05/30/2007
One of Shakespeare’s most oft-quoted phrases comes from Romeo and Juliet, where Juliet asks Romeo: "What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Accordingly, President Bush and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can call their immigration bill by any name they want to, but it is still amnesty, and it still stinks!
Hopefully, readers are aware that the Bush/Kennedy amnesty bill is being debated in the U.S. Senate this week with both the White House and senate leaders hopeful of quick passage.
If it passes, the proposed immigration bill would immediately give all 12-20 million illegal aliens already in the United States "probationary" citizenship. It would also put an estimated 60 million immigrants on the path to citizenship over the next 20 years. In exchange for granting U.S. citizenship to tens of millions of illegals, the bill promises to better protect America’s borders.
However, what is abundantly clear is that the federal government’s idea of border enforcement is totally without meaning or merit. Consider the fact that the United States already has copious laws against illegal immigration, including punishment for businesses that hire illegals. So, what good have these laws done? Very little.
No one with any sense of objective truth believes that the Bush administration is serious about border enforcement. No one. Therefore, how can anyone believe that more promises of border enforcement will accomplish any more than with existing laws?
The plain truth is, President George W. Bush, Senators Ted Kennedy, John McCain, et al., are simply hell-bent to provide amnesty to tens of millions of illegal aliens, and this bill will give them the power to do it.
Do I need to convince readers that any kind of amnesty will put America on the fast track to ruin? The United States simply cannot absorb upwards of 60 million, mostly unskilled, non-English-speaking, migrants in the next few years. It just is not possible.
Already, America is reaping the consequences of unbridled illegal immigration. Americans are being squeezed out of work by illegal immigrants who will work at significantly reduced wages. Of course our unemployment is low: Americans are working two or three jobs just to make ends meet.
Add to the strain of the loss of good paying jobs the strain of an ever-growing financial burden to taxpayers. For example, Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Rector recently released a new study entitled, "The Fiscal Cost of Low-Skill Households to the U.S. Taxpayer." In the report, Rector notes that two-thirds of the millions of illegal aliens in this country fall into the category of "low-skill" households. Contrast that with just 10% of native-born Americans falling into that category.
Writing for National Review Online, Byron York states, "Rector found that in 2004, the most recent year for which figures are available, low-skill households received an average of $32,138 per household — the great majority in the form of means-tested aid and direct benefits … . Against that, Rector found that low-skill households paid an average of $9,689 in taxes … . In the final calculation, he found, the average low-skill household received $22,449 more in benefits than it paid in taxes … "
According to World Net Daily, "If the lower figure of 12 million illegal aliens is used for estimation purposes, the [current] total tax burden translates to $2.2 trillion."
It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to calculate that with an added 60 million mostly unskilled immigrants moving into the country, the financial cost would be more than taxpayers could possibly pay for.
Consider also the toll upon America’s safety and security. Already, law enforcement agencies are very much cognizant of a surge of Latin American "ultra-violent" gangs that have sprung up in more than 40 U.S. states. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), one gang called MS-13 has been identified in 42 states. Another group called the 18th Street Gang is in 37 states. According to FBI MS-13 National Gang Task Force director Brian Truchon, "When the gang migrates throughout the U.S., there is always a road back to L.A. From L.A., there is always a road back to Central America."[ Ultra-violent gang found in 42 states Central, April 27, 2007, WorldNetDaily.com, By Jerome R. Corsi ]
Retired lawman Jim Kouri recently wrote, "According to Lt. Steve Rogers, a decorated cop and award-winning writer, there are tens of thousands of murderers, rapists, child predators, robbers and drug dealers who are illegally in the United States. One study shows over 200,000 criminal aliens are preying on U.S. citizens."
As I have previously noted in this column, illegal aliens already murder at least 12 Americans every day. Think of the potential violence that another 60 million aliens will bring. Not to mention the threat of potential terrorism.
America’s law enforcement communities are keenly aware of the probability that international terrorists have already infiltrated the United States due to our lack of border control.
For example, William Gheen, President of Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee (ALIPAC), recently said, "MS-13 and other illegal immigrant gangs are bringing in the illegals, drugs, heavy weapons, and possibly terrorists. The biggest threat from their members is contained in the multiple intelligence reports provided to Congress indicating that Al-Qaeda and MS-13 are now working together to smuggle terrorist operatives and materials into the U.S." [Illegal Immigration: Terrorist Gangs From Across the Border by Sher Zieve, PostChronicle.com, Oct 22, 2005]
In light of all of the above, how in the world can President Bush and senate leaders proceed with plans to explode the growth of unskilled immigrants into the United States? Perhaps the answer lies within the details of the bill.
According to World Net Daily, "The controversial ’secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007,' which would grant millions of illegal aliens the right to stay in the U.S. under certain conditions, contains provisions for the acceleration of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, a plan for North American economic and defense integration, WND has learned.
"The bill, as worked out by Senate and White House negotiators, cites the SPP agreement signed by President Bush and his counterparts in Mexico and Canada March 23, 2005 — an agreement that has been criticized as a blueprint for building a European Union-style merger of the three countries of North America.
"'It is the sense of Congress that the United States and Mexico should accelerate the implementation of the Partnership for Prosperity to help generate economic growth and improve the standard of living in Mexico, which will lead to reduced migration,' the draft legislation states on page 211 on the version time-stamped May 18, 2007 11:58 p.m."
Aw! There is the underlying reason President Bush is willing to incur the wrath of his conservative constituents: he is determined to implement the SPP and pave the way for the emerging North American Union before he leaves office. The amnesty bill being pushed through the Senate this week is absolutely essential to this end.
As Juliet said, "What’s in a name?" Bush, Kennedy, McCain and Company are playing word games with us. They know this is amnesty. You know this is amnesty. And millions of illegal aliens know this is amnesty.
If it walks like amnesty, talks like amnesty, looks like amnesty, and smells like amnesty, it’s amnesty! Now, the question is, Will the American people sit back and let it happen?
Dr. Chuck Baldwin is the pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. He hosts a weekly radio show. His website is here.
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