Immigration? Bankrupt Nation!
I've been mulling the so-called "Immigration Reform" bill currently in front of the Senate. I have to say, I think it is crap. A big, steaming, smelly pile of crap.For those not in the know, the bill offers the following on a how-long-you've-been-here-illegally scale:
Illegal immigrants here more than five years could work for six years and apply for legal permanent residency without having to leave the country. Those here two years to five years would have to go to border entry points sometime in next three years, but could immediately return as temporary workers. Those here less than two years would have to leave and wait in line for visas to return.
No tell me, if you were here illegally, would you admit to being here less than 5 years? Of course not! So what this really does is encourage these illegals to break another law! And...it encourages more illegals to cross over, fake documentation, and say they've been here since 1997!
The whole thing is just asinine! These people have a lots of experience with faking documents, and now we are going to create another black-market industry in fake documents. I guess it really will stimulate the economy, just not in the way our "learned and esteemed" Senators think!
Are none of our Senators even remotely acquainted with the on-the-ground realities? I don't think they are. If they were, they would see that they have done nothing to encourage real legal immigration, and have thumbed their collective noses and the very law and body that they represent! Get this: Lawmakers are encouraging people to break the law. Moreover, their "solution" actually rewards you if you have broken the law longer than your neighbor, not that that matters seeing as how 12 million people are going to claim to have lived here since 1997.
It is crap. Pure, steaming, on-the-farm, smelly-boots crap.
And, there is another thing I'm worried about.
USA Dave, The American Geek, pointed out this article the other day which further got me to thinking.
If we continue to encourage our friends from the South to sneak in and not assimilate, aren't we inviting the same sorts of trouble that the Europeans are now courting with their large populations of disaffected Muslims? Do we really want an uprising of our own, with people demanding free health care, free money, free housing, and free ipods? I'll tell you this, I don't want to be paying taxes when it gets to this point!
I don't think the bill does enough to say "You want to be an American? That's great. But here's the thing: you have to obey the law. You have to be a member of society in good standing. You have to do your part to strive for the American Dream. It isn't something that falls into our lap. It is something you work for, something you teach your children to want. Your children need to recognize the rule of our laws and understand that they, too, will be expected to become productive members of society. Learn English and assimilate. Don't forget where you come from, but don't forget where you are, either."
Moreover, it offends me that this bill seemingly says that Mexican immigrants are better than other immigrants. What does that say to the Poles who have scraped and saved to get here and offer a better life to their kids? What does it say to Armenians, Italians, Germans, and Irishmen? What does it say to those people? Oh, if only I had brown skin? This is crap too! For the accident of having been able to walk across the border, they get a free pass on their illegal entry?
I don't like it. This really is amnesty. And it is wrong. Very, very, wrong. And, I don't see how anyone who values the rule of law can see it otherwise.
