McCain amnesty plan puts U.S. citizenship up for sale

Russell K. Pearce:

What part of "illegal" do these guys not get? When Arizona's senior senator and two congressmen released their plan to push amnesty, millions of illegal aliens beamed with pleasure at the idea of gaining legal status after years of living a life as a lawbreaker.

In 2003, 77 border hospitals filed for bankruptcy, violent illegal-alien gangs plague our cities, and criminal justice costs soar. What does it take for our elected officials to recognize and respond to the damage?

With an estimated 23 million illegal aliens living in the United States, this "amnesty on the installment plan" robs U.S. citizens of security and threatens the American way of life.

While illegals have been taking jobs away from Americans and depressing wages of other jobs, they have also been taking advantage of our services. In Arizona alone, it is estimated that free education and health care for illegals runs taxpayers more than $1 billion.

At least 500,000 illegal aliens call Arizona home, according to recent estimates. The amnesty plan would make them legal at a cost of about $2,000. For two grand, some of Washington's elite want to brush aside the will of the people.

Instead of real action, McCain is more concerned about how many employees would be lost at the world-renowned Camelback Inn in Paradise Valley if all the illegals there were rounded up. McCain's comments to a Capitol newspaper when he announced his immigration plan were a shameful attempt to trivialize the immigration problem. (McCain later apologized for those comments.)

Instead of worrying about the resort industry, McCain and the others should consider the impact of illegal immigration on U.S. citizens, the country's economy, and the social consequences. Far from the typical portrayal of illegal aliens as those just seeking a better way to support their family, illegals are responsible for a significant amount of crime in this country. More than 4,000 murder warrants from border states seek suspects who are believed to have fled to Mexico.

Most public-opinion polls show Americans to be fed up with illegal immigration, with 80-plus percent supporting the use of local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws, and a similar number of people opposing amnesty.

The McCain-Flake-Kolbe proposal contains fatal flaws, while at the same time demanding that the common person put aside common sense.

The feds casually enforce immigration law now. Why, with a new law, would there be any difference?

And with the hope of amnesty on the horizon, what is left to dissuade another 23 million illegal aliens from making the trek across our desert, if they know that eventually they can earn U.S. citizenship and all the benefits that accompany it?

And instead of demanding enforcement of immigration laws that are on the books, McCain and others give the government the right to abdicate its sole authority to keep our borders secure.

If they really want to help, then instead of giving money to reimburse hospitals a partial cost of illegal-alien medical benefits, spend that money on border security.

Amnesty is amnesty whatever it's called

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