After Round 3 of Markups, Gang of Eight's Amnesty Bill Still Does Nothing to Prevent Next Amnesty
After two weeks of "markup," Senators have done little more than prove to the public that we critics have been right all along about what this immigration legislation would turn out to be.
As amended, this bill virtually assures that Congress will be considering demands for the next amnesty in just a few years.
After two weeks of considering amendments to the Gang of Eight immigration bill, the Senate Judiciary Committee has generally failed to strengthen the loophole-filled enforcement provisions or to reduce the harm of radically expanded immigration numbers on unemployed and underemployed Americans. The bill still puts the amnesty of work permits and legalization first with only 1986-style promises of enforcement for later.
Every amendment failed that was designed to show good faith to the public by requiring some enforcement before giving amnesty benefits.
And the committee refused to even consider the consequences of this bill for struggling American workers who have endured decades of wage depression in the midst of a labor glut. The bill still offers 33 million lifetime immigrant work permits in the first decade despite 20 million Americans currently unable to find a full-time job.
The committee turned down attempts to speed up the process of implementing a mandatory system to once and for all shut down the jobs magnet for illegal immigration, although it did approve some improvements in the system.
But the committee refused to require electronic monitoring for guest-workers in the new W visa program to ensure they leave when their visa expires. And it refused to allow states to have a faster time-table on requiring E-Verify than the timetable the bill sets for the feds, which is a minimum of five years but looks like it could turn out to be many more because of the ambiguity of some of the language.
As for all those Senators who claim to be enforcement-first types but who have said they will wait to see how the bill is amended before indicating how they might vote . . .
Well, the bill really is as bad as you thought it might be.
ROY BECK is Founder & President of NumbersUSA