Andrew Friedman

Amnesty = Anything but Mass Deportation

Many of us were relieved earlier this week when the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to pass a proposal for immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented workers currently living in the United States.

Now the debate moves to the full Senate, and the anti-immigrant wing of the Republican Party is digging in their heels. They seem to have done their research and to have their talking points down. If they can equate immigration and terrorism and confine the discussion to issues of law enforcement, they think they can carry the day. That's why all the right-wing talking heads are condemning the Senate Judiciary Committee's proposal as an "amnesty" that "rewards people for breaking the law."

The anti-immigrant folks have a problem, though. There is simply no amnesty for undocumented people living in the United States. Everyone who has entered the country unlawfully would have to pay a hefty fine, pay back taxes, if they owe them, and begin a six year process of steady work and learning English before they could become legal permanent residents. It would require an additional five years before folks could become citizens. Civil penalties for civil law violations and an eleven year year path to citizenship. So, where's the amnesty?

It seems that any punishment shy of mass deportation will be called an amnesty. But, just like weapons of mass destruction, or the Saddam-Osama connection, saying it so don't make it so.

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Posted at 9:07 AM, Mar 30, 2006 in Immigration
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