November 8, 2005: Pushing For An Immigration Moratorium Now..Immigration Reduction Bill Introduced With Major, But Correctable Flaws (From Carrying Capacity Network)
November 2005
PUSHING FOR AN Immigration Moratorium NOW Creates an Unparalleled Opportunity to Stop Amnesty and Social Security for Illegal Aliens this Fall, and to get Real Reductions in Immigration This Session.
Immigration Reduction Bill Introduced with Major, but Correctable, Flaws
The headlines leave little doubt — illegal immigration has become a hot button issue as the U.S. population and Congress register their concern about massive in-flows of aliens. Americans dealing with traffic gridlock, overcrowded schools, job loss and a myriad of other problems caused by mass immigration have had enough and are demanding change.
CCN has amply documented the intimate causal relation between legal and illegal immigration (See CCN Action Alert, June 2004). The facts show that legal immigrants facilitate illegal migration by acting as magnets that draw illegal family members and friends across the border and provide “Safe Harbor” for them once they arrive.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT, TO HAVE ANY HOPE OF REDUCING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, REDUCTIONISTS MUST PUSH FOR A MORATORIUM ON LEGAL NUMBERS.
HR 3700, The Reducing Immigration to a Genuinely Healthy Total Act of 2005 (The RIGHT Act) just introduced in Congress offers an opportunity, via an amendment to correct flaws and convert it into a moratorium bill, to do just that.
The climate is right for a serious push for a moratorium on immigration.
Why a Moratorium?
Only a comprehensive moratorium bill puts the open borders lobby on defense, making them attempt to justify the whole enterprise of mass immigration.
It is essential to push for a moratorium in order to pressure Congress to lower the numbers significantly and to unambiguously reject proposed amnesties.
Experience from the past three decades shows that pushing only for a reduction in some categories allows the open borders lobby to get increases rather than decreases in legal — and thus illegal — immigration. From experience, we know that a category approach is counter-productive.
On the contrary, a moratorium approach forces advocates to work within a limit, would shift the argument to the costs and benefits of particular categories and would drive reductions in some of them. Advocating a moratorium calls the whole enterprise of mass immigration into question.
Lowering the level of legal immigration would also lower the level of illegal immigration to the U.S., by dramatically reducing the family “magnet” and “safe harbor” effects that draw illegals over the border to join established family members and friends.
A moratorium would help the 15 million Americans who are unemployed by closing the spigot that floods the labor pool. The loss of an estimated additional 400,000 jobs due to Hurricane Katrina makes the need for a moratorium all the more urgent.
A return to a level of immigration which would, for the first time in decades, put the U.S. on a path toward population stabilization is the first, necessary step toward environmental and economic sustainability.
National Security
A moratorium would ease the strain on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The DHS encompasses both Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Currently, the backlog of unprocessed applications for U.S. citizenship is in the millions. A moratorium would give the DHS a chance to catch up with the backlog, to better weed out terrorists, criminals, and fraudulent immigrant applications.
A bill just introduced in Congress has the potential to be strengthened and bring about reductions in immigration. HR 3700, The Reducing Immigration to a Genuinely Healthy Total Act of 2005 (The RIGHT Act), was introduced September 8, 2005 by Congressman Tom Tancredo.
The RIGHT Act incorporates some good concepts. It would partially close several serious loopholes in immigration law. It would sunset provisions of existing laws which facilitate immigration, would require employers to sign affidavits against employment based immigrants becoming a public charge, and would revoke citizenship of persons who vote in foreign elections. Additionally, the bill seeks to reduce the categories of family-sponsored immigrants and diversity immigrants to zero.
While the intent of the bill is positive, it appears to adopt a counter-productive uncapped category approach to immigration reduction — an approach that, for three decades, has proven entirely ineffective in bringing about reductions.
Specifically, the bill's serious flaws stem from the fact that it creates a new unlimited category of de facto immigrants which might be called the “Green Card Holder Family Legalization Category”!
Permanent residence through “indefinitely” renewable visas is made available for ANY spouse and natural or adopted children of a U.S. Citizen, or of any other Legal Permanent Residents — LPRs — (e.g. Green Card Holder)!! That is, green card holders would get the same privilege as citizens in terms of bringing in family members PERMANENTLY.
Consider that there are over ten million non-citizen Lawful Permanent Residents (e.g. Green Card Holders) already in the United States (according to the 2005 Current Population Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau) and that over one million new green cards are issued annually!
Why, we ask, should Green Card Holders, (who have made no commitment to the United States via obtaining citizenship) have the RIGHT to make any person they choose (including Illegal aliens) a de facto permanent resident (i.e. immigrant) of the U.S., merely by marrying him or her? And what is the justification for allowing their spouses and minor children to stay permanently, becoming de facto immigrants through the device of “indefinitely renewable” visas?! And why should the children of LPRs and illegal aliens have automatic birthright
citizenship, which this bill would give them?
The potential for an increase in the number of de facto immigrants via this LEGALIZED CHAIN MIGRATION
PROVISION is huge . . . upwards of several million.
Further, consider that annually, an estimated 250,000 spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens would be allowed defacto permanent resident visas, AND ALSO the hundreds of thousands of spouses and minor children as well as parents of ALL LEGAL PERMANENT RESIDENTS would get “indefinitely renewable” permanent resident visas. That is, they would be immigrants-in-fact.
Folks, if we think we have seen pressure to marry U.S. citizens in order to get permanent resident status, we ain't seen nothing yet. If this bill passes in its present form, permanent legal residents (LPRs) will also become tickets into the United States. The marriage business will boom and, with it, immigration.
That is why it must be amended to provide a moratorium on all immigration (including de facto immigrant LPRs and “indefinitely renewable” visa holders) in excess of 100,000 per year, i.e. to cap those otherwise uncapped categories.
