The New York Times reported August 10th: “President Obama on Monday reiterated his commitment to pursuing comprehensive immigration reform, despite his packed political agenda….” He must be serious; Obama has made that pledge to reporters twice in four days. On both occasions, the President also said he plans to start off where the Bush administration left off and introduce a bill that gives amnesty to the entire unlawful population in the United States (generally estimated at about 11 million). Reports are this bill is being written behind close doors with Congressional leaders and government officials and it is shaping up to be a wish list for activist groups. The plan is to finish drafting the bill this fall and introduce the legislation next year.
To make matter worse, the President’s rhetoric is already starting to sound like the shrill White House complaints that Americans are not lining up lemming-like to support his Healthcare plan. Speaking on immigration Monday he warned, there are, “demagogues out there who try to suggest that any form or pathway for legalization for those who are already in the United States is unacceptable.” Well, if by demagogues he means the “majority” of Americans he is right. There are lots of them out there. The administration’s efforts to demonize and silence their critics on the healthcare debate was bad enough…now we have the president threatening to take the same tactics into an already polarized debate on immigration reform and border security.
It is not clear what the White House thinks it is doing. Many first-term Democrats in “moderate districts” and conservative “blue-dog” Democrats already feel like they are being “thrown under the bus,” sacrificed to push through the White House agenda. Many of them oppose amnesty as well. On this issue, the President is likely to be odds with many in his own party.
Worst of all is that we know amnesty won’t work. Reagan tried it in 1986. After Congress passed the law in a few years the illegal population was even bigger than before…not to mention rampant fraud that occurred during “legalization.”
A quote attributed to Albert Einstein goes, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” We need to stop the insanity. The President’s approach to border security and immigration reform needs to be stopped before it gets started. It will drive the nation apart; harm the economy; and won’t solve the problem. It won’t be fair. It won’t be compassionate. And, it won’t work.
