The Senate and illegal immigration

The New York Daily News has published a must-read article about the current illegal immigration crisis. The author was Robert Rector, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation. If you'll recall, it was Robert Rector's research that shed light on just how awfully egregious the Senate's immigration bill was. Even though his research helped provide ammunition to shoot down some of the most mind-numbingly horrific amendments offered in the Senate "debate", the final bill that did pass the Senate was still a disgraceful shamnesty bill that could easily destroy our economy and our society.

Do you think I'm being unnecessarily alarmist? Consider the following comments from Mr. Rector's article:

Twenty years ago, Congress passed immigration reform granting amnesty and citizenship to 3 million illegal immigrants. In exchange, future illegal immigration was to be stopped and employers were to be prohibited from hiring illegal workers. The deal was a debacle; amnesty was granted, but the hiring ban was ignored and the border was not secured.

And this:

Giving some 10 million illegal aliens currently in the U.S. a path to citizenship is manifestly unfair to those who have waited to enter the country legally.

And this:

By 4-to-1, voters prefer less immigration, not more. But the Senate bill would more than double future legal immigration, bringing an unprecedented 50 million new immigrants into the U.S. over the next two decades.

And this:

The plan would be ruinous for taxpayers. The U.S. has already imported nearly 10 million high school dropouts from abroad in recent years. The Senate plan would bring in vastly more. They would pay little in taxes but would consume much in government services, imposing an average net cost to the taxpayers of nearly $100,000 apiece, according to the National Academy of Sciences.

This is a problem that will only continue to get worse unless it is addressed quickly. Enforce the borders first. Forget the comprehensive solution. Once the taxpayers are convinced that the government is willing and able to stem the ever-increasing flow of illegal immigration, we can talk about the rest. But we just cannot continue to go on like we are now.

As Lou Dobbs says, "A country without borders is not a country at all."