Right
Wingers Plot Sell Out on
Amnesty for Illegals
group of right-wing Republicans in Washington, D.C., is
planning to betray the nation's grassroots opposition to
amnesty for illegal aliens. The group, which includes the
chairman of the American Conservative Union (ACU) and former
GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich, is pushing a guest worker
amnesty plan developed by Rep. Mike Pence, R-IN, that includes
allowing unlimited immigration to the U.S.
A key supporter of the amnesty plan is ACU Chairman David
Keene who raises money for his group through mass direct
mail appeals to conservative Middle Americans by claiming
to oppose amnesty for illegals.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, which has published
editorials calling for abolition of border controls between
the U.S. and Mexico, Rep. Pence described his plan as "a
strong alternative" that he hopes will break the congressional
logjam over immigration legislation. Under his plan, the
millions of illegal aliens working in the U.S. will be allowed
to keep their jobs and incur no penalties if they return
home - or to a town just across the border - for one week
and pick up a "guest worker" permit to be issued
there by private employment agencies licensed by the federal
government. Armed with the new permit, the newly amnestied
alien can return to the U.S. and resume working at his old
job.
Pence says the employment agencies will have to process
the guest worker permits very quickly, within a week, because,
"no employer in America wants to lose employees for
an extended amount of time. No worker who is earning money
to feed and clothe a family can afford to be off the job
for long... I envision employers working with placement
agencies to make sure that their long-time illegal employees
get their paperwork processed ... and visas issued so that
they will be back on the job quickly."
Pence claims that is not amnesty because the illegal has
to go back across the border to get his permit. But under
his plan, neither illegal aliens nor their employers are
subject to any penalty for violating federal immigration
and employment laws, and their illegal relationship is simply
converted to legal status. After six years, the newly legalized
alien can apply for another six-year guest worker permit
or apply for citizenship.
Pence
told Wall Street Journal readers that immigration
under his plan will have no limits. "There will initially
be no cap on the number of visas that can be issued; for
the first three years, the market and the needs of U.S.
employers will set the limit on the number of guest workers."
He said that after three years, the limit will be determined
by the Department of Labor, based on "employer needs
and other research." Employers, of course, will always
"need" cheaper labor.
Besides
former Speaker Gingrich, other GOP stalwarts endorsing the
plan include former GOP Majority Leader Dick Armey, a long-time
advocate of increased immigration, Quin Hillyer, editor
of the pro-immigration The American Spectator, and
Gary Bauer, President of the group, American Values.
Pence
said that ACU's David Keene also supports the plan. Writing
in a Capitol Hill newspaper, Keene called the plan "an
alternative that could attract support from reasonable men
and women on both sides" of the immigration issue.
But Keene himself appears to be on both sides of the debate.
Although he is pushing Pence's amnesty, he is currently
raising money in direct mail letters denouncing amnesty
for illegals with strong rhetoric.
"If
you think the government should be deporting illegal lawbreakers
instead of rolling out the red carpet for them, then please
help me oppose this dangerous legislation," said Keene
in an appeal for money to fight the Senate amnesty plan.
"And say 'NO' to letting 11 million illegal immigrants
become U.S. citizens just because Ted Kennedy and John McCain
think it's too much trouble to deport them," he said.
His letter urges recipients to send him money to prevent
"legislation that will turn more than 11 million trespassing
immigrants into legal U.S. citizens."
Amnesty
opponent Pat Buchanan said Pence's amnesty plan is the result
of "immense" forces at work in Washington, D.C.
"Behind closed doors," he said, "deals are
even now being discussed for a 'compromise' bill that will
give GOP congressman cover for selling out the cause"
of immigration law enforcement.
