Buchanan: Senate Immigration Bill Bad for America

Buchanan: Senate Immigration Bill Bad for America

I am disappointed in the immigration bill passed by the Senate yesterday. We should address border security first, and secure our border before even considering programs that grant amnesty or worker status to illegal aliens. Senator Isakson tried to amend this bad legislation to require border security first, but the Senate rejected his amendment.

Senator Ensign offered an amendment to bar illegal aliens from collecting Social Security benefits for past illegal work. The Senate rejected this idea, too, even if the aliens used forged Social Security documents to get the work.

Senators Cornyn and Kyl offered an amendment that would have required that the 200,000 workers allowed into our country each year under the "guest" worker program be allowed to stay for only a set period of time rather than permanently. All of these amendments were rejected, a sign that the Senate just doesn't get it when it comes to immigration.

This bill is almost a carbon copy of the 1986 amnesty bill, and that bill was a disaster for America. It directly contributed to the crisis we face today. It was a mistake then, and it is a mistake now. Instead of repeating history, we should learn from it. For several months now, I have discussed the illegal immigration crisis and what we should do to fix it. I will continue to work for legal and fair immigration policy that puts our culture and national security first. Elements of such a plan would include:

Border security first. Securing the border should be our top priority and we should not even contemplate other programs as part of a border security bill. We need to beef up our Border Patrol to the require strength to police the border effectively. We should build a high tech triple layer fence designed to reduce the torrent of illegal crossings. We should employ all the technology we have to support our border enforcement efforts. I support use of the National Guard as a temporary fix to this permanent problem.

No amnesty. We must not reward illegal behavior and lawbreaking. We are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws. Millions of immigrants have come to America legally, and we should not reward those who attempt an end run around our laws. The goal of immigration policy should be to determine what is best for America, and encouraging tens and possibly hundreds of millions of new immigrants to become citizens through illegal means is both unprecedented and dangerous.

These principles - border security first and no amnesty - should guide us. I urge the House to reject this weak Senate bill and set as its goal the security of America and not the securing of blocs of votes for political purposes. This is no time for politics. It is time to put security first.

http://www.vernbuchananforcongress.com/news/Read.aspx?ID=20