The so-called “Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act” (“CIRA”) being debated in the United States Senate is quite possibly one of the most far-reaching and dangerous pieces of legislation to be proposed in many years. It is unfortunate that it bears the names of two Republican Senators, Senator Hagel and Senator Martinez as sponsors and authors of a compromise supposed to improve it, but perhaps the publicity the bill is getting will cause the constituents of those Senators to reassess their support. Are these Senators and others in the Senate who are backing this bill unaware of the provisions of the bill or are they trying to dupe us with their politically correct statements designed to appeal to our charitable good nature? If the Senators don’t know the provisions of the bill or understand the impact of the bill, they are incompetent. If they know and understand, but are misleading the country, they are deceitful beyond words. A little more than a week ago, Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, wrote an analysis of CIRA, stating that this bill, if enacted would be the most dramatic change in immigration law in 80 years, allowing an estimated 103 million persons to legally immigrate to the United States over the next 20 years. To put that into better perspective, that amounts to one-third of the current U.S. population.
Did any of the Senators sponsoring this proposed legislation tell us that they are proposing that over the next 20 years, immigrants equal to one-third of our current population would be allowed in? Not that I heard. And if they didn’t tell us this, what could be the reason? Perhaps they are too busy in front of the television cameras or raising money to read the proposed legislation. They leave such mundane tasks to their staffs or interest groups while they focus on perpetuating themselves in office.
The primary job of these senators is to represent their states and their constituents, which carries with it an obligation to inform themselves about legislation they are proposing or voting on. Since Mr. Rector’s paper created a great deal of interest when it was published and quickly circulated among conservative senators, it appears that many were not aware of the major dislocation that was about to be inflicted upon the country by these solons. If this is an example of how our senators operate, we should insist that every bill have an attachment whereby the senators certify that they have actually read the entire bill.
If these legislative wizards say that they actually read the proposed legislation, then the next question should be “Why didn’t you tell the American voters that your bill gives amnesty to 10 million illegal immigrants and quintuples the rate of legal immigration into the United States?” Any senator who candidly explains the ramifications of this bill in such terms is probably insuring his or her early retirement.
Mr. Rector in his research paper concluded that the CIRA legislation would “transform the United States” socially, economically, and politically, saying that “within two decades, the character of the nation would differ dramatically from what exists today.” Very few of our senators are telling us that our nation would be transformed dramatically if this legislation is enacted. Thankfully there are people and organizations who actually have read this flawed bill and tell us truthfully what the impact will be if it is passed.
If anyone thinks CIRA would benefit the nation, they need to read Mr. Rector’s analysis. Can any nation absorb an influx of one-third of its population in 20 years and survive as a nation, with substantially the same culture, institutions and traditions it had prior to such a massive inflow? Let’s stop kidding ourselves about allowing oppressed peopled to have a “better life” and other such emotion-laden phrases and think about what is really being attempted by some in the U.S. Senate. Whether this bill is the product of ignorance or deceit, its effect will be the same on all of us. When Mr. Rector says that “the character of the nation would differ dramatically from what exists today” he is being a little diplomatic and charitable. I think Merle Haggard could have put it a little more plainly—our country’s future will be “rollin’ downhill like a snowball headed for hell.”