AMNESTY BILL UPDATE

Senate action on the amnesty bill. Here's what they accomplished yesterday:

Members today voted down (31-62) an amendment sponsored by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) that would have ensured that green card applicants who entered the country illegally were not given preference under a merit-based processing system over those who have waited outside the country for their immigration status to be approved. So ... we forgive the law breakers at the expense of the law-abiders. Sound like amnesty to you?

The Senate adopted an amendment (71-22) sponsored by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that would eliminate provisions authorizing the Department of Labor to waive requirements that employers in "labor shortage areas" offer jobs to U.S. workers before seeking to import foreign workers. Well now ... there's something positive to celebrate.

Notice, please, the absence of amendments give priority to securing our borders. Politicians are more concerned about getting the Hispanic vote than securing America for its legal citizens.

In the meantime, Alabama Republican Senator Jeff Sessions released an excellent report of 20 different loopholes he found in the bill.

• -Loophole 1 – Legal Status Before Enforcement
• -Loophole 2 – U.S. VISIT Exit Not In Trigger
• -Loophole 3 – Trigger Requires No More Agents, Beds, or Fencing Than Current Law
• -Loophole 4 -- Three Additional Years Worth of Illegal Aliens Granted Status, Treated Preferentially To Legal Filers
• -Loophole 5 – Completion of Background Checks Not Required For Probationary Legal Status
• -Loophole 6 – Some Child Molesters Are Still Eligible
• -Loophole 7 – Terrorism Connections Allowed, Good Moral Character Not Required
• -Loophole 8 – Gang Members Are Eligible
• -Loophole 9 – Absconders Are Eligible
• -Loophole 10 – Learning English Not Required For A Decade
• -Loophole 11 – Earned Income Tax Credit Will Cost Taxpayers Billions In Just 10 Years
• -Loophole 12 – Affidavits From Friends Accepted As Evidence
• -Loophole 13 – Taxpayer Funded Legal Counsel and Arbitration
• -Loophole 14 – In-State Tuition and Student Loans
• -Loophole 15 – Inadequacy of the Merit System
• -Loophole 16 – Visas For Individuals That Plan To Overstay
• -Loophole 17 – Chain Migration Tippled Before Being Eliminated
• -Loophole 18 – Back Taxes Not Required
• -Loophole 19 – Social Security Credits Allowed For Some Illegal Work Histories
• -Loophole 20 – Criminal Fines Not Proportional To Conduct

Are those not enough reasons for you? Can Bush still claim that criticism is nothing more than empty political rhetoric? No. The loopholes point to the fact that there is no middle-ground way to tackle immigration reform. There are too many holes in the bill that will only drag down the immigration process for those who come legally. And for those who are illegal ... they will only continue to benefit from the lack of enforcement and new reforms.

Oh ... and by the way ... as we discussed yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office has come out with its own study [pdf] which shows that if the current amnesty bill is made law it will only stem illegal immigration by about 25 percent. Now that's something to brag about, isn't it?