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Tancredo Hails Demise of Senate 'Amnesty' Deal
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., on Friday hailed the demise of the Senate’s immigration reform deal, which was brokered Thursday between Democrats and a handful of Republicans. Cloture on the Martinez-Hagel pact was defeated in a 39-60 vote Friday morning.
"Today is a good day for America. The Senate - in a rare moment of clarity - rejected its amnesty-now, enforcement-later approach to immigration,” said Tancredo.
Tancredo, an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration, said he will continue to press the issue while Congress is on recess during the next two weeks. "Over the Easter break, I will help inform the Senators’ constituents of what their representatives are doing in Washington. Hopefully, listening to their electorate will chasten these Senators so that they’ll put amnesty away for good.”
Story Continues Below Tancredo continued: "No amnesty bill will pass the House of Representatives so long as Republican leadership holds to its promise to block legislation that doesn’t command the support of a GOP majority. Amnesty is a non-starter. If the Senate is serious about sending real security legislation to the President’s desk this year, it must take a different approach.”
Tancredo, the chairman of the 92-member bipartisan House Immigration Reform Caucus, had reacted strongly to the reported Senate immigration reform deal, which would provide amnesty to 10 million or more illegal aliens: "The Democrats have once again used parliamentary tactics to obstruct the Senate from pursuing its priorities. The only difference this time is that [Senate Majority Leader Bill] Frist let them. By surrendering to the amnesty demands of Democrats and squishy Republicans, Frist squandered a great opportunity to secure our borders and gain control of our broken immigration system." Tancredo continued his criticism of the ill-fated bill. "The Senate amnesty deal is miserable public policy that will be rejected by the House of Representatives and has already been rejected by the American people. It continues the running joke that is our immigration system by treating the same crimes differently. In a perverse rendition of hide-and-seek, it grants a reward to those who evaded law enforcement for the longest time. And, as we did in 1986, it will encourage more illegal aliens to come into this country in the hope of yet another amnesty." The tough-talking Colorado congressman said Americans can see through the smoke-and-mirrors approach that paints immigration as a human rights issue. Rather, he said, the offer of amnest rewards criminal behavior on the part of those who enter the United States illegally. "The Senate’s amnesty authors don’t dispute that their deal will offer blanket amnesty to at least 10 million illegal aliens - everyone who entered the country illegally through 2004. But they wouldn’t be dealing honestly with the American people if they failed to state what will happen with the additional two million or more illegal aliens who came here more recently.
"No illegal alien with half a brain would admit that they came here after 2004," Tancredo continued. "And how could law enforcement tell? The Senate deal asks people who have broken the law for years - often using fraudulent documents - to provide proof that they’ve lived here. I can guarantee that many of those fraudulent documents, which law enforcement hasn’t been able to detect yet, will be used to obtain legal status." Tancredo views the immigration issue through the lens of homeland security, with illegals posing a threat to the United States, regardless of how many of the new arrivals are genuinely interested in legal economic advancement. "Handing out legal identification to millions of illegal aliens will expose our nation’s Achilles’ heal more quickly than almost any single action this Congress could take,” concluded Tancredo. Tancredo also remarked about testimony before the International Relations Committee from a whistleblower at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) - the agency that would be charged with screening the 10 million illegal aliens - "who,” according to Tancredo, "documented the massive fraud and mismanagement in that agency.” The lawmaker added, "USCIS has a security backlog in the millions and, in order to reduce the backlog, is encouraging adjudicators to approve visas in fewer than four minutes. It is no secret that two-thirds of foreign-born terrorists operating in the U.S. committed immigration fraud prior to or in conjunction with their terrorist activities. Piling 10 million more applications on USCIS is suicidal in terms of national security.”
Editor's note:
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