The “Clay Pigeon” Amendments to the Immigration Bill

378 pages of amendments. (Just in case you are interested in reading it, here it is.) Have the Imperial Senators who are supposed to vote on this monster even read this? Will they ever read it? I did. But without sitting down for hours comparing the original bill with the amendments I cannot gain a totally accurate picture of the entire bill. Will the “lawmakers” do this, or are they so hell-bent on a deal that they really don’t care?

Here’s a few comments on the amendments:

1. The promise that the 24 hour approval process would be done away with was a lie. Here it is in the amendments:

(2) TIMING OF PROBATIONARY STATUS. – No alien may be granted probationary status until the alien has passed all appropriate background checks or the end of the next business day, whichever is sooner. (p. 21, line 12).

So, the immigrant will be treated as legal one business day after applying, even if the background check is not completed.

2. What I find interesting is that an applicant for a Z visa does not have to pass any medical examination until such time as he or she decides to adjust his or her status to that of permanent resident visa holder:

(g) MEDICAL EXAMINATION. – An applicant for earned adjustment shall undergo an appropriate medical examination (including a determination of immunization status) that conforms with generally accepted professional standards of medical practice. (p 47)

So, Z visa holders can have any medical condition which may threaten the public health (including no immunizations)? Does the public health not matter at all to our Imperial Senate?

3. Agricultural worker visas (Z-A visas) will be granted to 1,500,000 people. This figure does not include said agricultural workers’ spouses or children. (1) Z-A VISA. – The Secretary may not issue more than 1,500,000 Z-A Visas.
(2) Z-A DEPENDENT VISA. – The Secretary may not county any Z-A dependent visa issued against the numerical limitation described in paragraph (1) (p. 92).

1,500,000 ag workers, plus spouses and children (even at 2 children per household that’s 3 million anchor babies).

4. New employment rights, not available to other workers, have been established by this amendment:

h) TREATMENT OF ALIENS GRANTED A Z-A VISA. –

(3) TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT. –

(A) PROHIBITION. – No alien issued a Z-A visa may be terminated from employment by any employer during the period of a Z-A visa except for just cause. (pp. 93-94)

Z-A visa holders can only be fired “for just cause”. This goes against the employment law of “employment at will” where an employer can fire an employee for any reason, except as prohibited by employment discrimination laws. So, can citizens working in agriculture be fired for any reason, while their Z-A visa holding fellow workers can only be fired for “just cause”? Will this be deemed as unequal treatment under the law? Will the result be to expand “just cause” termination requirements to all employer-employee relationships, destroying the doctrine of employment at will? I think a California court will do just that.

5. The 24 hour rule applies to military service too! Glad to know that any person can serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, even if they would not pass a background check, as long as 24 hours has passed since submission to that background check, and nothing has come back yet. National Security at its most secure.

AUTHORITY FOR ALIENS WITH PROBATIONARY Z NONIMMIGRANT STATUS TO SERVE IN THE ARMED FORCES.

An alien who files for application for Z nonimmigrant status shall under the first section 601 (included in title IV relating to nonimmigrants in the United States previously in unlawful status), upon submission of any evidence required under paragraphs (f) and (g) of such section 601 and after the Secretary of Homeland Security has conducted appropriate background checks, to include name and fingerprint checks, that have not by the end of the next business day produced information rendering the applicant ineligible shall be eligible to serve as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States. (pp. 344-345)

Terrorists, cross your fingers that your background check takes longer than 24 hours and you can be given government issued weapons and a uniform!

6. And for those of you longing for potential pork. Your government, as a result of this amendment, will be investigating the treatment of Latin Americans of Japanese descent during WWII.

Subtitle B – Commission on War-time Relocation and Internment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent

Sec. 1 SHORT TITLE.

This subtitle may be cited as the “Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent Act”.

Sec. 1 PURPOSE.

The purpose of this subtitle is to establish a fact-finding Commission to extend the study of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to investigate and determine facts and circumstances surrounding the relocation, internment, and deportation to Axis countries of Latin Americans of Japanese descent from December 1941 through February 1948, and the impact those actions by the United States, and to recommend appropriate remedies, if any, based on preliminary findings by the original Commission and new discoveries. (p. 354)

Reparations anyone??

This is just a bit of the mess that is the clay pigeon amendment document. There’s more, of course, and I urge you to read it.

This is an outrage to those who want serious work on the immigration problem. It endangers our national security, our national public health and has many unintended consequences that our legislators should really consider thoughtfully, not just in a quick move to pass the bill and go on vacation. It’s time for the Imperial Senators to do their jobs, or risk losing them.

