Take This (Amnesty) Gift ‘Or Leave The Country,’ Says White House

This is what goes for tough talk on illegal immigration at the White House: We’ll offer permanent work permits, permanent residency and path to citizenship to illegal aliens but if they don’t sign up, they just have to go home.

With their tens of millions of foundation dollars, the open-border groups did polling last year that found that if they talked about “demanding” that illegal aliens sign up for an amnesty, they could confuse a few more Americans into telling pollsters they could support legalization.

So, the word from White House spokesman Nick Shapiro this week was not surprising language — but it was kind of funny:

They should have to register, pay a penalty for breaking the law and meet other obligations of legal immigrants such as learning English and paying taxes, or leave the country,” Shapiro said.

–“Immigrant Advocates Turn Up Heat,” (March 10, 2010) by Jennifer Bendery and Jessica Brady, Roll Call

Basically, he is saying that it is OK if you break immigration laws as long as you do the other things that legal immigrants have to do, such as learn English, pay taxes, register and not beat anybody up.

All of that, of course, is just silly. But what really interests me is what the White House has in mind to enforce the “leave the country.”

Reporters and citizens should challenge every pro-amnesty supporter to tell in great detail:

How will you make illegal aliens who don’t sign up leave the country?
What will be different after the amnesty that will keep new illegal aliens from coming here and taking jobs?

Either you will find that the politician is a complete wind bag who has no intention or no concept of how to deter illegal immigration in the future . . .

. . . or you will hear most of the same things that we are proposing to do right now which the open-borders people constantly say won’t work.

The fact is that for 25 years nearly all the amnesty supporters have opposed nearly every tool that would have to be used to stop illegal immigration after the amnesty. I really would love to hear them endorse these measures as part of their pitch for passing the amnesty.

When we have proposed these enforcement measures or talked of needing to “leave the country” over the last decades, we usually see the news media describe our measures as “draconian.” Will they still be “draconian” if they are part of an amnesty deal?

ROY BECK is Founder & CEO of NumbersUSA