NumbersUSA: Senate Shows Contempt for Rule of Law, Will of American Public

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Senate passed the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (S. 2611) by a vote of 62 to 36. The bill would increase legal immigration by more than 60 million people over the next 20 years and grant amnesty to an estimated 10 million illegal aliens. The Senate passed the bill despite recent polling indicating that large majorities of Americans oppose amnesty and want legal immigration numbers reduced. The increase in legal immigration included in this bill would more than double the current level – already the highest rate in U.S. history.

“The Senate has shown contempt for the American public and recklessly passed a bill that will at least double legal immigration from one to two million a year at a time when most Americans feel that immigration should be reduced, not increased,” said NumbersUSA Executive Director Roy Beck. “The American people now look to the House of Representatives to refuse amnesty, strip the legal immigration increases, and ensure the strong enforcement measures necessary to protect Americans’ quality of life and secure our nation.”

Recent reports by the Heritage Foundation show that if S. 2611 were enacted, it would result in an increase in government spending of at least $46 billion per year - the largest increase in the welfare system in 35 years. Because half of all adult illegal immigrants in the United States have less than a high school education, and recent immigrants have a high rate of out-of-wedlock births, they also have a higher rate of poverty and consumption of government services. Additionally, every amnesty signed into law has resulted in increased illegal immigration to the United States. Three million illegal aliens were granted amnesty in 1986, and this bill would apply to 10 million illegal aliens.

“Attrition through enforcement is the only fair and feasible way to deal with the millions of illegal aliens currently in the United States. Unfortunately, 62 Senators have refused to put Americans first; instead, they have sent an invitation to anyone wanting come to the United States, including those who would seek to do us harm,” said Beck. “Senators who voted for this bill in hopes of filling their campaign coffers with money from the cheap-labor lobby or in expectation of votes from new immigrants have done so at the expense of American citizens, the ones paying the price for the Senate’s willful disregard for the future of our country. American voters will not forget this betrayal on Election Day.”

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