Immigration Advocates Win Round 1; Now the Fight Begins

By Joe Guzzardi
June 12, 2013

Capitol Hill insiders anticipated the Senate’s winning cloture vote to proceed with full debate on comprehensive immigration reform. The margin, 82-15, was also widely expected.

For Senators, many of whom are deeply skeptical about S. 744, a “yes” cloture vote gives them sound political cover. Ask John Kerry about his famous line on funding for the Iraq War: “I voted for it before I voted against it.” Senators who voted “yes” can tell questioning constituents that before casting their final vote, they want to evaluate the multiple amendments that will be offered during the next two weeks.

The bill’s proponents, lead by Gang of Eight Sponsor Chuck Schumer, shouldn’t get too giddy. A long fight awaits them. As S. 744’s most vocal opponent Jeff Sessions likes to say, the longer S. 744 is out there, the worse it stinks. Unlike the rigged Judiciary Committee hearings, Sessions and his allies Chuck Grassley, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz and the other 11 “no” cloture votes will have ample time to expose S. 744’s nation-shattering contents.

For the United States’ 11 million aliens, S. 744 is the jackpot: legalization will come without background checks, back taxes collected or a requirement to learn English. The lack of internal or border enforcement guarantees that within the next several years, millions more illegal aliens will migrate to the U.S. and the ethnic identity lobby will demand yet another amnesty.

S. 744 would add 33 million foreign-born workers over the first decade to the nation’s saturated labor market which already has 20 million unemployed or under-employed Americans. Job creation barely keeps up with population growth. The new “W” visa will bring in millions of unskilled who will work on the cheap and could displace vulnerable American minorities, returning veterans or the disabled. Doubling legal immigration, as S. 744 would, deals a crushing blow to struggling Americans.

Finally, on top of no enforcement provisions and millions more cheap workers flooding into America, S. 744 will cost taxpayers more than $6 trillion over the next 50 years. The Gang of Eight expects Americans to fund their own dispossession.

Amendments that could be introduced over the next two weeks may make S. 744 less palatable. Vermont Senator and Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy wants to add an amendment that would allow United States citizens in state-recognized gay marriages to apply for a green card on behalf of their same-sex partners. Gay rights advocates, including some senators, urge Leahy to proceed even though others have told him it would be a deal breaker. During the hearings, Leahy backed off from legalization for gays “with a heavy heart.”

Rubio’s amendment to bulk up border security, if he introduces it, would also be closely watched. Rubio spent most of last week waffling between whether he would support S. 744 as written. But Rubio’s idea to substitute Congress for the DHS as the author of the border security plan has fallen flat. Americans deeply distrust Congress.

Summarizing, S. 744 is a panacea for corporate America, the Chamber of Commerce, the pro-immigration lobbies that will benefit from huge slush funds, immigration lawyers and politicians who play the race card. For Americans, S. 744 is a big fat zero. Everything in the legislation is bad for Americans.

Find out for yourself how bad the bill is by asking in what way S. 744 helps your family and you. The answer is that it doesn’t.

Joe Guzzardi is a Californians for Population Stabilization Senior Writing Fellow whose columns have been syndicated since 1986. Contact him at [email protected]