The Quote Below—More Misinformation from the Media
“President Ronald Reagan granted an amnesty. George W. Bush pushed for one. And yet, with immigration as a flash point in today’s political climate and a cornerstone of President Trump’s agenda, we seem to be looking at every solution except for an amnesty. . . .
“Yes, I know that nowadays the mere mention of an amnesty would be political suicide for any national candidate, from the presidency down to Congress. However, we can’t keep this course that Trump and Republicans are taking us down with nonsensical deportations that challenge the rights of all Americans. . . .
“Trump, for all his talk, hasn’t deported millions. And it seems that the vast majority of people being snatched up by militarized Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are just workers and students and regular churchgoers. Why is that? Because the vast majority of immigrants who are here illegally are contributing to this country, not ‘invaders’ as some like to call them. . . .
“The pipe dream that Trump sold millions of voters on will not happen for this exact reason. Too many businesses, from massive international conglomerates to small businesses, rely on undocumented workers. . . .
“So we have a country reliant on undocumented immigrant labor. Mass deportations and E-Verify will wreck our economy. Does that mean we do nothing? No. As a liberal, I will tell you that undocumented workers are exploited, used to undermine labor unions, and moving toward a permanent second-class citizen status. No Democrat should be okay with this. The solution is a one-time amnesty that will finally allow us to get immigration reform. . . . Reagan’s amnesty had one fatal flaw. They stripped out any punishments and financial penalties for employers who continued to hire illegal immigrants.. . . .
“I know many would rightly bristle at an amnesty, as it seems like a reward for breaking the law. Many felt that way when Reagan’s amnesty passed. But we can’t keep this system the way it is. And the notion that we are going to deport millions is the mother of all pipe dreams. Immigration reform needs to happen. The first step is a structured amnesty.” — We Need an Immigration Amnesty Now, Jos Joseph, The Hill, 6/11/25 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: This writer, Jos Joseph, defends amnesty for illegal aliens, while acknowledging that “it seems like a reward for breaking the law.” Well, there’s no “seems” about it. Amnesty does reward law-breaking, and when you reward something, you can count on getting more of it. The continuing surge of illegal immigration after Ronald Reagan’s amnesty proves this principle.
That amnesty was supposed to be one-time only, with enforcement provisions to curb future illegal entry. But the ink was hardly dry on the legislation before illegal aliens advocates began to sabotage those provisions, and subsequently propose more amnesties. Does Joseph really imagine that similar sabotage wouldn’t follow another mass amnesty? The recent riots against immigration law enforcement reveals the mindset of our illegal immigration lobby. It will keep fighting enforcement whether we have amnesty or not.
Joseph claims that trying to deport illegal aliens is a “pipe dream” because there are so many of them. Actually, we don’t have to deport them all. Serious enforcement, over time, will encourage a lot of them to go home on their own. When President Eisenhower seriously enforced immigration law in 1954, about ten illegal aliens left for every one that was arrested. A relatively slow exodus of illegals will allow employers time to break their addition to illegal labor without too much economic dislocation.
It’s apparent that Joseph, generally speaking, doesn’t believe in deportations. He tries to persuade us that most illegal aliens are no burden at all, with no acknowledgement that illegal immigration is not a victimless crime. Amazingly, he claims that enforcing our immigration laws “challenge[s] the rights of all Americans.” Really? How?
His support amnesty may stem from his liberalism, or progressivism as it is often called today. Robert Creamer, a prominent Democratic strategist, wrote a book entitled How Progressives Can Win. In it he recommended that Democrats pander to illegal aliens and try to grant them amnesty. By doing so, he said, Democratic progressives could gain a strong new voting bloc, one which would allow them to dominate American politics. For many progressives, it seems, our rule of law is a small price to pay for such a partisan advantage.