Friday, June 29, 2007

Amnesty Bill Defeated, So Now What?

The American people spoke loudly and won a hard fought victory over the Imperial Congress with the defeat of the Bush/Kennedy/Reid Amnesty Bill (aka S. 1369). Everyone who worked to defeat this very flawed bill deserves a pat on the back. At the same time, we need to remember this victory and remember that WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

However, the problem still remains: a flood of illegal criminal aliens are already here with more coming each and every day. This problem is not going to magically go away. We need to address the specifics of the problems and the best way to do is to start enforcing the multitude of laws that already exist.

As is the case with just about every facet of our life, there are already ample legal measures and laws on the books to take care of the problem without passing any more new laws. For instance, it was decided, by law, to build 850 miles of fence on the border with Mexico yet only 13 miles have been built to date. How long does it take to build a concrete barrier capable of blocking entry? Why isn't this a priority and well on the way towards completion if not actually finished by now?

Next on the list of problems to be fixed is the huge backlog of applications for legal immigration and citizenship. While some might suspect that the backlog was artificially created to try and force support for the Bush/Kennedy/Reid Amnesty Bill, the more reasonable explanation is simple government bungling. The fact is that our federal government has grown so huge that it is out of control and needs to be severely cutback and forced to operate efficiently. Streamlining and focusing on enforcement and processing of legal applications must become the primary mission of the ICE.

One factor that is not often mentioned is that approximately half of the illegals already in the country came here with a legal tourist, student or worker visa and then simply decided to stay once their visa expired. For whatever reasons, the federal government has not figured out yet that they have to track not only the entry but also the exit of legal visitors to determine who has overstayed their welcome. Rather then spending so much time harassing little old ladies at the airport, the federal government must start to collect this information. There are 12 locations in the U.S. that collect this information - the process must be spread to all exit points.

Next up is to remove the ability of cities to declare themselves sanctuary cities. No city is above the laws that the rest of the country follow. Local police must be given the authority to question the immigration status of individuals and to detain and hold illegals until such time as the ICE can send them back home. If this means temporary detention camps, then so be it. As the saying goes, if you do the crime, you better be willing to do the time.

Many of the illegals are criminals before they ever sneak across the border. Once here, they resume their life of crime or gang activity. It is imperative that when they are caught here, they be dealt with swiftly and decisively. Send the message that we are sick and tired of having illegal criminal aliens coming to America to pursue a life of crime.

Removing the 12 to 20 million illegal aliens that are already here is bound to be a tough job. A start to the process is to remove any and all benefits for those that are here illegally. No taxpayer funded services should be available to these individuals. For instance, some states are already providing taxpayer funded education assistance to illegals. This has got to stop. The incentive for staying here illegally must be removed.

Any child born on US soil is considered a legal citizen. It does not matter if the parents are legal residents or not. This must be changed so that only the children of citizens be granted automatic citizenship. To do any less is only to cheapen the value of being a citizen and to insult those who have fought to protect our citizenship. This is one of the few parts of the problem that will require a change in laws.

The list of things that can and must be done goes on far longer than we intend to cover here. Our intent is to point out that there are already answers for the problems and that another piece flawed, unenforceable law is not needed. The tools are there folks, all that is lacking is a government and Congress with he spine to enforce what is already on the books.

By all means, take some time to enjoy the victory America. Just don't forget how we gained this victory and that there is still work to be done. Now that we have the attention of Bush/Kennedy/Reid and the federal government, let's make sure they know that we demand that they do their jobs and fix the problems using the current law and that new law only be added in limited situations (such as changing the law on birthright citizenship).

We won but let's not spend too much time doing a victory dance in the end zone. There is still work to be done.

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