Last week the Senate approved an immigration reform bill
that was announced with upbeat fanfare by the media. Liberal anchors called it a great compromise
on the path to citizenship, and conservative anchors called it a much needed
border security measure. Everyone was
pleased, except people like me. I could
only describe this bill with one word – ridiculous.
Immigration reform has been promised by Democrats for many
years, in the form initially referred to as the Dream Act. The whole idea is that we should allow the
best immigrants – those who work hard, study, graduate school, produce, and
assimilate themselves into society - the right to American citizenship. It makes America stronger, healthier, and
more productive. I wrote about this idea
in February. For the longest time, conservatives
would not engage this conversation. They
said a path to citizenship would only encourage more illegals to come running across
the border, referring to them in the manner of sub-human pests. It wasn’t till the election of 2012 that
conservatives realized that they were being beaten by and needed to earn more
of the Hispanic vote. Republicans would
not dream of immigration reform until they realized they needed do something to
earn the favor of minority voters. So the
conversation was begun.
The result is a cobbled mess of legislation that doesn’t
reform immigration at all. Instead, it
has turned into a military spending bill.
With the effort of Republicans, so-called immigration reform has been
placed on hold until we spend $38 to $58 Billion on increased border
security. Reform kicks in after the money is spent and someone
magically announces that the job of border security is complete, although the
point of completeness is not defined.
Furthermore, the bill does not define where the billions are supposed to
come from. Didn’t we just fight our way through budget sequestration to save approximately $50
Billion, supposedly shrinking government and staving off certain
bankruptcy? Wasn’t reduction in
government spending the absolute most important agenda on the right side of the
aisle? Wait, aren’t those the same guys
who decided to spend billions of new funds on border security? As it turns out, there is another agenda that
is stronger than winning minority votes, and it is winning the favor of defense
contractors. Clearly this bill has taken
a turn toward big business while ignoring the Hispanic vote that Republicans so
badly need. It’s ridiculous.
For conservatives there is still a bright side. We don’t need to spend that money at
all. In fact, when the next debt ceiling
debate comes to a head, conservatives can use it as leverage to completely kill
the Immigration Reform Bill and save us Billions again! So, for those voters who have absolutely no
long term memory, it will appear that the conservatives did just the right
thing at the right time by killing expenditures that were brought up by conservatives
in the first place. It’s just brilliant. In fact, the House has already promised to
disassemble the entire bill and throw it out piece by piece. Do you suspect that they intend to come up
with something better? I certainly don’t. They most likely will come up with something
even more ridiculous.
So let’s all give a hearty hip, hip, hooray for the bill
that does absolutely nothing to improve immigration or the path to citizenship,
while first requiring that it cost tens of billions, if the money is ever
appropriated, which it most likely will not be.
I guess the most baffling question for me is how the media, who is
usually so deliciously inquisitive about these things, bought into this joke of
a package. Do they get a piece of the
billions too? Ridiculous.
Tony F. 2013