ETA Ed Morrissey at Captain’s Quarters is spending time analyzing the bill. Check it out.

Doing the Jobs Americans Aren’t Qualified to Do?

As business continues to push for open borders, see what they and their lawyers have come up with to deprive Americans from high-paying jobs. They make sure that, despite receiving resumes, no American who would demand a middle-class salary “fully qualifies” for advertised positions. Since there are no “qualified applicants” from the American pool of workers to fill these jobs, businesses may legally offer the jobs to lower-paid foreign workers and obtain visas for them to come here to work.

Here’s how it is done to comply with the law:

Big business doesn’t care about this country or about American workers. It only cares about lining its own pockets. When business says that there are no Americans to fill positions, it’s time to be very skeptical. Truth is there are no Americans who will do it at the wage business is willing to pay, or, as in this case, they scam the system so as to make it appear there are no qualified workers.

These are the people Congress listens to: the businesses which bribe them with funds for campaigns, private jet rides, plum jobs for relatives and other such goodies. The rest of us are just the suckers who pull the lever. Maybe it’s time to shut the dishonest group of folks on both ends of this corrupt transaction down.

“It’s about who wears the pants in the family”

I read this barn-burner of a column by Bob Lonsberry today (HT Free Republic), and believe I must do my part to pass it along. Here are the first few paragraphs. Go here to read the rest.

ALIEN BILL DEFIES PUBLIC WILL

It’s not even about illegal aliens anymore. It’s about the relationship between the government and the people.

It’s about who wears the pants in the family.

And right now, the president and a whole bunch of others are confused about that. See, they think they’re in charge. They think it’s their country.
They think they’re going to tell us what to do.

Well, they’ve got another think coming. This time they’ve got a fight on their hands.

Are We, the People, strong enough for the fight, or have we become too complacent to do what it takes to preserve our country from the arrogant “representatives” who think they are our masters and not our servants? Are we willing to get up off our comfy couches and make our voices heard and do what it takes to get our country back?

The illegal immigration cram-down is just one example of the imperial government exercising its will against the People. It’s the Kelo decision, which allowed government to take land from the governed to give to fat cat businessmen to line their corporate pockets (and by corporate, I do not just mean businesses, but also their enabler politicians). It’s about cramming legislation down our throats to appease environmental and global warming advocates, while we continue to pay the price to line their pockets. It’s about them deciding that those of us who work hard need to be taxed more to “pay our fair share” (even though we create jobs) to provide a welfare system for Mexico. It is the preaching by politicians that we have done something wrong in this world that we need to apologize for.

I, for one, am sick and tired of seeing former Presidents and “representatives” come to Washington as middle class folks and leave as multi-millionaires. Something has gone wrong with the concept of the “citizen legislator” so cherished by our Founding Fathers.

No, it’s not just about immigration. It’s about an arrogant group of politicians who have come to believe that they own us. Power has corrupted them and it is time for them to go.

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
-Thomas Jefferson

Have we remained silent too long?

Sign Senator Inhofe’s Petition to the U.S. Senate

Senator Inhofe (R-OK) has an online petition in which you can voice your opinion that securing the borders is the most pressing of the immigration issues and that amnesty should not be a prerequisite to secure borders.

www.SecureBordersNow.com

In a press release, Senator Inhofe said:

(JUNE 15, 2007) – U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) today announced “Secure Borders Now” (www.securebordersnow.com), a new website for Americans to urge the Senate to consider immigration reform that focuses on enforcing existing border security laws and opposition to amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants.

“Unfortunately it appears many in the Senate remain deaf to the voices of the American people, as yet another backroom deal has emerged designed to revive the fatally flawed immigration bill and its immediate path to amnesty. The ‘Secure Borders Now’ petition gives Americans an opportunity to voice their opposition. I hope my constituents and citizens from all across our country will take action, sign the petition and show how many Americans are strongly opposed to this bill.”

“Despite the promise of increased funding for border security and additional votes on a handful of amendments, the proposed legislation will continue to shortcut the current naturalization process and grant amnesty to 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants currently in our country. That is a trade off that I simply cannot support.

“The first step in any significant immigration legislation must be securing our borders and enforcing existing laws. It is unconscionable to make border security conditional on the guarantee of amnesty. Even with the promise of additional funding for border security, the Senate bill focuses far too much on controversial and irresponsible programs such as the ‘Z-visa’ (which I voted to eliminate), and far too little on ensuring that our borders are no longer porous.”

http://www.okgop.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=5348

I urge you to make your voices known to the imperial Senate. Further, pass the link to the poll along to others.

