Gang of Eight's False Promises

Gang of Eight's False Promises

on Sat, 22 Jun 2013

With President Barack Obama's blessing, the US Senate this week has been debating an amendment from pro-amnesty Republican Senators John Hoeven and Bob Corker that claims to secure the southern border. The amendment will be coming up for a vote in the Senate on Monday.

Of course, the mainstream media instantly got on the bandwagon and created headlines across the nation lauding the amendment. Those headlines are false promises. To the casual observer, the Senate agreed to finish the long overdue 700-mile fence, add 40,000 more border agents, and allocate $3.2 billion for drones and sensors to detect illegal immigrants; all of this, combined with the promise of a 90% apprehension rate for illegal border crossers. 

It would appear as if the political establishment suddenly cared about national security and had a burning desire to enforce America's immigration laws. If only that was the case.

First of all, these changes to the bill are, as theNew York Times reported, "goals" instead of requirements. None of the changes would have to be implemented before newly legalized illegal immigrants would be given green cards. Amnesty still comes before enforcement; therefore any amendments that do not change that core goal are meaningless. There is no way to quickly train 40,000 border agents. With a woefully small force in place along the U.S.-Mexico border now, it took more than 10 years to add 10,000 border agents.

As Senator Mike Lee of Utah said late Thursday night, the Amendment process to this bill is appalling and repugnant to the system of government under which we're supposed to be operating. For political reasons, Senators are voting enthusiastically for Amendments to the Gang of Eight’s bill which they have never seen, without questions.

The changes to this bill are a PR stunt. Conservatives must reject a comprehensive immigration bill, so we can tackle individual issues of securing the border and improving law enforcement in meaningful ways. Please call the United States Senate switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and urge your Senator to vote against this charade.