Arizona’s controversial immigration law is, in reality, not controversial at all. It mirrors our federal immigration laws. Maybe that’s why Obama has come out swinging against it — he doesn’t like the idea of immigration enforcement. So, it’s really no surprise that Obama’s response to Arizona’s radical idea of enforcing the law would be… amnesty!
Oh, wait, wait, it’s actual “comprehensive immigration reform”. Otherwise known as amnesty.
“The system is broken and everybody knows it,” Obama said. “Unfortunately, reform has been held hostage to political posturing and special interest wrangling, to the pervasive sentiment in Washington that tackling such a thorny and emotional issue is inherently bad politics.”
“Our task now is to make our national laws actually work, to shape the system that reflects our values as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. That means being honest about the problem and getting past the false debates that divide the country rather than bring it together,” he said.
The fail-proof Obama answer to every single one of our nation’s ills: rhetoric! Come on, you didn’t expect him to actually make any specific immigration policy proposals, did you? (And of course, it’s not his fault he can’t get anything done, it’s all because of the stupid Republicans!) The reality is, his administration has done nothing to make our national laws actually work, or to reflect our values as a nation of laws. Not only has he done nothing, he’s come out against a state that is trying to protect its citizens and enforce the immigration laws that he won’t!
On top of this, he is twisting around what it means to be an American. He compares legal immigrants of the past to the illegal immigrants of today. Many immigrants did indeed love America before they came here, they identified themselves as Americans, and they loved liberty and freedom and democracy before they came here. All of those things brought them here. The difference is that those immigrants came here through legal channels. Obama claims that being an American is not an issue of blood or birth, but an issue of faith. Thanks to his mangled interpretation of our immigration system, though, he’s completely destroyed what it does mean to be an American. The people he’s speaking of are people who broke this nation’s laws by coming here illegally. Yet he wants to blur the lines between legal and illegal immigration in some pretty rhetorical speech about faith? Yeah, right. Nice try, buddy.
Besides, if being an American is a matter of faith, then the religion in question is devotion to the rule of law. We have created the laws by which we live through representative democracy within a framework set by our Constitution. Breaking the law to get into the country isn’t an expression of faith; using Obama’s construct, it’s actually heresy.
Before Obama was elected, people spoke of Obama as if he was some kind of genius. It’s becoming more and more clear that this isn’t the case — even when you adhere to his own logic, he still gets it wrong.
There are nearly no Americans who are opposed to legal immigration. Most Americans understand and accept people that want to come here to build a better life for themselves. But when those people come here and break our laws — disobeying our immigration laws — then most Americans aren’t happy about it, regardless of how good the illegal immigrant’s intentions may have been. Why? Because when someone comes here illegally, it shows a lack of respect for this country, it shows a willingness to break the law, and why should we applaud that? When we talk about immigration reform, no one is really talking about what to do with legal immigrants, except perhaps to smooth the road for them a little. When we talk about immigration reform, we’re talking about illegal immigrants — how best to secure the borders, what to do with the illegal immigrants who are already here.
For Obama, being an open-borders advocate, when he speaks of immigration reform, he only means one thing: amnesty. He doesn’t want to secure the border and he doesn’t want to crack down on illegal immigrants. He wants to keep the borders open and he wants to blur the line between legal and illegal immigration. At least Arizona’s legislators, led by Jan Brewer, are picking up Obama’s slack — and he even wants to take that away. Meanwhile, border states are sinking deeper and deeper into chaos, with drug smuggling, human trafficking, kidnapping, murders, and gang violence overwhelming innocent Americans, and citizens of Arizona in particular.
Obama may give a pretty speech about enforcing our laws, but his intentions are actually very clear. In this regard, it’s the most transparent he’s ever been in his entire presidency, because we can see right through him. Obama will just keep on doing exactly what he’s been doing to enforce the border: absolutely nothing, and no amount of grand rhetorical speeches will change that.
Smithwick says: So basically his solution is to legitimize the results of failure.
I hope he doesn’t apply this elsewhere.
Say be declaring the beaches and oceans should be full of oil; victory over the Gulf oil spill!
Or that we always wanted the Taliban to win in afghanistan; victory in the middle east!
Or perhaps that his stimulus bill was always intended to increase unemployment (throw something in there about how noble it is to be poor and hungry); success!
And don’t think the media wouldn’t back him if he tried any of those things.
Any time a piece of legislation is called “comprehensive”, they are referring to a political process known as “logrolling” or “vote trading.” That is, one Senator or Representative will vote for a provision they do not favor in exchange for a provision which they do favor. As long as they can take credit with their constituents for the good parts and evade responsibility for the bad parts, then they can get away with this.
Some people think that this is an essential part of political compromise and the only way to get any meaningful legislation passed. However economists have shown (rather easily) that logrolling can result in several proposals being passed NONE of which are supported by a majority of the legislators (or their constituents). It’s a classic case of government failure and legislative inefficiency.
If every part of the health care bill or immigration “reform” were debated and voted on separately, most of them would not pass. Most embarrassing for the leftists, if we were to hold votes separately on tighter border controls; fining and deporting illegal immigrants and forever denying them citizenship; and punishing employers who hire them, these laws would be extremely popular and pass easily.
The only hope for Obama and the Demon Rats to usher in amnesty is:
– To not call it that
– To hide it in the bill under some euphemism
– Empower or disempower federal or local authorities to achieve the desired outcome.
There is no reason someone who broke our laws should get front of the line privileges. I don’t want anyone who broke our laws to EVER get citizenship. I want the same laws in this nation that all other nations have to protect their borders and to deny public services to these free riders.
I have known many illegal immigrants and I really don’t hate them or even dislike them. I don’t blame them for seeking opportunity. But I don’t condone activities which if I did in ANY other country would get me locked up and then deported. When the economy was good, there was a good case for enhanced LEGAL immigration to meet our labor needs. But with unemployment well over 10% in many states and over 20% in some metro areas, illegal aliens are the LAST thing we need.
I understand that most illegal aliens don’t commit crimes, but it is beyond dispute that those who do impose severe costs on us. Illegal aliens do NOT pay taxes except those they can’t avoid such as sales taxes. Although they can pay taxes through an ITIN, there is no evidence that they do. Using a false social security number is identity theft as well as being here illegally.
It’s time to tell all of them to just go back where they came from and get in line with everyone else if they want residency. Millions of immigrants do things the right way and we shouldn’t penalize them.
Page says: This brings to my mind a quote of Churchill’s that “a lie makes it halfway around the world before the truth puts its shoes on in the morning.” We must have the courage to take a stand together before his lies go too far.
Clearly, President Obama is either not aware, or does not care that, there are 15 million unemployed Americans who are “simply seeking a better life for themselves and their children” by looking for a job. He must also be unaware that 8 million illegal aliens have full-time jobs, thereby keeping 8 million Americans out of work. Any amnestying of these illegal aliens would prevent millions of American families from attaining a “better life.”
Please don’t delay. Send a message to President Obama today
Any comprehensive amnesty for illegal aliens is just plain wrong and goes against the wishes of the vast majority of the American people. 25 million Americans are either unemployed or cannot find a full-time job and they are depending on you to do the right thing and oppose amnesty. Why are you letting these Americans down by supporting amnesty?
Enforce our existing laws and SECURE OUR BORDERS
the media won’t really delve into what’s going on – and there’s a lot going on.
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