In their rush to rescue Barack Obama’s unconstitutional DACA program, lawmakers are floating five bills that would grant green cards and citizenship to more than 1 million illegal immigrants. Aside from a few cosmetic enforcement provisions in a few of the bills, none of the proposed legislation would do anything to prevent or deter the next wave of illegal immigration.
The bipartisan measures go beyond legalizing the 787,580 young people in DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals); they open the door to as many as 3,571,000 immigrants, according to one estimate. Legal permanent residence would be awarded to:
- 1,253,000 illegal immigrants under the SUCCEED Act by Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.; James Lankford, R-Okla.; and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
- 1,399,000 under the Recognizing America’s Children (RAC) Act by Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla.
- 1,399,000 under the Border Security and Deferred Action Recipient Relief Act by Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. (who announced his retirement this week).
- 1,730,000 under the DREAM Act of 2017 by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Durbin, D-Ill.
- 3,571,000 under the American Hope Act by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.
The pro-immigration Migration Policy Institute found each bill – to varying degrees – included non-DACA “subsets” who would qualify for newly created legal status based on age of entry, years of U.S. residence, educational attainment or military service.
Add up all the subsets and DACA recipients are only a partial cohort of these newfound entitlements.
More significantly, the MPI estimates do not factor in “chain migration,” where new immigrants bring their extended family into the country. Current research indicates that each new legal immigrant sponsors an average of 3.45 family members. The ratio swells to more than 6-to-1 for Mexican migrants, the largest group in DACA.
Noting that green card holders cannot petition for extended family members, a recent Politifact tried to downplay the potential impact of chain migration, stating, “It’s unlikely that the nearly 800,000 DACA recipients have spouses and unmarried children back in their home country.”
That’s disingenuous and misleading. Once immigrants get a green card, they’re eligible to apply for citizenship, which provides the conduit for all manner of extended family.
As of last August, 59,778 DACA recipients had applied for green cards and 39,514 were approved, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The ballooning numbers and open-endedness of Congress’ latest “reforms” create backdoor amnesties and additional loopholes in an already-riddled immigration system. No one should be surprised. Unless tangible enforcement measures and changes to the legal immigration selection process are included in the legislative package, the best thing lawmakers can do with DACA is to let it expire, once and for all.
9 Comments
When I read this information I actually feel sick to my stomach. I am an American born citizen with a son and a daughter. My son has one daughter and my daughter has two daughters—one of whom has a baby girl also. So I have three granddaughters and one great granddaughter. What happens to them? Who is looking out for them? We are white and I believe our government ‘s intent is to make the white race disappear. I am so sad about this and don’t know what to do to change this!
Build that wall! End DACA! No amnesty!
Leave out the back door and come through the front door, the legal way!!
5
All the while our daughter-in-law is just waiting for PERMISSION TO TRAVEL HOME to see her 94 year old grandmother one last time. They told her it would be a matter of weeks and this was the end of July beginning of August then she called again and then they told her she is on the bottom of the pile so to speak. She applied for a green card too but is only concerned right now about the TRAVEL PASS because she found out her grandmother is going downhill and she wants to see her before she passes away. She has followed the law to THE LETTER, even traveling 364 miles round trip just to have her photo and fingerprints taken. These DACA people have to be EXTREMELY VETTED I realize but still is there not room for compassion?
Sally Becker:
The DACA kids were only vetted light and lean. Thats why over 2000 of them have had their DACA status removed. We also have 40 to 50 % fraud in those applications that no one caught as under Obama it was get to yes policy so please do not tell us to have compassion. We have compassion for the people effected by DACA; the US citizens who lost jobs and or places at college and the legal residents who did it the right way.
Existence or disappearance…
USA Population
1665 90% Euro kids
1765 90% Euro kids
1865 90% Euro kids
1965 90% Euro kids <<< Ethnic cleansing begins
2015 48% Euro kids
2065 20% Euro kids
End the Cleanse! Demand ZERO Legal Immigration too!
Al Hope I do not see an issue here….really..just have more kids all of you……Trump/Steve Jobs etc etc thanks to immigration…..and Trump in a time whre Germans were not wanted…..and Steve Jobs dad…etc etc etc
It’s the same old charade they have pulled time after time. Exactly like the gang of eight bill of 2013 and 2014. More amnesties with an ever expanding circle of those eligible and not even the pretense of enforcement. Unless it is limited and includes e-verify and funding for the wall Trump needs to veto. If they shut the government down so be it. It just proves they favor foreigners over the interests of Americans. Not surprising that gang of eight member Lindsey Graham would be co-sponsoring a bill with Democrat Dick Durbin. In case any forgot, Graham couldn’t get arrested in last year’s GOP primaries.
Even after Trump’s election, so many members of Congress still don’t care want American voters want in regards to immigration, and only care about the greedy special interests that give them the most money. The job American taxpayers pay you a big fat salary and lifetime benefits to do is to represent their interests and protect their lives. The job you are paid to do is not to cater to the interests of whoever gives you the most money.
If you aren’t interested in representing the best interests of the Americans who elect you and pay for your big salary and benefits then take crooked Flake’s lead and just go ahead and retire. Americans are sick of crooked old and tired members of Congress stabbing them in the back in the service of greedy special interests.