No Amnesty

Amnesty, n. a period during which offenders are exempt from punishment

The Immigration Bill passed by the Senate Judiciary committee would allow illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if they pay fines and back taxes, pass criminal background checks, and learn English; the path also requires the person to maintain employment. Conservatives claim the proposal is equivalent to 'amnesty'. Isn't a fine a form of punishment? In the political world, ANY path to citizenship for illegals is considered a form of amnesty. In this case, citizenship would take eleven years to attain and would require (I believe) two returns to countries of origin.

Four Republican Judiciary committee members supported the bill: chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter (PA), Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC), Sen. Mike DeWine (OH), and Sen. Sam Brownback (KS). Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) said the panel "let the American people down by passing out a blanket amnesty bill." Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) also vilified the committee's proffer. I've already shown the bill is not, by definition, amnesty. Beg your pardon, Senators.

Back to Sen. Cornyn: during the committee hearings, the Texas Republican tried to elucidate a principle of 'circular migration' whereas immigrants would be required to return to their original countries. This 'principle' made its way into the bill in the form of two required returns to countries of origin.

'Circular migration' is for birds, not humans. If it is a principle relating to humans, should our immigration policy be backdated to include the 20th century? How about this, Senator... Every American must return to their ancestral nation three times before they can vote. Such an edict demonstrates the ridiculousness of 'circular migration'.

Closing Note: During the committee hearing, Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) claimed agricultural field work is much harder than working in a restaurant or on a construction site. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I immediately asked myself something else. My question is this: from where does Sen. Feinstein's expertise stem? Has she ever worked in any these fields?

Related Material:
The Patriot Act, February 28, 2006
Music & Immigration, March 19, 2006
A Felon?, March 26, 2006
Immigration Rhetoric, March 27, 2006