Illegal aliens, with us forever

An unpopular truth

[Reprinted from Issues & Views July 15, 2002]

As further evidence that this country's politicians have little intention to put a lid on immigration, we learn from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR):

The full Senate Judiciary Committee approved by voice vote a bill to grant amnesty to illegal aliens who graduate from high school or college. Senator Orrin Hatch introduced the “Dream Act,” that would allow all 50 states to subsidize tuition for illegal aliens at state universities. FAIR Executive Director Dan Stein called the Dream Act, “A nightmare for students who play by the rules and taxpayers everywhere.”

Under Hatch’s legislation, illegal aliens under the age of 21, who have resided in the United States for at least five years, would be allowed to attend public universities in their state of residence at the subsidized in-state tuition rate. In addition, under a substitute offered by Sen. Richard Durbin, legal residency is all but assured for illegal aliens if they graduate from high school or have even a remote chance of getting a GED. . . .

The Hatch legislation would also add new burdens to the dysfunctional, and soon to be dismantled, Immigration and Naturalization Service. The INS, which admits it has no idea where more than half a million foreign students to whom it has issued visas are, or whether they are actually enrolled in school, would be required to verify the claims of an unknown number of applicants and make sure that they graduate from an accredited institution within six years.

In her syndicated column (6/26/02), Phyllis Schlafley describes yet another piece of trickery on the part of our bureaucrats, that is, "loophole aliens":

All 19 hijackers on 9/11 entered the United States legally on government-issued visas, several of whom illegally overstayed their allotted time.

Now we hear there is another way aliens are able to remain in our country. They sneak over our borders illegally, or illegally overstay their visas, and then become legal by exploiting a now-expired loophole known as 245(i), the section in a 1994 federal law that allows an illegal alien to apply for a green card, stay permanently in the United States, and subsequently apply for citizenship.

This amnesty loophole allowed aliens who broke our laws to pay a $1,000 fine and go to the head of the line in front of prospective immigrants who complied with our laws. . . . A million of these loophole aliens have become legal residents since the law was passed. In 2000, these loophole aliens were 28.3 percent of new legal residents, in 1999 they were 25.4 percent, and in 1998 they were 29.4 percent. . . .

Loophole 245(i) expired in April 2001, but the open-borders lobby led by Senator Ted Kennedy has been hard at work to get it renewed. With the active support of the Bush Administration plus scheduling chicanery by the House leadership, renewal passed the House by one vote on March 12.

The open-borders lobby is trying to claim that 245(i) is not amnesty, but the dictionary refutes their argument. The definition of amnesty is a general pardon for offenses against the government, and the purpose of the 245(i) loophole is to pardon illegal aliens for their offense in violating our immigration laws and to allow them to benefit by that violation.

Copyright © 2008 Issues & Views