Great Ad: “Where’s the Fence?”(tm)

This ad is being run by Grassfire.org. Gotta love someone who can make an impact in such a funny way! (Hat tip: Lew Waters)

Remember folks, when the fundraisers call: “No fence, no funds”.

John McCain: Don’t deport illegal immigrants. It could lead to rioting and dangerous ghettos.

In the most nonsensical fear-mongering yet, John McCain when asked why the U.S. doesn’t work harder at deporting illegal aliens, like France does, gave this reply:

Let’s all be afraid to enforce the law. There might be riots in the street. Does this apply accross the board, Senator? If we enforce the law against, say, the MS-13 gang and they start rioting are we to just turn the other way and let them be?

This is the problem with our entire leadership. They don’t want anything to be hard or messy. Keep the peace at all costs even if it means that we give up at every turn.

And if our Islamist enemies get into this country, are we to just put up with whatever they do to keep them from rioting? Have you no backbone, Senator?

President Bush: Immigration Debate a Battle for the Nation’s Soul

In an interview with Ron Hutcheson of the McClatchy Newspapers, President Bush couched the current national debate over the Senate’s compromise immigration bill, which he backs, as a “struggle for America’s soul and its reputation as a welcoming nation.” He further charged opponents of the bill as “trying to rile up people’s emotions.”

In supporting this bill, President Bush claims that he is in favor of the bill because, growing up in Texas, he has seen “the decency and humanity of the Hispanic people,” and he has seen “”firsthand the beautiful stories of people being able to take advantage of opportunity and make solid contributions to our society.”

He also pulls the “race card”, stating: “a lot of this immigration debate is driven as a result of Latinos being in our country.”

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/425/story/54046.html

President Bush has no sense of shame. First, people who are opposed to the bill are not simply trying to “rile up people’s emotions.” People are very concerned about the nature of this bill. Rewarding illegal immigration with a “path to citizenship” only brings on more illegal immigration. We were promised in the mid-1980’s that the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration act would legalize those illegal immigrants who were here, while stemming the tide of future illegal immigration. Unfortunately, the proponents were dead wrong. With Kennedy-McCain, we provide amnesty to an even larger group of illegal immigrants with no concrete assurances that illegal immigration will be stemmed.

According to Rasmussen, only 16% of those surveyed believe that Kennedy-McCain will reduce illegal immigration. 74% believe it will not (and of that group 41% believe it will actually increase illegal immigration.
Further, 75% believe that bill should be changed to increase border security to stem the tide of illegal immigration.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/just_16_believe_senate_bill_will_reduce_illegal_immigration

After what Americans have seen in the past these are not concerns based upon emotion, but based upon experiences. President Bush’s reasons for backing the bill, the decency and humanity of his former neighbors and the beauty of their ability to succeed here, are totally emotion-driven. And his “struggle for the soul of America” and it’s reputation as a warm and fuzzy welcoming place are just pleas to the emotions of Americans. And they are insulting to me, and many like me.

Finally, the most infuriating thing of all is the President’s claim that those of us opposed to the bill are doing so because these illegal immigrants are Latino. Shame on you, President Bush. This isn’t about race. This is about upwards of 20 million people, breaking our laws, not just in entering this country, but then in stealing identities of law-abiding citizens. Now we reward them, while those who have waited patiently, abiding by the law still wait. Cheating the system does not make one a candidate for being a good citizen. It’s not about race. It’s about integrity of our system of laws and security for our people.

If anyone wants to convince me that this bill is good for my beloved country, show me some concrete proof. I’m not going to back it based upon warm and fuzzy anecdotes, nor will I be bullied into backing it by someone implying I’m a racist. Frankly, President Bush, your rhetoric is beginning to sound like a Democrat’s. I thought you were better than that.

Lindsey Graham on the Senate Floor: We Need Workers

The Republicans have tipped their hands on the immigration bill. It’s all about business.

As my grandmother (an Irish immigrant who came in legally) used to say:
“He’ll sell his soul for a bowl of soup.” That about sums it up.

Update: And for you who love themes for important legislation, the democrats have come up with a good one: This bill “brings millions out of the darkness and into the light”. I heard both Sen. Kennedy and Sen. Menendez invoke this cheerful thought (and Kennedy added out of the light, into eventual citizenship – there’s the truth of the matter). Important legislation reduced to silly catch phrases. What nonsense.

Who favors the new immigration bill? Mexico.

We know the list of those who favor the immigration bill, negotiated in secret and soon to be jammed down our throats next week. Let’s see, there’s

Ted Kennedy
John McCain
George Bush
Big Business
and
The Mexican government and opposition party.

