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22 Problems With The Senate’s Illegal Immigration Bill

Written By : John Hawkins
January 2, 2012

1) The Senate Bill Would Make It Impossible To Deport Most Illegal Aliens For Years



“What about illegal alien protection? The alien and their families who file applications for amnesty ‘shall not be detained, determined inadmissible, deported, or removed until their applications are finally adjudicated, unless they commit a future act that renders them ineligible with amnesty.’ With tens of millions of applications, this amnesty, this provision essentially guarantees an illegal alien years of protection in the United States, even if they do not qualify for the amnesty.” – Jeff Sessions

2) Consultations Between United States And Mexican Authorities At The Federal, State, And Local Levels Are Required Before A Fence Can Be Built


Although this isn’t, as some opponents of the Senate bill have portrayed it, giving Mexico a veto over the fence, what is going to come of it other than delay and condemnations of the project? The whole point of building the fence is to keep people on the Mexican side of the fence from entering our country illegally. The people in Mexico oppose building a fence for exactly the same reasons that we want it built. So, it’s like home owners and burglars getting together to discuss the new locks and alarms that are being put into place. It’s really none of their business and even if it were, they oppose the fence, so what’s to discuss?

3) The National Guard Gimmick


This isn’t technically part of the Senate bill, but it’s being used to help sell it, so it’s fair to include it. “Last year the House Immigration Reform Caucus estimated that at least 36,000 Guardsmen would be needed” to adequately cover the border. George Bush sent only 6,000 Guardsmen, for one year, and then decided not to allow them to actually apprehend anyone. Because of this, Border Patrol chief David Aguilar estimated that the move would allow only, “500 officers working in clerical and other jobs to return to law enforcement.” Setting aside the fact that this is only a PR stunt that will have very little impact, the Guard will only be at the border for a year, which isn’t enough time for a wall to be built or many of the other security measures, such as they are, to take effect.

4) Police Can’t Arrest Illegals Just For Being Illegals


According to Ed Meese, the current Senate bill would actually prevent police officers from arresting anyone based on the fact that they’re in this country illegally. Does that sound like the sort of provision that people who are serious about enforcing our immigration law would add to the bill?

5) The Senate Bill Puts Amnesty Ahead Of Security


“The Senate rejected an amendment by Senator Isakson that would have prohibited the implementation of any guest worker program that grants legal status to those who have entered the country illegally until the Secretary of Homeland Security has certified to the President and to the Congress that the border security provisions in the immigration legislation are fully funded and operational.” – Jim DeMint


This would have been an extremely important provision because it will take a long time to finish the fence on the border and complete the social security verification system. Just to give you an example of the sort of time period we could be looking at, it took the government 9 years, from 1996 to 2005, to complete a 14 mile section of border fence in San Diego. So, would it surprise anyone if it took the government 10-15 years to build a much larger fence?

6) The No-Sharing For National Security Purposes Clause


“The bill forbids the federal government to use any information included in an application for amnesty in national-security or criminal investigations.” – National Review


That means if Osama Bin Laden were to apply for citizenship and mention on the application that he was currently living in New York, it would literally be illegal to tell the FBI. Does that really make any sense?

7) Amnesty For Illegals, Of Any Sort, Just Encourages More People To Break Our Laws


“…(T)he low hurdles to citizenship this bill erects’making illegal immigrants stand at the back of the immigration line while remaining in our country (and pushing others outside of the country further back in line); forcing them to pay only three years of back income taxes after the IRS, rather than they themselves, figures out how much they owe; collecting a nominal fee of $2,000 per immigrant’mock and demean the sacrifices of those who waited years to immigrate through our established legal channels. Worse, like the immigration law passed in 1986, it creates a disincentive to legally apply for citizenship. 

Those who broke the law when coming into America, broke the law when getting a job, and broke the law by failing to pay the same taxes as American workers, continue to break the law by residing here illegally. This bill is dangerous precedent and sends a chilling message about our national integrity: America has lost the will to enforce her laws, and her sovereignty is for sale’currently, for around $2,000.” –Rick Santorum


When it comes to enforcing our immigration laws, this country is like the boy who cried “wolf.” If we don’t enforce the laws that are already on the books this time, why should anyone believe us when we say we’ll enforce the laws next time around?