Near the beginning of his Congressional tenure, Congressman Tancredo, for whom we have never had greater respect, said:
“And you have to talk about a Moratorium. Talking about anything less than a Moratorium will never get you one step closer to stabilization . . .”
He said this to a packed audience at a CCN/ASAP Coalition -sponsored conference in Breckenridge, Colorado, on August 9, 1999.
Alas, it appears that the Congressman, under great pressure from one of the NeoCon Mass Immigration Management (aka Reform Lite) groups — who have been previously and widely identified — has backed off from his pro-moratorium stance. This only demonstrates the pernicious influence of the mass immigration management groups. (See www.unfairus.org for more info about these groups)
Most grassroots activist leaders have told us they would not be content to support mere category adjustments (i.e. immigration management). After reviewing the history of those attempts that not only failed, but created opportunities to increase immigration rather than decrease it, real reform advocates feel “once burned, twice shy.”
Specifically, the fact that passage of this bill as written would send the numbers of de facto immigrants skyrocketing, and the fact that that is at variance with Rep. Tancredo's stated position for a moratorium leads to a clear conclusion: Congressman Tancredo was very poorly advised by those who assisted him in drafting this legislation.
We believe this courageous and dedicated congressman was too busy fighting for reductions in many media venues to realize that the NeoCon bill-drafting advisors put one over on him. That sad conclusion is hard to escape. The NUMBERS implications of this bill have the imprimatur of a NeoCon Mass Immigration Management Group written all over them. By the way, the provisions of the bill are quite consistent with the president of Numbers USA's distinct and publicly expressed disinclination to support any significant deportations of illegal aliens. And just hours after it was introduced, Numbers USA announced its unqualified support in a meticulously drafted news release which reflected a thorough knowledge of the bill.
Just remember that the NeoCon category approach implicit in this bill has not only NOT BROUGHT ABOUT ONE SINGLE REDUCTION IN IMMIGRATION IN THE LAST THREE DECADES, but also that this approach has served as a de facto invitation for the open borders lobby to get INCREASES in LEGAL (and therefore ILLEGAL) immigration. Consider the growth in legal immigration numbers via the 1986, 1990, and 1996 immigration Acts.
On the other hand, if activists want to push for actual immigration reduction, then we encourage them to ask for improvements in The RIGHT Act, and support an immigration moratorium and its chief advocates, CCN and its ASAP Coalition Allies.
That way grassroots activists know they will be supporting real reductions in mass immigration and NOT merely mass immigration management with an increase in numbers!
CCN supports The Right Act with an amendment for an all-inclusive moratorium on all immigration in excess of 100,000 new entrants (including LPRs and spouses and minor children of LPRs) annually.
Amnesty Threat Continues
We need your help to push for this moratorium and THUS keep up the pressure against illegal alien amnesty bills now working their way through Congress.
A REAL SHOCKER: Were facing a strong and well-funded opposition. The Bush Administration is moving full speed ahead with a new $50,000 to $250,000 per donor pro-amnesty “coalition” of corporations and others who stand to profit from increased immigration.
Companies such as WAL-MART who stand to profit from increased immigration are being targeted by the Bush Administration for membership in its pro-amnesty “coalition.”
According to the Los Angeles Times:
“Corporations and advocacy groups with a direct interest in immigration including those who need skilled high-tech workers, farm laborers and university teaching assistants are being aggressively targeted for membership. Those being courted include Microsoft Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and groups representing academic institutions, restaurants, hotels, landscaping firms, hospitals and
nurses.” (“Immigration Rising on Bushs To-Do List,” July 24, 2005 Los Angeles Times)
And the cost of membership in the coalition according to the L.A. Times? We repeat: Between $50,000 and $250,000 EACH! Now you understand the pressure for cheap, un-American labor and the magnitude of our challenge!
Not only does pushing a moratorium give us an opportunity to greatly reduce the very high legal numbers — approximately one million annually — it also helps us resist the onslaught of illegal alien amnesties AND increases pressure to pass good bills and stop bad ones like the Social Security for Illegal Aliens Treaty now pending.
It is CRUCIAL that we all make a special effort NOW to increase the momentum for a moratorium.
We can do it, but we need your generous support.
Together we can stop these amnesty attempts, and get reductions in total immigration. But were up against a powerful and well-funded open-borders lobby, and we desperately need the support of concerned citizens like you to help us continue to fight for the U.S.A.
We are asking that, if at all possible, you call our office (1-800-466-4866), go to our Web site (www.carryingcapacity.org) or use the enclosed business reply envelope to make a special tax-deductible donation before the end of the year.
ACT NOW:
1) Contact your Representative and Senators and ask them to support a moratorium on all immigration in excess of 100,000 per year, and to oppose any amnesty or social security for illegal aliens. This is essential to reducing illegal immigration (because it reduces the “family magnet” and “safe harbor” effects inter alia) and achieving population stabilization and a sustainable USA.
The Honorable (Full Name) The Honorable (Full Name)
United States Senate House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515
You can reach your senators and representative by calling the Congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Fax and E-Mail contact information for your legislators can be found at www.congress.org.
2) The chances of getting real reductions through Congress are better than they have been in years. But to cope with the $50,000 to $250,000 donation range of the open borders lobby, we really need you to dig down deep and give as much as you can NOW. Help CCN intensify its presence on Capitol Hill. We need your Special Donation today!
Please use the enclosed Business Reply Envelope or go to www.carryingcapacity.org and click on “SUPPORT CCN” at the top of the page to send your donation today!
And you can really help us increase our reductionist clout by giving gift memberships to CCN: more members mean more money for lobbying on the Hill, more money for advocacy, and more support for our side.
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