With the Republican Party openly discussing immigration reform and changing positions on immigration as a party in order to attract Hispanic voters, I thought this would be a good time to review some immigration laws that are already enacted.The General Law on Population enacted in April 2000 mandates that federal, local and municipal police cooperate with federal immigration authorities in the arrest of illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration is a felony, punishable by up to two years in prison. Deported immigrants who are deported and attempt to reenter the country are subject to ten years in prison. Violation of your visa is punishable by up to six years in prison. Citizens who provide help to illegal immigrants are to be prosecuted. The law also says foreigners can be deported if they are deemed detrimental to “economic or national interests,” violate the law, are not “mentally or physically healthy” or lack the “necessary funds for their sustenance” and for their dependents.
Foreigners will be admitted into the country “according to their possibilities of contributing to national progress.” Foreigners who misrepresent the terms of their visa – such as working without a permit – are subject to a term in prison. Foreigners who enter the country illegally are subject to two years in prison.
There is more, but by now you’re probably stunned at what you’ve read unless you’ve already figured out where I’m going with this. The General Law on Population is a law passed in Mexico, not in the United States.
This brings me back to immigration reform. The Democrats idea of ‘reform’ is to make all the illegals legal and put them on the path to citizenship. They know this would immediately add millions of voters to the Democratic party and it would lock up the Hispanic vote for decades to come. It’s nothing more than blatant vote buying, with legal status being the payment for votes.
The Republicans idea of ‘reform’ is not quite as liberal as the Democrat plan, but also has a goal of trying to win Hispanic votes. The only problem they’re having with it is trying to figure out how to have ‘reform’ without having to out-liberal the Democrats. This is poor policy, doomed to failure and is also nothing but blatant vote buying.
Outgoing Mexican President Felipe Calderon has also weighed in on immigration laws here. In an address to Congress in 2010 he railed against the immigration law in Arizona, calling it racist. Naturally, he is going to oppose any law that makes it harder for his citizens to sneak across our border and benefit from the liberal welfare programs available in the United States. He knows that most of the illegals who come here send money back to family members in Mexico.
So it seems all parties involved want some type of ‘reform.’ So do I. But the reform I have in mind would never have a chance of getting through Congress. The reform I prefer is to pass the General Law on Population here in the USA and then enforce it to the max. No more buying votes with immigration status. No more buying votes with welfare programs. No more buying votes with other benefits illegals receive. And no more siphoning of US tax dollars and sending them to Mexican relatives. The amount of money being spent on illegals far outweighs the amount of money it would take to round these people up and expel them from our country.
The Democrats in Washington figured out years ago that they can buy people’s votes and now they have figured out a way to buy the votes of people who are not yet even citizens. Whatever it takes to keep them in power is the way the Democrats will go, no matter the financial consequences for our country. And the Republicans are not far behind. They’ve realized they don’t have the Hispanic vote and they want it. But again, no matter the financial consequences for our country.
Both parties are essentially starting a bidding war with the highest bidder presumed to be awarded the Hispanic voting block, but the Republicans are fools to think they could ever win. No matter what kind of ‘reform’ Republicans offer or agree to, the Democrats will retain the Hispanic votes for the foreseeable future. Republicans are selling the country down the river in an attempt to get something they will never have. If they truly wanted to get more votes they would work toward enforcing the laws we already have and have the illegals shipped out of our country. The conservatives who abandoned the party over the nomination of Mitt Romney will never come back as long as the Republicans keep moving to the left. But apparently, the Republicans are more concerned with the votes of 11,000,000 illegal immigrants than they are about getting the votes of legal citizens. With that being the case, the Republicans should not be surprised at all when a lot of those legal citizens who used to vote for them stay home again on the next election day.
I could not agree more with your assessment of the immigration issue. Pandering to get the Hispanic vote will not work. The only thing it will accomplish is to show America just how political backbone the GOP doesn’t have. It will cost us votes, at least on the national level.
And I’m sure the Democrats are aware of this and secretly gleeful that the Republicans are ready to follow them down the pandering road.