S744, the recently passed Senate “Comprehensive Immigration” bill, is a total sham. Referring to Webster, here’s what they say about “sham”:
“A trick that deludes”; “cheap falseness”; “the silliness of the empty pageant”; “saw through the hollowness”
Feel free to pick any definition, they all work.
Let’s go back to the run-up of the day-and-a-half of “hearings” that the Senate committee held on S744. The talk was all about how enforcement was going to be enforced and there would be triggers that ensured that the border was really secure.
That whole discussion was an outright lie repeated continuously by the Gang of Eight, especially John McCain and Marco Rubio. Both McCain and Rubio – and later Bob Corker and John Hoeven – were lying about enforcement every time their lips moved. Marco Rubio put out a press release on this subject and, as you’ll see, every word is a lie.
Let’s look at the trigger that was supposed to be the basis for determining if the border is secure. Here’s the New York Times reporting on April 10.
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators has largely agreed on a broad immigration bill that would require tough border measures to be in place before illegal immigrants could take the first steps to become American citizens, according to several people familiar with drafts of the legislation.
… the bill sets ambitious goals for border authorities — including continuous surveillance of 100 percent of the United States border and 90 percent effectiveness of enforcement in several high-risk sectors …
McCain and Rubio, etal were selling continuous surveillance of 100% of the border and 90% effectiveness. That was said to mean that 90% of border crossers in “high-risk sectors” would be caught. That probably sounds like a 90% reduction in illegal immigration, right?
Let’s keep in mind that DHS has been insisting that the border is secure now (Janet Napolitano) and they like to note that they catch about half of the people who cross illegally.
During the period from October through December of 2012 the US Border Patrol used a drone over the Tucson-East border sector, one of the “high-risk” sectors. They counted the number of illegals crossing the border and compared that to the number caught. This is the baseline that we should be working from when it comes to border security, and remember that DHS consistently insists that they catch about half of the crossers.
Between October and December, records show, the remotely operated aircraft detected 7,333 border crossers during its Arizona missions. Border Patrol agents, however, reported 410 apprehensions during that time, according to an internal agency report.
I went to engineering school. I’ve taken lots and lots of math. Trust me on this one, differential equations are not required to figure this out. 410 caught / 7,333 illegals = 5.59% effectiveness. That is a border that Janet Napolitano considers “safe” and “secure”. Keep that number in mind when you consider that the Department of Homeland Security has effectively the unilateral ability to declare that “border security” targets have been met.
S744, according to the McCain-Rubio axis, should reduce illegal immigration by 90%. Here’s what the Congressional Budget Office analysis says.
The “border surge” addition to the Senate Gang of Eight immigration bill would cut the rate of illegal immigration to the United States by as much as 50 percent, according to a congressional analysis released Wednesday.
The original version of the Gang’s bill would reduce illegal immigration by 25 percent compared to what would happen under the status quo. But the “border surge” amendment, written by Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) would lower that anywhere between one-third and one-half of the current rate.
But the CBO also had this caveat: The drop in illegal immigration would not come right away.
The original legislation, which appeared to reduce illegal immigration by 90%, only reduces it by 25%. Corker-Hoeven increases the catch rate so that illegal immigration is reduced by about half. Other sources make that one-third, but the bottom line, nobody says the drop will be anywhere near 90%.
The price we pay as a nation to reduce illegal immigration in the future by one-third to one-half? We legalize about 11 million currently illegal aliens and they get to bring in another 20 to 30 million family members.
Keep this in mind as you hear the Republican House Leadership – including Paul Ryan – talking about border security in the upcoming weeks. The devil, as always, is in the details.
An interesting note to remember, Paul Ryan challenged all comers to a debate on S744 and the “amnesty” issue. I wrote a column challenging his statements and accepting his invitation to debate, any time, any place. I’m sure he had several hundred other takers and he never brought the subject up again.
Get ready to man the phones and the faxes. It’s time the Republican leadership and your Representative heard from you.