THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VIII, Issue # 53, March 14, 2006
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION TIME BOMB
By Alan Caruba
THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRISIS & PARTISAN POLITICS IN THE U.S.A.: THE CONTINUING, UNCHECKED FLOW OF ILLEGAL
ALIENS INTO THE U.S.A., THE PUBLIC BUNDENS & NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS THE FLOW IS CREATING, & THE INABILITY
OR UNWILLINGNESS OF WASHINGTON, D.C., POLITICIANS & BUREAUCRATS TO STEM THE TIDE -- DESPITE ALL THE
POLITICAL PROPAGANDA & GRANDSTANDING, NEITHER THE DEMOCRATS NOR THE REPUBLICANS HAVE A SENSIBLE
SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM
FULL STORY:
If Hillary Clinton were to be the Democratic Party candidate for President in 2008, one issue alone could defeat her. No matter
who the Republicans run for President, one issue alone will prove an obstacle to victory. That issue is illegal immigration.
In her typically strident fashion, Senator Clinton told a rally of immigrants on Capitol Hill that she opposed making illegal entry
into the United States a felony and that the Republican proposal to round up illegal immigrations for deportation would turn
the country into “a police state.” Mind you, they have already broken the law by sneaking into the U.S.A. or by over-staying
their visas. The real problem for both the Democrats and Republicans is that America is now home to an estimated eleven
million or more illegal immigrants.
For a nation that is said to be hated by foreigners, an awful lot of them want to come here. Just ask the Immigration and
Customs Service, a division of the Department of Homeland Security. Remember why this department was created? It had to
do with a number of illegal immigrants who flew commercial jet planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.
The Bush administration has ignored the issue of illegal immigration, despite the fact that thousands cross into the United
States every day. They mostly come across our southern border, but it is just as easy to come in from the equally vast border
we share with Canada. After the illegal aliens arrive, they find work, they apply for a variety of benefits, send their kids to
school, and use the emergency rooms of hospitals, which, by law, cannot turn them away. Some illegal aliens commit crimes.
If they give birth to a child here, it is automatically granted U.S. citizenship.
The Center for Immigration Studies that has just issued a 44-page report titled The Connection Between Legal and Illegal
Immigration. According to this CIS report, as legal immigration levels have risen since 1965, illegal immigration has
increased with it. The CIS found:
“ ... the share of the foreign-born population who are illegal aliens
has risen steadily. Where they made up 21% of the foreign-born
in 1980 and 25% in 2000, they numbered 28% percent as of 2005.”
Several amnesties have masked the rise in illegal immigration, the most recent being the 1986 Immigration Reform and
Control Act. Suffice it to say, this whitewash piece of legislation did nothing to reform or control immigration. It legalized
three million illegal aliens. They, in turn, became eligible to sponsor additional immigrants, thus contributing, says the
Center for Immigration Studies, to the ranks of both legal and illegal immigrants. The more you legalize, the more who see
the opportunity to enjoy the same instant process.
As commentator Michelle Malkin points out, this is a slap in the face to every naturalized American who patiently went
through the process to become a citizen. The entire immigration system is broken and, to make matters infinitely worse,
Chairman Arlen Spector (Republican - Pennsylvania) of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has begun debate on a
proposal that would create a “Gold Card” program to grant amnesty to illegal aliens who broke the law to get here before
January 4, 2004.
So, we have the Democrats criticizing efforts to make illegal entry a felony offense, with Senator Richard Durban (Democrat -
Illinois) saying it would make the job of law enforcement agencies seeking illegal aliens more difficult. Isn’t that the job
of law enforcement, finding criminals? And isn’t it the job of Immigration and Customs Services to deport illegal aliens?
Meanwhile, on the other site of the political aisle, you have Republicans saying that we should expect the Immigration
and Customs Service to conduct background checks on those who want the Gold Card visa. The only problem with that
is that the Government Accountability Office has issued a report that says ICS has no grasp whatever on the problem
of immigration fraud, doesn’t do enough to deter it, and won’t have any kind of a working fraud-management system in
place until 2011. The ICS can barely cope with those seeking naturalization.
Little wonder that a significant portion of the Mexican population continues to move to the United States without
bothering to inquire about the naturalization. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, Mexico accounted for 30%
of the foreign-born in 2000 and more than half of the Mexicans known to be living in the U.S.A. were here illegally.
Granting yet another amnesty, no matter how you dress it up or what you call it, brings us full circle back to the fact that
amnesties simply invite more illegal aliens.
Socalled “undocumented workers,” another way of saying “illegal aliens,” are the focus of both Democrats and
Republicans trying to figure out a way to put them on a fast track to citizenship. A lot of Americans don’t like this idea
and a lot of them vote!
This is happening when the United States presumably has a homeland security problem in the form of porous borders, a
laughable deportation program, and virtually no system in place to track anyone who enters the U.S.A., whether as a
tourist, a student, a businessman, or a laborer to pick crops.
The 2008 national elections are going to revolve around the issue of illegal immigration and, at this point, neither of the
two major political parties has a sensible solution, no solution other than to make it a very good choice for an alien to
come here any way he can, legal or illegal.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Immigration & Illegal Aliens
American Politics & Political Competition
American Government & the U.S. Presidency
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a
clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly commentary, "Warning Signs," posted
on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center, which is located at
www.anxietycenter.com.
© Alan Caruba 2006
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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