I haven’t had the chance to read the actual immigration bill but one thing is clear: If it smells like amnesty, it’s not sweet. And it does smell like amnesty: The front page of the Washington Post reads,
Sprawling overhaul grants temporary legal status to virtually all illegal immigrants
I wonder how many of the people involved in approving the bill actually read it: it’s 380 pages long
Powerline says that
it sounds as though the one thing that happens immediately is that any illegal immigrant who is now in the U.S., or makes his way here in the near future, can “come forward” and receive a “probationary card” that allows him to reside and work here. Eventual citizenship requires payment of a $5,000 fine and fulfillment of other requirements, but such a “path to citizenship” won’t begin until border improvements and the employer identification system have been implemented.
What if they are never implemented, or never implemented satisfactorily? At best, that would derail the path to citizenship and the guest worker program. The one thing that we know for sure, if I am reading the AP account correctly, is that all current illegals will receive a “get out of jail free” card, as, apparently, will anyone who can make his way here in time to ask for one.
That’s what I get, too.
Hugh Hewitt and Dean Barnett see it as the end of McCain’s candidacy.
Hot Air says that illegals think the bill is too onerous.
But the thing is, aside from the people approving it, nobody has seen the bill. Last night Red State posted,
We are not sure whether we are for or against the proposed immigration bill. We are not sure because no one has seen it. No one will see it until tomorrow at the earliest, at which point Senator Reid intends to promptly push the legislation through the Senate — even taking the unheardof step of bypassing the Judiciary Committee.
A bill which is being written tonight, and which will exceed 1,000 pages according to many reports, will be voted on at the beginning of next week without ever going through the process of committee review and hearings.
Not only that, but the bill will most likely not appear online and accessible to the public until after the legislation has passed. Why the rush? Senator Reid, the Democrats, and even the President and a number of Republicans are scared of the American people’s reaction. They want to have this ordeal behind them before they go home to face the voters on Memorial Day.
We do not know whether the bill is good or bad. However, given the Senate’s desire to hastily write it and rush it through sight unseen, we can infer that it is most likely not something which would be supported by us or by the American people; otherwise, why would such secrecy be necessary?
And why the rush for this but not for funding the troops?
Captain’s Journal has two posts from last year on the consequences of immigration: Immigration and the coming political earthquake and Immigration, continued (via Larwyn).
While we ponder that, allow me to point out that when Spain granted amnesty to 700,000 illegal aliens, it got flooded with more. It still is.
Update: How big is it? This big
