The Wall Street Journal 6/6/13: “The current immigration bill, introduced by a group of senators known as the “Gang of Eight,” would provide a pathway to citizenship to about 11 million people illegally in the U.S. and create a new work-visa program. It also would require beefed-up border security and employment verification before steps to legalize undocumented [i.e., illegal] immigrants could kick in.”
Fact Check: In truth the Senate bill would “require” nothing of the kind. As it is now written the “Gang of Eight” legislation only requires, after passage, that Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano submit plans to secure the border—just plans and not any actual improvement. After that, the 11 million illegal aliens will get amnesty, i.e., legal status and the right to work in America.
It is hardly surprising that the Journal is putting out misinformation like this. It has a long record as serving the mouthpiece of business interests who want open borders to obtain cheap labor. The falsehood serves to weaken public opposition to the Senate bill. Numerous polls have shown that most Americans—even those who favor legal status for illegal aliens—want effective border security before legalization.
It is quite clear that amnesty supporters in the Senate don’t want any kind of effective proven enforcement—either before of after the amnesty. They also claim that once the illegal aliens get their initial legal status (amnesty) they will not be able to move to citizenship until certain “triggers” of enforcement are met.
In fact these “triggers” are just as insubstantial as the “enforcement” that consists of Janet Napolitanto plans. One of the alleged triggers is a 90 percent apprehension rate on the border. But none other than Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), a leading spokesman of the Gang of Eight, concedes that this is but a “goal.” It doesn’t actually have to be accomplished before the path to citizenship opens.
Even more candid is Frank Sharry of America’s Voice, a radical open-borders organization funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros. Said Sharry, “The triggers are based on developing plans and spending money, not on reaching that effectiveness, which is really quite clever.”
Nevertheless, even if the bill did require genuine enforcement before granting amnesty, it would still be unacceptable. Enforcement of our laws shouldn’t be part of a deal for anything else. That undermines our rule of law. And it most especially does so when the other part of the deal is rewarding those who break our laws.