A Fort Wayne, Ind., paper says Sen. Lugar thinks Americans will be so distracted by the bad economy that he will be able to slip the DREAM Act amnesty through the Senate this next year. It is always sad when a truly distinguished statesman, with a record of level-headed leadership, embarrasses himself with outlandish open-borders positions, but it happens all the time. Let me tell you why Lugar's dream of amnesty for illegal-alien teenagers is an attack on American workers.
WASHINGTON – There's always something good that emerges from a really bad situation. In the case of the lousy economy, one positive outcome would be enactment of some sensible immigration legislation. Specifically, a bill to give the kids of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.
-- Sylvia A. Smith, Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette
It is difficult to determine who is more giddy about the prospect of another amnesty next year -- reporter Smith or Sen. Lugar.
Sen. Richard Lugar has been a longtime and consistent supporter of such an approach, but intense – and often ugly – emotions have blocked it. (Sylvia Smith)
Isn't it interesting that when Americans ask that illegal aliens step aside so that American workers can have jobs, the motivations are described as "ugly emotions?"
But as the U.S. economy contracts, there are fewer jobs and less of a lure for people to cross the border illegally. With fewer undocumented immigrants, the boil-level fury in some quarters is likely to cool a bit. If anti-immigration sentiments are less stoked, it's possible the legislative climate on Capitol Hill would be more receptive to this common-sense approach to a situation that is not of these youngsters' making. And that would be good for everyone. (Sylvia Smith)
Smith has been covering Congress for the Fort Wayne newspaper since 1989. It is a testimony to our failure as a movement that we have not been able to help a reporter with this much experience to understand that when an economy is wiping out a half-million jobs a month, that is actually a bad time to talk about amnesty for illegal aliens.
For you see, all these illegal teenagers will soon be -- if they are not already -- competitors in the labor market for jobs being currently sought by more than 10 million unemployed Americans (plus millions more Americans who have been forced to work part-time jobs).
You can help reporter Smith by adding your thoughts to her story in an email to her at: sylviasmith@jg.net
Despite Sen. Lugar's moderate image, this senior Republican has a record of devastating consequences for vulnerable American workers.
NumbersUSA's grading system that looks at all of his immigration actions results in:
This means that he nearly always votes for higher immigration, for higher foreign workers, for higher U.S. population growth.
In the specific category of votes and co-sponsorships concerning direct importation of foreign workers without adequate protections for American workers, Sen. Lugar has earned:
There is nothing moderate in Sen. Lugar's record when it comes to preferring foreign workers and the unscrupulous employers who hire them over American workers. Sen. Lugar is as radical as it gets in this category.
I draw no pleasure in writing those previous paragraphs. I am sure that Sen. Lugar and his closest supporters have no thought at all that he is this radical. But the proof is in the legislative-record pudding -- a pudding that is quite rancid.
Sen. Lugar tried to force through the DREAM Act amnesty a year ago. Only the rapid response of NumbersUSA activists was able to thwart the effort to ram it through with only three days notice.
Thankfully, Sen. Lugar appears to be giving us a couple months of notice this time.
I agree with reporter Smith and Sen. Lugar that there are many compelling cases among the hundreds of thousands of illegal-alien teenagers who were brought illegally to this country by their parents many years ago.
But the chief argument of the DREAM amnesty crowd is that the sins of the father should not be visited upon the son.
That is, they say the teens should not be held accountable for an act of their parents. Punish the parents, not their innocent children, say the amnesty pushers.
But here's the problem: Five years after the teens get the amnesty, our law allows the teens to get a path to U.S. citizenship for their parents -- and eventually for their uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins, etc.
Chain Migration categories ensure that no matter the merits of an individual foreign worker to become an immigrant or to get an amnesty, huge numbers of relatives then qualify down the road -- and that includes the parents who criminally brought the illegal kids into the country in the first place.
If Sen. Lugar wants to be taken seriously, he will include an elimination of Chain Migration categories in his Dream Act amnesty.
And he should include a mandatory workplace verification provision (as in the SAVE Act). That will send a message to others who may see the DREAM amnesty as an invitation to break the law, too, that there are unlikely to be jobs waiting for them if they try to get here.
ROY BECK is Founder & CEO of NumbersUSA
Laurel6425 of IL
Sat, 12/20/2008 - 6:12pm
Re: Sen. Lugar Thinks His Nightmare Amnesty Can Pass In New Year
We have a problem in Chicagoland too. Why isn't the amount of money spent on illegals mentioned when discussing the health care crisis? When people talk about raising educational standards, why not talk about how ESL programs and low test scores drag the whole system down? Why isn't illegal immigration a mentioned factor in the unemployment crisis? It's like ignoring the elephant in the room!