| Last week, members of Congress leapt to the defense of the words
"under God." They shouted the phrase on Capitol Hill and in front of every
available camera. But what about the two little words in the Pledge of
Allegiance that come right before "under God"?
Who in Washington will rise in defense of "one nation"?
Despite their ostentatious displays of unified patriotism, both
Democrat and Republican lawmakers are pushing for treacherous bills that
splinter the nation and threaten our safety.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., is chief sponsor of
S. 2493, the "Uniting Families Act of 2002," a deceptively titled bill to
extend amnesty to thousands of illegal aliens under the supposedly
"temporary" 245(i) program. As mentioned in this column several times over
the past year, this green-card, blue-light special in federal immigration
law allows illegal visa overstayers, illegal border-crossers and illegal
ship-jumpers to pay a token $1,000 fee and "adjust their status" without
leaving the U.S. to obtain permanent residency and eventual American
citizenship.
Daschle's co-sponsors include fellow liberal Democrats Ted
Kennedy of Massachusetts and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, and liberal
Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. Another outspoken supporter of amnesty
for illegal aliens who cut in front of law-abiding visa applicants:
President George W. Bush.
Usually, these alien lawbreakers would be forced to leave the
U.S., reapply for green cards in their home countries and submit to fresh
background checks of their native criminal records. Many would be barred
from the U.S. for up to 10 years for breaking immigration rules. But under
245(i), passed by Congress with bipartisan support, more than half a million
illegal foreigners forked over the token fine between 1994 and 1997.
According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the number of
illegal aliens gaining legal residence in the U.S. as a result of such
"adjustment of status" has increased eightfold since the 245(i) provision
was passed.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., is chief sponsor of another
disingenuously titled goodie for illegal aliens: H.R. 1452, the "Family
Reunification Act of 2002." The bill seeks to repeal key provisions of the
1996 immigration reform law, which requires INS to take criminal alien
felons -- including those convicted of robbery, murder, rape, terrorism and
child molestation -- into custody at the end of their sentence. Frank's law
would release many of these convicts from custody pending interminable
deportation hearings and allow already deported
criminal aliens to return to America to seek cancellation of their
deportation orders.
Among Frank's 45 co-sponsors of his bleeding-heart criminal
alien reimportation scheme: left-wing Democrats Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas,
Barbara Lee, Tom Lantos and Bob Filner of California, Charles Rangel and
Jerrold Nadler of New York, Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, John Conyers of
Michigan and Jim McDermott of Washington, as well as Republican Lincoln
Diaz-Balart of Florida.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., has offered S. 2449, the "Federal
Responsibility for Immigrant Health Act of 2002," which fails to include a
key word in its title. It would siphon federal Medicaid dollars away from
citizens to pay for the medical bills of illegal
aliens demanding dialysis, chemotherapy, pregnancy-related services, and
testing and treatment for communicable diseases. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz,
and Jon Corzine and Bob Torricelli, both D-N.J., are co-sponsors.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has proposed S. 1291, the obnoxiously
titled "DREAM" Act, which allows illegal aliens to cut in front of millions
of other would-be immigrants who are following the rules in pursuit of the
American dream. The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, allows
all 50 states to subsidize tuition for illegal aliens at public
universities, rescinds deportation orders for certain illegal alien students
and lets them jump the line for legal residency.
As public officials across the country extol the virtues of
citizenship this July Fourth holiday, remember these outrageous bills and
their co-sponsors. After the flag-waving and fireworks are over, it's back
to business in Congress: Pandering to the illegal alien lobby for ethnic
votes while paying lip-service to patriotism.
Just another reminder that the only true allegiance a politician
has is to his own re-election.
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