As you may know, the Senate is voting today on George Bush’s amnesty-for-illegal-aliens scheme. The so-called AgJobs bill will, among other things, direct “the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant qualifying alien agricultural workers (and their spouses and minor children) temporary resident status and subsequently lawful permanent resident status upon the fulfillment of specified agricultural work and residency requirements,” according to the Congressional Research Service.
Let that sink in. The person in charge of the security of our nation will grant “temporary resident status” to people who didn’t bother going through legal channels to get here. Criminals, in essence, will be rewarded by the Department of Homeland Security for breaching the security of United States!
Posted on the White House web site under immigration is some of the most euphemism-loaded tripe I’ve seen in awhile. Let’s look at the first paragraph:
On January 7, 2004 President Bush proposed a new temporary worker program to match willing foreign workers with willing U.S. employers when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs. The program would be open to new foreign workers, and to the undocumented men and women currently employed in the U.S. This new program would allow workers who currently hold jobs to come out of hiding and participate legally in America’s economy while not encouraging further illegal behavior.
If there’s any doubt in your mind that our government thinks we’re stupid, that paragraph should remove it. Let’s break it down:
- “match willing foreign workers with willing U.S. employers” — Companies that hired illegal aliens, in violation of U.S. law, will get a reprieve (?) and be allowed to keep formerly illegal, low-wage workers on the payroll with the government’s blessing.
- “The program would be open to new foreign workers…” — If this sounds like “open borders” to you, that’s because it is. Unless specific limits are set forth in the bill, there will be no limit to the number of “foreign workers” available for low-wage jobs. How would this encourage businesses to find Americans willing to work for the same wages? The answer is it doesn’t encourage businesses to find Americans first before turning to aliens, and that, dear readers, is the idea.
- “come out of hiding and participate legally…” — To say that someone is criminally inclined is a very uncool, politically incorrect thing to say. According to socialists, it’s circumstances, or childhood issues, or racism, or fill-in-the-blank, that causes an otherwise rational person to commit crimes. A standard excuse for the illegal activity of aliens is “they come here to work.” A significant portion do not.
They’re here to take advantage of our generous government goodies/freebies and/or make sure Mara Salvatrucha has staked out its territory among the hopelessly gullible Americans or otherwise rape or kill or drive around with no car insurance. I hope the Republicans’ sorry plan to pick up the “Hispanic vote” blows up right in their fat faces.
- “while not encouraging further illegal behavior” — Does anyone believe this misguided program would discourage illegal behavior? I’m not even talking about the national security problems yet. If someone’s friend or family member jumped the border and was rewarded for the crime, how would that discourage others from jumping the border, too?
Help me understand this: Is Bush doing away with immigration enforcement altogether? Or only against Mexicans? What about the others? Will the African or Middle Eastern alien be allowed to walk across the border anytime he wants with no reprisal? Open borders is what Bush is after. My blinders are off.
The official title of the AgJobs bill is Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005. Comical. The Senate bill (S. 359) and the House bill (H.R. 884) appear to be identical. To read both, go to THOMAS and search by bill number. For links to statistics and other sources, see Curious George and the Fox. I will update this post with links and the result of the Senate vote.
Update: A commenter raised an interesting point. If illegals are made “temporary residents,” businesses will have to offer them at least the minimum wage, which would/may encourage (?) them to seek Americans first. Somehow I think businesses will find a way to circumvent the law through various loopholes. If they hired illegal workers before, what’s to stop them from doing something illegal to pay “temporary residents” less than legal wages?
Update II (4/20): This is disgusting.
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Report and photos from a Minuteman volunteer…
Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist: “We did in our first 10 days what the federal government and Congress couldn’t do over the past 10 years.”
