Powerline: This Bill Can’t Be Fixed



This Bill Can’t Be Fixed

“Paul has written about efforts to “fix” the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill by both the left and the right. In my view, the bill is flawed at its core, in multiple ways, and efforts to improve it are misguided. It cannot serve as a template for workable legislation. Here is why,” says John Hinderaker at Powerlineblog.

Are Canadian Regional Visas a Model for the U.S.?

“America’s cities are the engines of its growth. Though the immigration bill before Congress would help cities by increasing the flow of legal migrants, cities would be even better served by a bill that makes immigration decisions local. State governments are in a far better position to understand the immigration needs of the towns and cities within their borders. The federal government should allow them to sponsor region-based visas,” say Brandon Fuller and Sean Rust.

“Canada’s provincial-nominee program, the subject of recent articles by Shikha Dalmia and Nancy Scola, is popular and successful. The program gives participating Canadian provinces a greater say in selecting and recruiting immigrants. Unconstrained by the Ottawa consensus on immigration needs, the provinces are free to go out and recruit the immigrants that best suit their economic needs.”

No Valid Visa, Bomber Associate Still Re-Admitted to U.S.

“One of three college students arrested Wednesday in the Boston Marathon bombings case was allowed to return to the United States from Kazakhstan in January despite not having a valid student visa, a federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Authorities charged the student — a friend and classmate of one of the men accused of setting off the deadly explosions — with helping after the attacks to remove a laptop and backpack from the bombing suspect’s dormitory room before the FBI searched it,” Fox News reports.

Standoff Over Escaped Slaves from Compound Owned by Saudis in Virginia

“A case of “possible human trafficking” at a Saudi diplomatic compound in Virginia is under investigation, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to News4. Homeland Security Special-Agent-in-Charge John Torres, who is leading the probe, said Fairfax County Police responded to a tip Tuesday night citing a possible case of modern slavery,” NBCWashington.com reports.

“It’s not clear if the women, whom sources say are from the Philippines, called investigators to the home themselves or if someone else did. The women are now in protective custody . . . The investigation is in its very early stages and complicated by the possibility that some of those involved may have diplomatic immunity, said a State Department spokesperson.”

Sending the Wrong Message on Assimilation?

“In the aftermath of the Boston bombings, many are asking how someone who came to America at the age of 9, attended some of our best schools, captained the wrestling team, went to the prom and became a citizen could have inflicted such a devastating attack on our society. The emerging evidence suggests that part of the answer is that no one in the past decade taught Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to love America, or at least did a very poor job of it,” says Mike Gonzalez in the Denver Post.

“But we know one thing for sure: He wasn’t taught that assimilation into American society was desirable. As I’m finding while researching a book on Hispanics — indeed, what I experienced as a young Cuban coming to this country in the early 1970s — we no longer teach patriotic assimilation. By that I mean love of country, not just its creature comforts.”

About Author

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Dan is the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)'s President after joining the organization in 1982. He has testified more than 50 times before Congress, and been cited in the media as "America's best-known immigration reformer." Dan has appeared on virtually every significant TV and radio news/talk program in America and, in addition to being a contributing editor to ImmigrationReform.com, has contributed commentaries to a vast number of print media outlets.

4 Comments

  1. avatar
    James wood on

    I would like to know why this LaRaza orientated Gang of Eight have excluded including local law enforcement in the enforcement effort? Why not add 400,000 local police to enforcing our immigration laws? Mexico does it to enforce their strict immigration laws. All it would take is a simple act of Congress. Why are dems so opposed to this idea?

  2. avatar

    Like the Dream Act,. this present “reform” bill is a virtual blank check to do whatever this administration wants, because it gives the secretary of Homeland Security what are actually dictatorial powers to simply change whatever immigration laws are already in place. And it pushes all those solemn promises of e-verify and border security to some nebulous goals at least five years down the road, with extensions beyond that written into the bill.

    Which is kind of contradictory in the first place, because I thought the border already was secure? As NBC News showed on their May 2 Nightly News, there is border security in certain areas like cities, but their own hidden cameras caught drug smugglers and illegals, often in the light of day, already past the border and moving further into this country. One camera was 11 miles north of the border. They also interviewed Texas border agents who said they see illegals every day. The agents noted that success in some areas has simply funneled crossings into the areas with little enforcement. Napolitano has her script of a secure border, but it’s all bogus.

    And the story of the student who reentered without a valid student visa reveals the emptiness of all the promises of “we will know who is here” with an amnesty. We let this person in without a valid visa. So we are supposed to believe all the promises of we are really, really, really, going to do our jobs THIS time? It’s like the person who apologizes for something for the tenth time. After awhile, it’s just save it, I don’t believe you.

  3. avatar
    Concerned Citizen on

    A region-based visa is reminiscent of I had in mind when I floated the idea (partially in jest) of making South Florida a Special Autonomous Region (SAR) like Hong Kong. Singapore is even further along that spectrum, as it’s a sovereign nation. All ideas are on the table in my book.

    • avatar

      Once Separated from America

      States like Florida and California would quickly lose its job providing companies and almost immediately sink into additional Central America 3rd World and overpopulated cess pools countries.