark Begich (D) that classifies seafood processing positions in Alaska as "shortage occupations," thus allowing the industry to bring in more cheap foreign labor to do those jobs. It also allows employers to bring in non-immigrants under a summer program to work in seafood processing positions.
A carve-out for Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jon Tester (D-MT) that eliminates a requirement that at least 90% of funding for a law-enforcement program along U.S. borders be devoted to the southwest border, freeing up more money for Northern border states.
A carve-out for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that creates a slush "Youth Jobs Fund" for FY 2014-2015 using $1.5B from U.S. Treasury. Until the kickback, Sen. Sanders was an outspoken critic of the bill for taking jobs away from Americans.
Call your Senators NOW and tell them to vote against S.744:
Toll-Free 888-995-8349, or if circuits are busy call their direct numbers HERE.
Tell them:
"Amnesty" is NOT immigration reform. Amnesty undermines the rule of law and is inherently unfair to millions of legal immigrants who followed the rules and waited their turn in line.
The Gang of Eight amnesty bill hurts American workers. It adds to the labor market millions of illegal aliens AND guest workers who will unfairly compete with American workers and drive down wages.
You want the government to keep its promises to enforce the law, both at the borders and across the country.
You demand that Congress restore integrity and common sense to our immigration system, not sell out to special interests.
Please call your Senators NOW!