Here’s the Skinny on Immigration

Democrats and much of the mainstream press have been claiming for some time now that we MUST pass so-called “comprehensive immigration reform.” They further claim that Republicans will benefit from such passage. And of course we all know that Democrats and much of the mainstream press are SO interested in Republicans doing well.

So where ARE we on so-called comprehensive immigration reform?

Well, last week the Senate by a 68 to 32 margin passed their version of immigration reform. All the Democrats voted for it. 32 of 46 Republicans voted against it. Cutting through all the flowery language, what it REALLY does is gives amnesty NOW (Democrats call it a pathway to citizenship), in return for a PROMISE of increased border control LATER.

For the Senate bill to become law, and therefore repeat the mistakes made on immigration back in 1986, all that’s needed is a compliant House of Representatives. (We know Barack Obama is salivating to sign the Senate’s amnesty bill into law.)

So what’s happening in the House? Well, the real action is in the Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over immigration. I happen to be a member of that committee. Rather than pass an overall comprehensive immigration bill (which would include amnesty) we are examining the flaws in the existing immigration law, and dealing with those flaws one by one.

Over the last two weeks, the Judiciary Committee has passed four separate bills (I voted for each of them.) Here’s what they would do.

First, the SAFE Act (Strengthen And Fortify Enforcement Act.) The Obama Administration has discouraged state and local law enforcement officials from assisting federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel in enforcing U.S. immigration laws. This is particularly counterproductive when there are hundreds of thousands of local and state law enforcement officers compared to only 5,000 ICE officers tasked with enforcing our immigration laws nationwide. The SAFE Act would encourage local, state, and federal law enforcement officials to work together in enforcing federal immigration laws and border controls.

The bill would also expand the types of crimes for which illegal aliens could be removed from the country, to include manslaughter, rape, drunk driving, membership in a criminal gang, and failure to register as a sex offender. Local law enforcement personnel would be permitted to investigate, apprehend, and detain such offenders, and turn them over to federal law enforcement officials for removal from the country.

This common sense bill passed the Judiciary Committee, despite the fact that every Democrat on the committee voted against it. Why? The Democrats want amnesty, not true border control. No matter what Chuck Schumer or any of the rest of them say publicly.

Second, the Agricultural Guestworker Act. Many American farmers have used foreign guestworkers to help pick their crops for years. Under this bill, a limited number of foreign guestworkers would receive temporary work visas to perform this seasonal labor. This bill eliminates a lot of the red tape under the existing program, and should therefore streamline access to a reliable work force and guarantee our food supply.

Third, the Skills Visa Act. This bill modernizes the H1-B Visa Program for high skilled workers. In today’s global economy, American companies need to have access to the best and brightest in order to compete internationally.

This bill would also help American universities and American companies to improve their competiveness in the critical STEM areas (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.) The U.S. has fallen behind in these critical areas to many of our global competitors, such as Japan, South Korea, and China. This bill also paves the way for entrepreneurs to invest in opening new businesses in the United States and creating a significant number of new jobs.

And fourth, the E-Verify Act.  This bill would overhaul the current electronic verification system, and allow employers to quickly and effectively verify whether the person they are about to hire is here legally or not.  As with the other three previously discussed bills, all the Democrats on the committee voted NO.

So where does that leave us on immigration?

Well, Democrats will ONLY vote for an immigration bill if it has amnesty in it. And a majority of Republicans will NOT vote for an immigration bill if it DOES have amnesty in it (including me.)

And importantly, Speaker Boehner has just recently confirmed that he will only bring an immigration bill to the floor for a vote if it has a majority of the majority (a majority of Republicans) favoring it. This is known as the Hastert Rule, for former Speaker of the House Denny Hastert. There will be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth by Democrats (and by the mainstream media), but in my view, John Boehner is doing the right thing.

So there you have it. The Democrat-controlled Senate has a plan, the principal element being amnesty, except they don’t call it amnesty, they call it a pathway to citizenship. And the Republican-controlled House has a plan, which includes border control, reforming our current system for hiring alien agricultural and skilled workers, and updating our electronic verification system for new hires to make sure they’re in this country legally.

It seems to me that it will be very difficult for the two sides to reconcile their differences. And thus, I think it’s unlikely that anything major on immigration will actually be passed into law this Congress.

As always, I welcome your input on this important matter.

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