On the Immigration Bill, Don't Let the Perfect Be the Enemy of the Good

My colleague Steven Kruiser writes about the proposed immigration reform bill that he calls an “amnesty” bill.

I cannot begin to ponder what Tillis’s rationale is for signing onto this. He should probably be put into the NFL concussion protocols because a Republican with all of his faculties fully functioning would know that this is a horrible idea. Even Sinema’s sponsorship is disappointing, given that she often acts in the best interests of Arizona even when her fellow Democrats are excoriating her for doing so.

As a native of this great state and someone who lives a mere 60 miles from the Mexican border, I can assure this is not in the best interests of the citizenry here.

In fact, the proposed Tillis-Sinema bill has a great deal to offer Arizona, Texas, and all other border states. Several of the issues addressed in the bill bear directly on immigration border enforcement.

It should be noted that there isn’t a chance in hell that an immigration reform bill will arrive on Joe Biden’s desk before the end of the session. But with the expiration of Title 42 restrictions, something will have to be done or Joe Biden is likely to mismanage the situation into a humanitarian catastrophe.

Yes, the bill would change the immigration status of two million “DREAMers” and give them a path to citizenship. But who are we talking about giving “amnesty” to? Illegal aliens who were brought here by their parents as children. Can we punish them for not refusing to come with their parents when the adults illegally crossed the border?

It’s not a cut-and-dried issue and it shouldn’t be over-simplified by calling it “amnesty.” “Amnesty” suggests the DREAMers committed a crime in crossing the border. How does an infant or a young child commit a crime by crossing the border with his or her parents? Most DREAMers arrived in the U.S. when they were six years old or younger.

In America, the sins of the fathers are not visited upon the children. This is as fundamental an American precept as there is. It’s why America was invented. And to toss it aside now mainly for political reasons is a travesty.

But “amnesty” for DREAMers is only a small part of the bill.

Washington Post:

Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) have outlined a potential immigration proposal that would provide a path to legalization for 2 million undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, known as “dreamers,” in exchange for at least $25 billion in increased funding for the Border Patrol and border security. The bipartisan framework, which is in flux, would also extend Title 42 for at least a year until new “regional processing centers” provided for in the bill could be built, according to a Senate aide. The Trump administration instituted Title 42 during the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that the immediate expulsion of migrants was necessary because of the public health crisis.

In fact, Republicans are getting a lot more out of this bill than they could have hoped.

Besides protecting 2 million dreamers, the Sinema and Tillis draft would allocate money for border security, the hiring of more officers and pay raises for agents. The additional border security and detainment funds would exceed the $25 billion President Donald Trump demanded in his 2018 border proposal and may even exceed $40 billion, a Senate aide said. The proposal also includes changes to the nation’s asylum process, and would keep Title 42 in place until regional processing centers are built to house migrants.

The centers would mirror what is outlined in the Bipartisan Border Solutions Act, a bicameral deal proposed last year, and would hold migrants while they have their immigration cases heard and adjudicated more quickly, to replace the current process in which many asylum seekers are released and given a full court hearing, which can be months or years away. A federal judge in D.C. last month ordered the government to stop expelling migrants under Title 42 by Dec. 21.

Those “regional processing centers” — a bipartisan idea that has been around since 2018 — would mean no more catch and release. The illegals caught at the border would remain in custody until their court case — an expedited process outlined in the bill — was concluded.

The reimposition of Title 42 is necessary to avoid a humanitarian crisis at the border. Biden’s idiotic invitation to potential border crossers during his first weeks in office will now come back to haunt him. DHS is expecting 18,000 illegals a day to show up at the border once Title 42 is history.

The two million DREAMers who would be eligible for a path to citizenship are already here. Most of them have jobs and families. A vast majority of voters — including a majority of Republicans — support legislation to shield DREAMers from deportation. (A limit can easily be placed on the number of relations who will be eligible to apply for entry to the U.S.)

Calling the path to citizenship for DREAMers “amnesty” is wrong and misleading.