Why I Will Not and Cannot Support the Senate “Gang of 8” Bill

But granting amnesty to lawbreakers is contrary to everything we know as Americans stand for. The Rule of Law governs all we do as a nation. The American people do not respond well to threats and do not want to be lied to again.

We need to establish trust with the people. We do that by securing our border. First. Number one. Numero Uno. We have to fix the leak and turn off the faucet and that means border control. Then we can address other issues. We are not blind. We have seen the federal government turn its back on real border enforcement. Only the Yuma sector has established real operational control, and it achieved it by not just arresting illegal aliens, but prosecuting and jailing them.

The Tucson Sector treats illegal aliens like trout—catch and release.

The American Spectator published an article by James Simpson that is spot on. In it, Mr. Simpson notes “The number of illegals in this country is repeatedly cited as 11 million. This is almost certainly an underestimate. In reality the number is 20 to 30 million or more, according to a 2007 study in Social Contract. Bear Stearns estimated about 20 million in 2005. When amnesty passed in 1986, official estimates were 1.2 million illegals. There were actually 2.7 million - more than double. Within ten years, INS estimated the illegal population had grown to 10 million. It is delusional to believe the number has only increased by another 1 million in the 17 years since. Furthermore, when amnesty passes, the newly-legal aliens will invite their relatives to come, further inflating that number through chain migration.”

Mr. Simpson’s analysis should give us pause. Here is more of his review and more reasons I cannot support this awful bill.

“The original Gang-of-Eight bill was really bad, as became readily apparent quite quickly. The overtly fraudulent Schumer-Corker-Hoeven Amendment was offered as a fig leaf to reassure fools that the original bill -- which already promised in-and-of-itself to enhance border security - would actually enhance border security. But in reality it makes things worse. The amendment:

• Legitimizes illegal immigration: Section 2302 says if you overstay your visa in the future you can still apply for a green card and become a citizen. It is permanent lawlessness... They cannot do that legally under current law!
• Has no requirement to deploy technologies: The Corker amendment would give the Secretary of Homeland Security full discretion as to how technology would be deployed, or whether it would be deployed at all.
• Has no fencing requirement: Similarly, building a fence is left to the discretion of DHS. (Note: since a fencing law, with money attached, passed years ago, and has been blithely ignored by the Obama administration, the amendment simply codifies Obama's open defiance of current law.)
• Increases fees on visas for legal immigrants, but keeps the same low fees and fines for those applying for amnesty - favoring illegal over legal immigrants.
• Under the Schumer-Corker-Hoeven amendment, the American taxpayers are on the hook for $38 billion. (The Gang-of-Eight claims the bill is fully funded by immigrant fees).
• Delays promised hiring of 20,000 new Border Patrol agents until somewhere between 2017 and 2021.”