What Changes Come in the Proposed Immigration Law?

            The United States of America is a nation of immigrants. Every American citizen now living either is an immigrant or is a descendant of an immigrant that came from some other place. The nation needs immigrants for numerous reasons at different times. At the current time, America needs immigrants to maintain our population because the birth rate has fallen below the replacement rate. No American is against immigration or immigrants, but millions are against illegal immigration. Even more Americans are against giving awards – amnesty – to people who break our immigration laws.

            This disapproval of illegal immigration and amnesty is apparently lost on President Joe Biden and the Democrat-controlled Congress. Together, they are quickly moving toward rewarding immigrants who are in the United States illegally with amnesty. This move could grant amnesty to possibly 20 million illegal immigrants, according to Fred Lucas at The Heritage Foundation.

            The last major amnesty was granted in 1984 under President Ronald Reagan. At that time, Americans were promised that the border would be secured, which would stop more illegal immigrants from coming. We now have another 20 million people living in the United States illegally because the promises were not kept. President Donald Trump made progress in building a wall to secure the border, but Democrats opposed him at every turn. Approximately 500 miles of border wall were built during the Trump administration, but construction on the wall was stopped on the first day of the Biden administration. Biden’s plan to open the border and to grant amnesty will surely bring more people to America illegally to wait for the next amnesty bill.

Lucas quoted Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action for America: “The Biden administration, in coordination with Democrats on the Hill, introduced legislation that would give citizenship to 10-20 million illegal immigrants.”

On day one of his administration, Biden signed numerous executive orders to open the borders to more illegal immigrants and to grant amnesty to those who are already in the nation. The current amnesty legislation does not include any proposals for increasing border security to replace several measures for border security that Biden erased with his signature.

One of Biden’s executive orders stopped construction of a border wall along the southern border, and another one strengthened the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA gives legal status to people who arrived here illegally as children. The order to stop deportations received temporary injunction from a court.

Anderson said that the already-signed executive orders “have weakened the rule of law and triggered a surge of illegal migration toward the U.S.-Mexico border” and added:

This latest move would only further harm American workers already struggling from our health and economic national crises caused by the ongoing pandemic and our government’s response. This new immigration bill will damage America’s safety, weaken our economy, and endanger our freedoms.

            Democrats obviously do not see the same dangers that conservatives see. Are they simply blind, or do they have ulterior motives – such as more Democrat voters? Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) recently indicated his belief in more immigration:

Immigrants contribute greatly to our country and society; they own businesses, pay taxes, and teach our children, they are our coworkers, neighbors, and friends…. We have an historic opportunity to finally enact bold immigration reform that leaves no one behind, addresses root causes of migration, and safeguards our country’s national security. 

            Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Representative Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) have sponsored a Biden-backed immigration bill in their respective Houses. Lucas outlined six big points in the bill.

            The first point is an “Eight-Year ‘Path to Citizenship.’” Under this legislation, any illegal immigrant who was in the United States prior to January 1, 2021, can go through an eight-year process to become a legal resident and have a pathway to citizenship. For the first five years, an immigrant would have temporary legal status and then wait three more years to become a citizen.

            The second point is “Exemptions for ‘Dreamers’ and Others.” “Dreamers,” or immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children, would receive an exemption for the waiting process. Others who would receive exemptions are farmworkers and those who came for humanitarian relief.           The third point is “More PC Government Language.” Biden decreed with an executive order that government agencies must change the word “alien” to “noncitizen” even though this order is contrary to a current U.S. law.

            The fourth point is “Chain Migration.” Under this legislation, most immediate family members of legal immigrants would be exempt from being included in the “annual per-country caps for employment-based green cards and family-based green cards” and would include spouses, partners, and children under age 21. This means that more immigrants could legally come to the United States.

            The fifth point is “Legal Immigration.” This legislation would “eliminate a prohibition on returning to the United States for an illegal immigrant who was previously here in violation of immigration laws,” “boost funding for immigration judges” while hiring more lawyers for illegal immigrants, and “increase the number of visas granted annually to foreigners from 55,000 to 80,000.” It would also codify Biden’s order to end the Trump administration’s “extreme vetting” policy” that stopped immigration from majority-Muslim nations that were “failed states.”

            The sixth point is “Foreign Aid.” The bill “calls for $4 billion for Central America, and for action against smugglers, narcotics, and trafficking networks. The bill would require Central American countries to establish some refugee processing centers in their own countries.” This could effectively end the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy that requires refugees to be processed in Mexico because it is the first safe nation that they reach.

            Americans, like people worldwide, are still recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of people are out of work and struggling financially. In addition to opening the borders to millions more people and promising amnesty, Biden also destroyed tens of thousands of good paying jobs and gave China access to the utility grids. (Could China be causing some of the problems in Texas?) The Biden administration is a disaster for America and Americans!