We’ll guard that border, after it’s gone; or, Bush admits the whole thing is a fraud

Critics of the Bush-Kennedy immigration bill have been saying that the supposed enforcement triggers that must occur before illegal aliens are legalized are a fraud, for several reasons: (1) The illegals get the provisional Z visa instantly, and once they are legalized it is inconceivable they will be “illegalized” again; (2) the enforcement triggers don’t represent actual numbers of illegal aliens apprehended, but only increased spending, increased Border Patrol agents, new fences, and other facilities, in other words, the triggers are only intentions, not achievements; and (3) after the legalization has occurred, the enforcement measures, such as they are, will be inevitably neglected, as has happened with the 1986 amnesty; and this is even more surely the case in the event a Democrat is elected in 2008.

All that is very bad. But it’s worse than that. Much worse.

In a statement last Saturday at a briefing on the immigration bill, President Bush made it clear that he has no intention to secure the border prior to legalizing all present illegals as well as all future prospective illegals. I realize that sounds like a paradoxical statement, but be patient while I explain. First, here is what Bush said:

People say, well, the bill is really—is not going to do much to enforce the border. Well, the truth of the matter is, certain aspects of the law don’t come into being until certain border measures are taken. But I would remind people that you cannot fully enforce the border so long as people are trying to sneak in this country to do jobs Americans aren’t doing. [Italics added.] You can try, but doesn’t it make sense to help the Border Patrol do their job, by saying, if you’re going to come and do a job, there is a legal way to do it, so you don’t have to sneak across in the first place? If you’re interested in border security, you’ve got to recognize that giving people a chance to come and work here on a temporary basis makes it more likely the border will be enforced.

Let’s work our way through this amazing statement line by line.

Bush: “[C]ertain aspects of the law don’t come into being until certain border measures are taken.”

Meaning, permanent legal residency is not granted until the enforcement triggers are met. Of course, as we know, the aliens get provisional legal residency immediately, which they will never lose, so the idea that legal permanent residency is conditioned on the triggers is the Mother of All Lies.

Bush: “But I would remind people that you cannot fully enforce the border so long as people are trying to sneak in this country to do jobs Americans aren’t doing.”

Meaning, we cannot achieve the enforcement targets that are the condition for legal permanent residency so long as people are trying to enter the country illegally. Meaning, we cannot stop people from illegally entering the United States who want to do so. Meaning, we have no intention of trying to stop illegal immigration.

Bush: “You can try, but doesn’t it make sense to help the Border Patrol do their job, by saying, if you’re going to come and do a job, there is a legal way to do it, so you don’t have to sneak across in the first place?”

Meaning, we can only secure the border AFTER people have stopped crossing the border illegally. And we will get people to stop sneaking into the country by allowing all people who want to enter the country to do so legally and temporarily.

The “temporary guest worker” program is limited to 400,000 or 200,000 per year. What if more than that want to come? Bush has already said that as long as more people seek to enter the U.S. than we are admitting legally, they will cross the border and we can’t stop them. So, after we have instituted a measly 200,000 or 400,000 “temporary guest workers” per year, and more than that want to come, they will come illegally, and if we don’t want them to come in illegally, we will simply have to increase the number of people admitted legally until there is no one else on the planet who desires to enter illegally. Meaning we must have unlimited legal immigration.

And even if it’s not an unlimited number that want to come, we know that the passage of this bill will trigger (talk about triggers!) a rush of people into the United States to establish a foothold here, knowing that once they are here they will never have to leave, either through the provisional Z visa, or through future Z visas, or whatever.

Bush: “If you’re interested in border security, you’ve got to recognize that giving people a chance to come and work here on a temporary basis makes it more likely the border will be enforced.”

Meaning, all the things that must be done under this law to reach the enforcement targets—the increased funding, the increased manning for the Border patrol, the border fence, the virtual fences, the helicopters—is all a complete fraud. Bush has told us that he has no intention of doing anything to stop people from crossing the border. His only method of stopping illegal immigration is to make all immigration legal.

Or, We’ll guard that border, after it’s gone.

__________

The title of this entry is a paraphrase of a line from Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”:

Ghengis Khan and his brother Don
Could not keep on keepin’ on.
“We’ll climb that bridge after it’s gone
After we’re way past it.”

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 04, 2007 11:24 PM | Send