by George Dienhart
Time to chime in with my thoughts on the immigration bill. Contrary to what you may be hearing, it has not made the President a traitor, and congresses collective heads are no farther up their backsides than normal. Truth be told, it's not great legislation, but it's not horrible either.
A lot of folks want illegal immigrants prosecuted. All fourteen million of them. That's a big job. A bigger job than can be reasonably expected. With the proposed legislation, at least we would have a handle on the "good" illegals. These are the illegal residents that are here to make a better life for their families. Many are agricultural workers. The honest truth is that we like cheap fruit and vegetables. We wouldn't have them without these workers. We need to offer them visas. We also need to ensure they are paying taxes. This legislation is a start.
The legislation will only be as good as the measures it takes to stem the flood of illegal immigration. At first glance things are pretty good. The wall at our southern border will be complete. There will be fines for employers caught hiring illegals. But what of Illegal aliens running afoul of the law?
The problem is there are too many municipalities that refuse to prosecute illegals. Most of these cities (primarily run by Democrats) continue to find illegals everyday via traffic stops and drug busts. They won't turn the illegals over to ICE. The politicians are too busy pandering.
Why are they pandering? Because the left is ramping up an effort to allow illegals to vote. You see, the party that gives them the vote, will reap the windfall of 14 million votes.
How can this happen? According to the Washington Times, there isn't much being done to discourage illegal voting. And that's just referencing Maryland.
We need to prosecute every illegal that breaks an additional law, regardless of what municipalities (Chicago included)feel is right. If there is a federal warrant out against someone, it is expected that they will be arrested when stopped for small infractions such as traffic stops. The same must be true with illegals. If caught they must be deported. If they are undergoing the legalization process it should end with arrest. There must be extremely high standards for these immigrants. One strike and you are out.
Again, the legislation can only be as effective as it's enforcement. If big cities are still playing the catch and release game, it won't work. if we can get big city Democrats to obey the law, it might stem the tide. Thats a tall order for a Democrat, though. Actually putting the security of our nation ahead of their own personal comfort and security is not something they have a great track record on lately.