8) The Tier System


“Illegal aliens who have been in the U.S. for more than 5 years would be given citizenship; those who have been here between 2 and 5 years would receive foreign worker cards with a path to citizenship; those here for fewer than 2 years would allegedly go home. Critically, the bill allows flimsy documentation (such as pay stubs and utility bills) to prove how long illegal aliens have been in the U.S., which virtually begs for massive document fraud.” – Tom Tancredo


Worse yet, according to Matt Spalding from the Center for Immigration studies, you could prove residence in the US for 5 years based on nothing more than an affidavit from a friend.


Even if you set aside the fact that the tier system will be unworkable because of fraud, it’s set up to reward the people who have been breaking our laws for the longest period of time. Is that really a wise decision?

9) Why Should Criminals Be Allowed To Become American Citizens?


“Republican Senators Cornyn (Tex.) and Kyl (Ariz.) had originally proposed an amendment to make criminals ineligible for either amnesty or U.S. citizenship under the proposed new law. That had been overwhelmingly rejected by the Democrats who then asked Cornyn and Kyl to negotiate a compromise with Kennedy. The two sides agreed’the Republicans reluctantly’that a criminal would now be eligible for amnesty and citizenship if he had committed only one felony or three misdemeanors except that he could commit any number of immigration-related felonies or misdemeanors and still pass muster.” – John O’Sullivan


Isn’t that just what we need here in America: more criminals. Here’s an alternate proposal: how about no felons are allowed to become citizens or guest workers?

10) The Small, Tardy Fine Paid By Illegals To Become Legal


“Under the bill, an illegal alien can go from illegal to legal by paying a small fine of $2,000. Often, illegal aliens will pay more than five times this amount to a smuggler to get across the border. Also, the $2000 fine may not have to be paid until year eight, which allows the illegal alien to live, work, and play in the United States for years free from deportation.” – Charles Grassley

11) An Enormous Increase In The Number Of Legal Immigrants Coming To The US


Although the American people have said, in poll after poll after poll that they favor decreasing the number of legal immigrants coming to America, according to theHeritage Foundation, this bill has the potential to more than triple the number of immigrants becoming US citizens over the next 20 years from roughly 19 million to 66 million.


When you look at the high unemployment rates and in the case of France, riots and car burnings, that these sort of massive increases of immigration has led to in Europe, it becomes obvious that this is a particularly foolish idea.

12) Guest Workers Will Be Eligible For Citizenship


This might not be so bad — if the number of citizens added via the guest worker program were subtracted from the number of foreigners added in via legalization each year — and if these workers, who tend to make low incomes, were ineligible for the earned income tax credit, to receive welfare, their relatives couldn’t also come to the US via chain immigration, etc. However, since none of those conditions apply, what we’re doing is making a lot of people citizens who’re likely to be net drains on the system for decades — just so we can get our dishes washed and strawberries picked a little bit cheaper over the next few years.

13) Union Wages For Guest Workers?


The “Davis-Bacon union wage requirements” are being applied to “jobs performed by so-called temporary workers.” On the upside, this may force wages for guest workers to be so high that businesses will be able to hire Americans for less than guest workers.


On the other hand, the Bush administration has been trying to sell a guest worker program as a way to decrease pressure on the border by bringing workers here legally. But, if guest workers are actually very expensive, perhaps even more expensive than American workers, there will still be a powerful incentive to hire illegal aliens. In other words, this will likely make any law enforcement related benefits of the guest worker program negligible.

14) Blue Card Illegals — Some Of America’s Most Privileged Workers


“Under the AgJOBS component of the substitute, illegal alien agricultural workers who have worked 150 ‘workdays’ in agriculture over the last 2 years will receive a ‘blue card,’ allowing them to live and work permanently in the U.S. However, because current law defines an agricultural ‘workday’ as 1 hour of work per day’the bill language restates that definition on page 397′an alien who has worked for as little as 150 hours’there are 168 hours in a week’in agriculture over the last 2 years will qualify for a blue card. 

Blue card aliens can only be fired for just cause, unlike an American citizen worker who is likely under an employment at will agreement with the agricultural employer. 

No alien granted blue card status may be terminated from employment by any employer during the period of blue card status except for just cause. 

Because blue card aliens are not limited to working in agriculture, this employment requirement will follow the alien at their second and third jobs as well. The bill goes as far as setting up an arbitration process for blue card aliens who allege they have been terminated without just cause. Furthermore, the bill requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to pay the fee and expenses of the arbitrator. American citizens do not have a right to this arbitration process. Why are we setting up an arbitration process for blue card aliens paid for by the American taxpayer? 

