The President's back door amnesty plan is is filled pitfalls. I'm glad he rolled it out now, because it gives time for all voters, including Latinos, to see how flawed it is. Here is a brief summary of what I can think of with a few minutes of reflection:- It violates the statute for granting work permits to aliens, undermining the rule of law.
- It can be rescinded by the next President.
- It could be a trap that would allow the identification of these aliens for deportation in the future.
- It could be a trap that would allow the identification of the aliens' parents for deportation in the future.
- It will increase the reported unemployment rate to the extent that the nonresident undocumented aliens seek work. (Yes, illegal immigrants, but I'm keeping to the legal language.)
- It will put more pressure on legal residents looking for work, because of added competition from this group.
- Did I mention that it undermines the rule of law?
- It encourages more illegal immigration, because parents want good for their children most of all. Getting their children eligible for work in the U.S. is a powerful incentive for further law breaking, given the miserable conditions in most of Latin America and especially Mexico; where the majority of illegal immigrants hail from.
That's what comes immediately to mind. I am sure my readers can add more. More interestingly, is how Romney should respond. His initial response that the executive order makes it more difficult to achieve lasting reform because it poisoned the discussion struck the right tone. It reminds the Hispanic voters that Obama had the chance to pass whatever he wanted in 2009 and 2010, but chose to ignore the issue. Romney would do well to incorporate some of what Newt Gingrich has said on this subject. Specifically, he should emphasize control of the border as a down payment for solving our immigration problems. Next, he should put forth proposals to create what Newt Gingrich calls a "21st Century visa program" and expanded H-1B visa program. Solving this problem is in the best interest of America, because drawing talented immigrants and even unskilled laborers balances out our demographic and employment deficits. The President, through his extra-legal maneuvering has made the problem harder to solve. That's not leadership, that's demagoguery.
The rule of law means nothing.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone yet coined the term Obamigration to draw the unilateral connection with other key Obama policy?
ReplyDeleteI'm pissed at him slandering military vets!
ReplyDeleteAnd that started when I thought there might've been different laws, back BEFORE I realized that I know exactly how much proof of legality they'd have to have to sign up-- I signed my final papers in Dec of '00. I'm thirty next year. There's less than a year's gap where an illegal could have signed up, using massive, massive ID fraud. (Birth certificate, SSN, I had to bring in tax information, a VERY basic background search, finger printing, my folks' SSNs; that last one might have been because I wasn't 18 yet.) Heck, I remember hearing about one guy who used someone else's SSN-- I think he claimed his folks gave it to him. Then again, Harley had also had several people check "yes" on the "have you committed violent felonies that would disqualify you" line.
Not calmed down much by how many talk show hosts didn't bother to call up the local recruiter and say "Hey, is that possible? An illegal alien that's under thirty and did service in the military?"
>>More interestingly, is how Romney should respond.
ReplyDeleteHere's how Romney should respond: "I'll talk policy, but I won't talk about this cynical campaign ploy. I won't put this cheap, vote-buying trick on the same level as actual policy. If Obama was sincere about whatever he claims to want for young illegal aliens, he would have acted when the DREAM Act failed to make it out of the Democratic Senate in 2010. Will I reverse his EO, will I do something similar? Not gonna answer; not gonna answer this trick with a counter-trick. Now, here are my thoughts on illegal aliens and what to do about them . . ."