An Illegal Immigration Related Teleconference With Ed Meese
Earlier this morning, I was pleased to get an opportunity to be in on a teleconference with former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese and Matt Spaulding from the Center For Immigration Studies.
Mr. Meese has just written a column about the Senate’s immigration bill called, “An Amnesty by Any Other Name ….
Keep in mind that Ed Meese was around for the Reagan amnesty, so he knows what one looks like and in the teleconference, he essentially said, make no mistake about it, this is an amnesty. He also said that if we pass this bill, we can expect another big group of illegals to be here in 10-15 years.
Meese advocated increased activity against employers who handle illegals and thinks we need much increased enforcement. He also believes that the enforcement should predate any guest worker program (another vote for the House plan).
He noted that after the amnesty in 1986 there was very little concern about enforcing the law and he noted that the current Senate bill would actually prevent police officers from arresting anyone based on the fact that they’re in this country illegally. Mr. Meese pointed out that we need more, not less cooperation from police departments for enforcement.
Meese also said that he believes that if we do have a temporary worker program, it should start with a pilot program and should be handled by private sector organizations like employment agencies.
Matt Spalding added that the bill in the Senate would lead to more document fraud because of the unworkable tier system it contains.
As a side note, so you can see what he’s talking about, here’s how the tier system works:
“The bill would create a three-tier system for illegal immigrants seeking to stay in the country. People who could prove they have been here five or more years could apply for citizenship. Those who have lived here two to five years could stay as guest workers and later apply for citizenship. Illegal immigrants here for less than two years would be required to leave.”
Spalding pointed out that you could prove residence in the US for 5 years based on nothing more than an affidavit from a friend, so what that will mean is that fraud will be rampant and the illegals will end up staying.
Long story short: The Senate bill is an amnesty that treats enforcement like a joke and it would be no more effective at stopping illegal immigration than the 1986 bill.
Others commenting include:
Captain’s Quarters
Capitol Report
Decision ’08
Freeman Hunt
Hugh Hewitt
Michelle Malkin
Q&O Blog
Wizbang