November 17, 2006

Memo To Mel: Forget Amnesty; The American People Have Spoken

Last week I predicted that, despite hand wringing from distraught Republicans that the recently elected Democratic Congress would hand over an amnesty/guest-worker program to President Bush, no such thing would happen.

And today, even in light of Bush’s nomination of Florida Senator Melquiades Martinez to head the Republican National Committee, I’m sticking firmly to my guns.

With or without Martinez, amnesty will fail.

In the first place, Martinez’s appointment is—in a perverse way—good for us. Anything that infuriates the Republican base as it relates to immigration is great. Let’s keep the pot stirred!

And when Bush snubs his nose as callously toward Republicans as he did in this latest move, so much the better.

As long as Bush keeps rubbing salt in the Republican Party wounds, he’ll have a hard time getting a game of jacks on Capitol Hill—let alone major immigration legislation reform—from the new Congress.

Let’s look at what we have.

First, assume we have four major amnesty players: Bush, Martinez and Speakers Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Bush wants amnesty—so what? Bush is the lamest lame duck in presidential history. Martinez certainly would prefer a nice juicy amnesty—but is he willing to pay the political price? Not up for re-election until 2010, amnesty is a dicey platform on which to stake his nascent political career. And, given two choices—holding Congress in 2008 or amnesty for illegal aliens—which do you think Reid and Pelosi would opt for?

Second, no matter who in our treasonous foursome wants what, the dynamic of immigration politics remains unchanged. Real, honest-to-God U.S. Representatives must be—at a frozen moment in time—convinced that a “Yea” vote on amnesty will help to get them re-elected in 2008. That’s a tall, tall order.

Summarized: it doesn’t matter what Bush, et al want; Congress has to vote for it.

Despite agitating by the Hispanic activists like Armando Navarro—“But if they (the Democrats) hope to capture the White House in 2008, they better listen to us.” [ Immigrant Groups Prepare Big Push for Reform, Are Hopeful Over Democrats' Ascendance, Associated Press, November 16, 2006] and regardless of the fifty-odd hard anti-American core in the Congress like Mike Pence, John McCain and Teddy Kennedy, we’ll prevail.

History is on our side!

Our opponents have not moved one inch forward in more than six years of amnesty battles. We have consistently repelled them.

In 2000, Congress passed the LIFE Act, a re-instatement of the rolling Section of 245(i) for 900.000 illegal aliens. (Briefly, 245 (i) allows an illegal alien to apply for adjustment of status and pay a $1,000 fine to become eligible for a green card. Full details here.)

Since then, four separate attempts to extend 245 (i) have been voted down.

And at least three major amnesties/guest worker bills died on the vines for lack of broad-based support:

S. 1033, introduced by McCain in 2005

H.R. 2330, also introduced in 2005 by Rep. Jim Kolbe and Rep. Carlos Gutierrez

S. 2611, the 2006 Martinez-Charles Hagel immigration and amnesty acceleration bill.

Remember that the circumstances surrounding those earlier amnesties were identical to what we face to day—ethnic lobbyists, corporate interests, churches, the MSM and the White House insisting that “ comprehensive immigration reform” was inevitable.

Each time, they were wrong.

Ours is a tremendous record of resistance. The side that should be afraid of failure is theirs—not ours.

Joe Guzzardi [ e-mail him] is the Editor of VDARE.COM Letters to the Editor. In addition, he is an English teacher at the Lodi Adult School and has been writing a weekly newspaper column since 1988. This column is exclusive to VDARE.COM.