An open letter to all US Senators on the Immigration Bill:
Please withhold your support of the Bush/Kennedy/McCain Immigration Bill.
The bill is Amnesty. Despite protestations to the contrary, any bill that offers a path to citizenship and opens the coffers of the US Treasury to those who entered this country illegally is AMNESTY.
Any legislation legitimizing illegals already here MUST give them NOTHING MORE than the status of legal presence. Benefits designed for US CITIZENS should not be extended to those who crashed our borders... EVER. There should be no path to citizenship EVER for one who has violated our sovereign borders. We must offer them decriminalization only. If we must, we can allow them to stay without fear of deportation (ONLY so long as they register, work to support themselves, and commit no crimes. Deportation should be automatic for any illegal immigrant who fails in any of these regards.) The legislation must SPECIFY: No citizenship. No right to vote. No Federal Benefits of ANY kind (no welfare, no food stamps, no Medicare, no Social Security… EVER). And there should be NO GUEST WORKER provisions. The current visa system allows adequate "guest workers" under the H1B and other programs. This need not be expanded. The proposed bill gives away the farm, to the tune of 2 TRILLION DOLLARS according to Heritage Foundation.
The bill is a backroom deal brokered between a small group of Senators, the President and the Hispanic Pressure Groups. There have been no committee hearings. There has been no open debate. The text of the bill in its entirety is unavailable to the press for research or commentary. There is a rush to pass the bill without discussion. The provisions which HAVE been leaked are unnacceptable.
This bill does not address the ANCHOR BABY issue. It does not end chain migration. In fact it invites ADDITIONAL chain migration. It is a sellout.
There is a grassroots movement afoot (which I support) to withhold casting any vote for any Senator supporting this bill. This would include contested primaries, and general elections. This is an issue which crosses party lines, socio-economic class, etc - and is considered by many to be their single most important issue. This bill WILL become a litmus test of suitability to serve in and re-electability to the US Senate.
See:
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/10643.html
and
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/14741.html
Both were written over a year ago - and are more timely today than when written.
Copyright © 2007 by Doug Edelman
Doug Edelman is a conservative political commentator and a contributing editor for The Conservative Voice. His work is also seen on News By Us, The American Daily, The Post Chronicle, New Media Journal, Capitol Hill Coffee House etc. For the support of his family, however, he is also an IT Consultant/Contractor and owner of a Computer Services Business. He has taught PC Maintenance & Repair and Networking at his local Community College, and maintains a blog at http://edeldoug.blogs.com/.