Key Senate Committee Approves “Gang of Eight” Amnesty Immigration Bill

The Democrat controlled Senate Judiciary Committee passed what is being described as a landmark immigration reform bill yesterday, paving the way for a fight on the Senate floor over legislation that many believe provides amnesty for people who have entered the country illegally.

After an amendment by Senator  Patrick Leahy almost derailed the bill and despite an attempt to stop it by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, the “reform” passed on a 13-5 vote with ten Democrats and three Republicans voting for the 844 page (with an additional 300 amendments) bill.

The Associated Press reported:

The action sparked rejoicing from immigration activists who crowded into a Senate committee room to witness the proceedings. “Yes, we can! Si, se puede” they shouted, reprising the campaign cry from Obama’s first run for the White House in 2008.

In addition to creating a pathway to citizenship for 11.5 million immigrants, the legislation creates a new program for low-skilled foreign labor and would permit highly skilled workers into the country at far higher levels than is currently the case.

At the same time, it requires the government to take costly new steps to guard against future illegal immigration.

In a statement, Obama said the measure is “largely consistent with the principles of common-sense reform I have proposed and meets the challenge of fixing our broken immigration system.”

There were those that fought against the bill, most notably the above mentioned Sen. Cruz as well as Sen. Charles Grassley who spoke about his support for the 1986 bill and how the obviously broken promise to seal the border back then leads him to distrust them doing so now.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, recalled that he had voted to give “amnesty” to those in the country illegally in 1986, the last time Congress passed major immigration legislation. He said that bill, like the current one, promised to crack down on illegal immigration, but said it had failed to do so.

“No one disputes that this bill is legalization first, enforcement later. And, that’s just unacceptable to me and to the American people,” he said shortly before the vote.

Many opponents of the immigration bill (even some who actually do support some sort of immigration reform just not this one) have claimed that the bill will provide amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.

Whats worse, those that have already been convicted of a crime here in America may also be granted amnesty.

A recent report by the Center for Immigration Studies claimed that the current bill would literally legalize up to 45 perfect of the ICE caseload, essentially allowing tens of thousands of criminals to be let off free on crimes American citizens are currently imprisoned for.

One of the most alarming effects of the Schumer-Rubio amnesty, if enacted in anything close to its current form, would be the legalization of tens of thousands of illegal aliens who have already been a public safety threat in their community.

The eligibility criteria established for the amnesty and most of the new guestworker provisions excuse a wide variety of criminal behavior, including gang membership, drunk driving, vehicular manslaughter, identity theft, and immigration fraud (see this analysis).

In addition, the bill offers amnesty to those who have repeatedly and flagrantly violated immigration laws.

The Center decided to take a closer look at the numbers by examining recent date from ICE’s Secure Communities Program. What was found was absolutely shocking to say the least.

To get a sense of how significant these provisions would be, I examined the most recent data from ICE’s Secure Communities program. This program, now activated in the entire country, alerts ICE when a non-citizen with a record in DHS databases is arrested by a local or federal law enforcement agency.

I found that nearly half of the criminal aliens who were removed under this program in the last six months are offenders who would qualify for legal status under the terms of the Schumer-Rubio bill. This amnesty would significantly curtail ICE’s interior enforcement programs, benefiting tens of thousands of criminal aliens.

In the most recent six-month reporting period (October 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013), ICE removed 38,547 aliens who had been identified as a result of an arrest by another agency. Of these, 45 percent (17,208) were lesser offenders who would be eligible for legalization under the Schumer-Rubio amnesty.

These were classified as Level 3 offenders in ICE parlance (convicted of fewer than three misdemeanors on separate occasions), fugitives, prior removals and returns, illegal border crossers, and over-stayers and visa violators.

Another analysis documented each and every problem with the bill, ranging from public safety concerns to national security to concerns over widespread fraud.  A table was put together to extensively document these problems.

Clearly this Gang of Eight Immigration Reform Bill has, at the very least, serious problems that need to be fixed before it moves forward any further. At the worst, this plan is simply a continued push towards a North American Union and by granting illegal immigrants in America amnesty that union would be one step closer.