In an article in The Dallas Morning News entitled “U.S. immigration proposal cheered in Mexico” we learn several interesting things about Mexico’s support of this bill:

1. “The Mexican government has been in permanent communication with distinct actors in the debate and has expressed its points of view on the subject, in a climate of respect for the U.S. legislative process,” – Víctor Avilés, spokesman for the Foreign Relations Ministry.

2. “For Mexico, this preliminary accord, if it finally becomes law, is a big gift from heaven, equivalent to opening the valve of social pressure that could have worsened the already precarious situation we live in,” – Manuel J. Jáuregi, columnist for the Mexico City newspaper Reforma.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/mexico/stories/051907dnnatmexreax.2bd71f6.html

What I find fascinating is that the Mexican government is in on the secret negotiations, but we the taxpaying citizens of this country still don’t have all the details and, according to John McCain and his friend Ted Kennedy, should just keep our mouths shut and go along. I believe that we should have a say on a bill that radically changes the face of our country and, like the last amnesty program, will not solve the problem of illegal immigration.

I’m, frankly, fed up. Another amnesty will not solve any problems that we have now with illegal immigration. Secure our borders and then we will deal with the rest of this immigration mess. Talk to the American people, not the Mexican government, which, of course, wants to send as many of its people here as it can so as never to deal with its own social and economic problems.

We are denied a seat at the table. We who pay the bills in this country are ignored, but Mexico our dysfunctional neighbor is treated as an honored guest. I AM DISGUSTED.

If you think as I do, please contact your Senators as soon as possible, urging them to do what is right for this country and not what is right for Mexico. Let’s take our country back!

Rep. Tom Tancredo gets it right

Colorado Republican congressman Tom Tancredo got it right today when he issued this press release criticizing the new compromise immigration bill which came was introduced in the Senate today.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) today criticized the Senate immigration plan penned by Sens. McCain (AZ) and Kennedy (MA) and President Bush. This plan, like its predecessor proposals, would provide instant amnesty for millions of illegal aliens and a pathway to citizenship.

“Senator McCain and his allies seem to think that they can dupe the American public into accepting a blanket amnesty if they just call it ‘comprehensive’ or ‘earned legalization’ or ‘regularization.’ Unfortunately for them, however, the American people know amnesty when they see it,” said Tancredo. “The President is so desperate for a legacy and a domestic policy win that he is willing to sell out the American people and our national security.”

“If Senator McCain and Senator Kennedy spent as much time working on improving border security as they did poll testing creative euphemisms for amnesty, America would be a much safer place,” quipped Tancredo.

The plan would grant an immediate amnesty for nearly all 12 – 20 million illegal aliens who will get legal status for residence and jobs (with assurance of green cards no later than 13 years); Tripling of the rate of chain migration of extended family from around 250,000 a year to around 750,000 a year for about a decade; and New flows of 400,000 temporary foreign workers each year, bringing their families and having anchor babies who will be given U.S. citizenship.

Tancredo concluded, “This amnesty plan will be a slap in the face to hard working Americans and those who have come here to work legally. I just hope Speaker Pelosi keeps her promise to bar amnesty legislation from the House floor.”

http://tancredo.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1278

Rep. Tancredo is so very right. Also, remember that during the Reagan adminstration we had an amnesty program for illegal aliens that was touted to permanently resolve the illegal immigration problem. That certainly did not happen. Waves upon waves of illegal immigrants have continued to pour across the border. Does anyone think that this bill, absent a strict border enforcement policy will really keep more illegal aliens from coming in. Hardly. We will legalize those illegals aliens who are here, and more will continue to come. It is time for strict border enforcement. Actually it is far past time for strict border enforcement. Once the borders are secure, then we can deal with those who are in this country illegal.

Update: Fred Thompson on the bill:

With this bill, the American people are going to think they are being sold the same bill of goods as before on border security. We should scrap this bill and the whole debate until we can convince the American people that we have secured the borders or at least have made great headway.”

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzYzZWUyZjI2N2FkNzVkNThjMzUwZDQzMDAyMzcwYmU=

Mitt Romney also disagrees with this bill:

“I strongly oppose today’s bill going through the Senate. It is the wrong approach. Any legislation that allows illegal immigrants to stay in the country indefinitely, as the new ‘Z-Visa’ does, is a form of amnesty. That is unfair to the millions of people who have applied to legally immigrate to the U.S.

“Today’s Senate agreement falls short of the actions needed to both solve our country’s illegal immigration problem and also strengthen our legal immigration system. Border security and a reliable employment verification system must be our first priority.”

http://www.mittromney.com/News/Press-Releases/Governor_Mitt_Romney_On_The_Senate_Immigration_Agreement

Three men who are right on this issue.