Regarding free legal counsel, the AgJOBS amendment goes further than paying for arbitrators, it also provides free legal counsel to illegal aliens who want to receive this amnesty. The AgJOBS amendment specifically states that recipients of ‘funds under the Legal Services Corporation Act’ shall not be prevented ‘from providing legal assistance directly related to an application for adjustment of status under this section.’ Interestingly, page 414 of the bill requires the alien to have an attorney file the application for him. Not only will AgJOBS give amnesty to 1.5 million illegal aliens, it would have the American taxpayer pay the legal bills of those illegal aliens. This is unbelievable and unacceptable. We should not be rewarding illegal aliens who break our laws with free legal counsel and a direct path to citizenship.” – Jeff Sessions

15) Cheaper College For Illegals Than Americans?


“The DREAM Act would… allow illegal alien college and university students to be eligible for in-state tuition without affording out-of-state citizen students the same opportunity. Thus, the University of Alabama could offer in-state tuition to illegal alien students while requiring citizens residing in Mississippi to pay the much higher out-of-state tuition rates. 

Allowing all illegal aliens enrolled in college to receive in-state tuition rates means that while American citizens from 49 other states have to pay out-of-state tuition rates to send their kids to [*S5032] UVA, people who have illegally immigrated to this country might not. Out-of-state tuition rates range from 2 to 3 ‘ times the in-state resident tuition rate.” – Jeff Sessions

16) Weak Assimilation/English Requirements


“The Senate approved Senator Inhofe’s amendment to make English the national language and require those seeking citizenship to demonstrate English proficiency and understanding of U.S. History. However, a far weaker amendment by Senator Salazar gutted the Inhofe amendment, leaving it in doubt, and also giving immigrants the right to demand the federal government communicate with them in any language they choose.” – Jim DeMint

17) Favoring Ditch Diggers Over Scientists


“Developed nations have reformed their immigration policies to prioritize high-skilled immigration over large scale low-skilled and extended family chain migration. This bill prioritizes low-skilled and chain migration over skill-based immigration, an approach we should reject.” – Jeff Sessions


If we are going to dramatically increase the number of people being allowed to emigrate to the US, which, by the way, is probably a bad idea, why in the world would we want to try to bring in more ditch diggers and fruit pickers when we could be selecting scientists, engineers, and programmers instead?

18) Employers Of Illegals Get An Amnesty On Taxes They Owe


The bill allows, “unscrupulous employers to pay no back taxes…for hiring illegal aliens.” Why should employers of illegal aliens, who’ve already benefitted by hiring cheap, illegal labor, be allowed to forego paying taxes that they legitimately owe?

19) The Illegal Alien Tax Amnesty



20) Earned Income Tax Credits For Illegals


“Senator Jeff Sessions, who seems to be one of only a few senators paying attention to the results of this giveaway bill, says that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that if S.2611 passes, the government would be required to pay $29.4 billion in refundable tax credits over the first ten years. He says that this expenditure, which includes the EITC and child tax credits, represents the biggest outlay in the bill.” –Barbara Anderson


Anyone who can’t come to the US and make it on their own without getting welfare or receiving an earned income tax credit is a detriment to this country, not an asset. If a new immigrant to the US can’t get by without an earned income tax credit, then we’d be better off without them.

21) The Bill Is A Budget Buster


Because the illegals who are here currently and will be allowed to become citizens under the Senate bill will be largely uneducated, low income workers who do manual labor, they’ll be an enormous drain on the taxpayers once they become citizens. From Senator Jeff Sessions:


“According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill will increase direct spending by $54 billion and discretionary spending by $64 billion in just the first 10 years. The Heritage Foundation projects the bill will increase long-term federal spending by at least $50 billion a year. These are staggering numbers that indicate that this bill might have costs as great as half a trillion dollars in any future 10-year period. This bill is a huge, monumental budget buster.”

22) Social Security For Illegals


Unfortunately, the Senate has now voted to give “undocumented workers” credit for the money that they contributed to Social Security while they were here illegally. That’s a big mistake and not just because it rewards illegals for breaking our laws or because we’re going to be taking money that would otherwise be going to Americans and giving it to illegals.


Since these illegals have used fake numbers, maybe even multiple fake numbers, and even real numbers that belong to other people, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to untangle the mess and figure how much they’ve really contributed, if anything, to Social Security.


This move, like a lot of others the Senate has made while working on this amnesty bill, puts the welfare of illegal immigrants above that of the American people.

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