Another (not so veiled) Amnesty Plan

Recently (May 14,2014), Sal Russo of the Tea Party Express wrote an op-ed titled, “Conservatives Need to Fix the Broken Immigration System.”  In this op-ed, Russo addresses several different aspects of the "immigration" issue.  While there are many parts of his op-ed that I actually agree with, make no mistake, color it any way you want to, he is advocating amnesty.  According to Russo:

“Finally, we need to make the 11 million people who are here illegally obey the law, pay taxes and come out of the shadows. We have to get them right by the law in exchange for legal status, but not unbridled amnesty. This should include penalties, background checks to root out criminals, and the requirement that they learn English, understand the Constitution and be committed to our basic freedoms.”  ~~ Sal Russo

Interestingly, Russo’s proposal in dealing with the “11 million people who are here illegally” is nothing new.  It comes from straight from Reagan’s “Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA),” that he signed in November of 1986 which:

• Required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status;
• Made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit illegal aliens;
• Legalized certain seasonal agricultural illegal aliens, and;
• Legalized illegal aliens who could:

o   Prove they were in the country before January 1, 1982, and had resided there continuously

o   Pay a penalty of a fine

o   Pay back taxes due

o   Provide an admission of guilt

o   Prove that they were not guilty of crimes

o   Prove that they possessed minimal knowledge about U.S. history, government, and the English language

FAMILY SEPARATION

One of the things that is driving the “misty-eyed do-gooder reformers” (as Russo called them, and yes, I left “liberal” out of his quote, because there are conservatives in the same category) is the broken families that should be united (and I absolutely agree that families should be united). There are two things that I have to say about this and the first one I know I will get a lot of flak from a lot of people, but it is still an legitimate option, whether you like it or not:

• Go back home (to where you left your families).  You should have NEVER separated yourself from your family in the first place.  I know why you felt you had to leave your country, but to leave your family in the horrible situation that forced you to consider leaving them in the first place is unconscionable.  Fathers and/or Mothers that leave their children behind for others to care for is insane.  Then to allow your children to face the dangers that you know exist to come to the United States is beyond insane.

Again, I understand why you felt you have to leave in the first place, but for God’s sake, take your family with you or don’t go at all.  Then you don’t have to cry about the United States’ immigration laws unjustly keeping you from your family.

Think that the system of deportation is unfairly separates families?  I don't agree.  If you are in this country illegally as well, turn yourself in and they’ll give you a free ride/flight back to your country.  (Specifically in El Salvador) When you arrive at the airport, they will welcome you home, feed you, give you shots, and provide transportation back to your home of residence (If you don't have family to meet you there).

(I know there are many that will disagree with this point as well)  Amnesty is NOT the solution to fix the families that have been separated because Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Son, Daughter, Nephew, Grandma or Grandpa decided to leave everyone else behind and cross the border illegally.    I can tell you, things would NEVER be so bad that I would leave my family for a fantasy of a better life.  Either my family would go with me, or we would ALL stay.  You can say, “Randy, you’ve never been in that circumstance to have to face that choice.”  You’re right, I’ve never been in that circumstance, but I can tell you what my choice would be, "I WOULD NOT LEAVE MY FAMILY" and there are many, many others who have made the same choice.

If this truly is about uniting with your family, do the right thing and reunite with them.  I can guarantee you, NOTHING would stand in my way.  NOTHING!!

I can tell you my additional choice as well….  I would not be staying there as a victim.  Just like I am doing here in the United States, I would be doing no matter where in the world I was; I WOULD BE MAKING A STAND to change the circumstances.  I believe in leaving a legacy of positive change ! !

By the way, speaking of taking a stand, I love the fact that there are militias that have formed in Mexico by people who are taking back their country!

NOTE:  According to the authorities there within the airport, anywhere from 50 to 150 El Salvadoran deportees go through this everyday.  The U.S. foots the plane bill and El Salvador foots the shot/food/transportation bill.

THE PATHWAY

“We must ensure there is no special pathway to citizenship that puts them in front of people who waited in line.” ~~ Sal Russo

Don't you find it interesting that people talk about a “pathway to citizenship,” but NO ONE has provided a mechanism whereby that can been achieved.

WE ALREADY HAVE A PATHWAY and IT JUST NEEDS REPAVING!!

(and that doesn't mean using amnesty)

The crazy thing is that everyone readily acknowledges that we have a broke immigration system and yet, not one single one of them (that I know of) has provided any means of fixing it.  They automatically go for the bandage.  Never mind that there is a splinter causing the pus and the gangrene to flow up the extremity.  Nope, just throw another bandage over the others and hope that it will fix itself.

Rather than throw another bandage on, HOW ABOUT FIXING THE NUMBERS!!  According to the “Department of the State” website, they are still dealing with numbers from 1993.

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/law-and-policy/bulletin/2014/visa-bulletin-for-may-2014.html

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN/ARE waiting to come into this country LEGALLY.  HOW DARE YOU CONSIDER PUTTING OTHERS AHEAD OF THEM!  Talk about a slap in the face to EVERY immigrant who did things “legally.” Yeah, I know, Russo said do this without putting them ahead of the people who have tried to do it the legal way.  BUT, never once did he explain how that can/will be done.  In fact, as far as I know, no one but me is talking about it but me.  You can show me otherwise.  I’d like to see it.

Additionally, the website makes the following statement regarding the actual number that is allowed:

“Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) sets an annual minimum family-sponsored preference limit of 226,000.  The worldwide level for annual employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000. Section 202 prescribes that the per-country limit for preference immigrants is set at 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, i.e., 25,620. The dependent area limit is set at 2%, or 7,320.”

Either these number are the legitimate numbers that should be allowed in this country, in which case, “amnesty” violates THE LAW, OR THESE NUMBERS SHOULD BE ADJUSTED to reflect what is actually acceptable.  If the numbers of people that would be legalized under amnesty is a better reflection of the appropriate number, THEN CHANGE IT IN THE LAW.

DO NOT VIOLATE THE LAW.  FIX IT ! ! !

BOTTOM LINE(s)

1. We have had two major bouts of Amnesty, one under President Reagan and the other under President Clinton.  Most interestingly, the title for the law that was passed under Reagan was “Immigration Reform.”  Apparently, those “reforms” weren’t so reforming.
2. FIX THE SYSTEM FIRST (Pull the splinter out), then we can talk about how to deal with the OVER 11 million people who are here illegally.
3. I will soon be discussing the over-all-arching problem(s) and their solution(s), but for now, suffice it to say, “There are three main areas that I will be targeting in the future:
4. Fix the reason why they left and came here in the first place.  Chances are most of that 11 million that are here because they are primarily refuges will go back home.  This is singularly (IMHO) the most important thing to do, since it is the impetus behind why people are willing to leave their families, face “La Beastia,” (for women) face a greater than 60% chance they will be raped, face human trafficking, and face the valley of death (my term for the Sonoran Desert where so many have died).
5. Fix the broken U.S. immigration system
6. Fix the abhorrently broken U.S. welfare system.

So, two bandages have already been applied to the Illegal Migrant problem that dealt with approximately 3 million each time and now that the wound has grown exponentially, the only solution being offered is just simply putting on another bandage.