New Immigration Bill in the Works

Mary Benoit
JBS
Tuesday Aug 7, 2007

Senator Arlen Spector (R-PA) has announced that he is ready to unveil an immigration bill designed to replace the now-doomed Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act.

Follow this link to the original source: "Effort to revive immigration reform"

COMMENTARY:
Senator Arlen Spector (R-PA) must have listened as a child to the old adage "if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again." At least, so it would seem, as the Senator has announced his intention to unveil a new piece of legislation that would replace the immigration reform act (S. 1639) that failed to pass the Senate in June.

Until Spector's bill is introduced in the Senate there is little way of knowing how similar it may be to Senator Ted Kennedy's (D-MA) immigration package that would have — among other things — placed millions of illegal immigrants on a path toward citizenship, implemented an enhanced guestworker program, and increased the number of annual H1-B visa applicants.

One aspect of the Spector plan that has been revealed, however, is his intent to appease amnesty-opposing lawmakers by not placing illegal immigrants on a path toward citizenship, but rather to eliminate their status as fugitives from justice. In essence, would this not still be an amnesty program? The answer is yes. Any forgiveness of illegal entry into the United States, or acknowledgement that the illegal population would not be required to return to their country of origin, would be a textbook definition of amnesty.

The Senate learned in June how well an immigration/amnesty agenda resonated with the American people. One may recall how, on the day of a critical vote on S. 1639, the Capitol switchboard was actually shut down due to the high influx of calls, many of which were constituents urging their senators to reject the bill.

Yet even with all the public opposition it looks as if the Senate may be ready for round 2. They can bank on a similar response from grassroots organizations, such as The John Birch Society, if any immigration proposal supports amnesty or any amnesty-like provisions.

We will keep our readers updated with any new developments in this story.