What do you call it? Let's not mince words. We all know the goal: pander to the hispanic vote, and maybe get some new Democrat voters, from the sympathies of those here legally, or fraudulent votes from newcomers, all for Obama's desperate reelection bid.
As many as 1.7 million people could qualify, though only 700,000 of them are older than 17, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis. The three application forms required are already posted on a government website. But only people who have graduated from or are enrolled in high school and have no criminal records will be accepted. And there's a $465 fee to apply.
On Wednesday, immigrant groups around the country will be holding hundreds of forums to help people figure out if they qualify for the status and what kinds of documentation they need to prove it. If a person commits fraud on an application, he or she will become a deportation priority, a senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday. If an applicant doesn't commit fraud but is still rejected from the temporary legal status, the government won't flag him for deportation or share his information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
It's up to individual states to decide whether people who gain the temporary protected status and work permit should be allowed to get driver's licenses or qualify for in-state tuition, the administration official added.
But it's for the children...the 30 year-old children! Eh, doesn't matter that at least 700,000 are of age to commit voter fraud. And let's hear three cheers for 'state's rights' on matters of lawlessness in granting driver's license and in-state tuition to illegals! The process sounds so clean, so orderly, so streamlined...so illegal and unconstitutional, especially when it circumvents Congress.
Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) gives us the real skinny on where illegal aliens fit into Obama's blueprints: AMERICAN JOBS!
The President’s amnesty program is a magnet for fraud and abuse. While potentially millions of illegal immigrants will be permitted to compete with American workers for scarce jobs, there seems to be little if any mechanism in place for vetting fraudulent applications and documentation submitted by illegal immigrants. With Americans’ jobs on the line, the Administration should take all the necessary steps to protect their livelihoods."
ADDENDUM: Levin hit this illegal immigration issue hard on Thursday's program, referencing what he wrote about the topic in his 2009 publication, Liberty and Tyranny. Listen here. And here's accompanying excerpts from his book:
The Statist's argument for "comprehensive immigration reform" reduces to this: America is a nation of immigrants. The founding and settling of the nation came about because of immigrants who braved dangers to come to this country and risked everything to build the prosperity we enjoy today. Certainly this is true, as far as it goes.
Of course, to say this is a nation of immigrants is to say every nation is a nation of immigrants. Mexico, the source of most immigrants in the United States today, is a nation of Spanish (and other) immigrants. The implication is, however, that both legal and illegal immigration, no matter how extensive, is another moral imperative justifying the transformation of the civil society. This is not so.
Once again, the Declaration of Independence provides guidance on this issue. It states, in relevant part, that "to secure these [unalienable] rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."...
Mark asks, "Have we consented to this? Of course not. We're browbeaten over it." He continues to discuss the history of precisely where the Statists, during the Great Society in 1965 with changes in immigration law, "[laid] the foundation for radically altering the character of American society and the relationship of the governed to their government." Levin also described Cesar Chavez's vehement opposition to illegal immigration in the 60's, because it undermined all of his efforts, even going so far as to lead a march along the border with prominent religious and political leaders to protest the farmers' use of illegal immigrants! Mark continues by discussing that part of the problem is the misconstruing of the 14th Amendment...
Does the Fourteenth Amendment grant automatic citizenship to the children of illegal aliens? The relevant part of the amendment reads that "all persons, born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." This language requires more than birth within the United States. The amendment's purpose was to grant citizenship to the emancipated slaves, who were born in the United States and owed sole allegiance to it. Native Americans who were also subject to tribal jurisdiction were excluded from citizenship. There is no legislative history supporting the absurd proposition that the Fourteenth Amendment was intended to empower illegal alien parents to confer American citizenship on their own babies merely as a result of their birth in the United States. Foreign visitors and diplomats are nt subject to American jurisdiction. Illegal aliens are subject to the jurisdiction of their home country, as are their children, whether they are born in their home country or the United States.
The combination of intended and unintended consequences, and legal and illegal immigration, is transforming American society.
And isn't that ultimately part of what Obama has pursued since taking office? What the Democrats have done since ceasing power? To fundamentally transform America?
