In 1986 the Congress of the United States of America passed a comprehensive immigration law, otherwise known as the Simpson-Mazzoli Act.
In 1986, the Senators of these United States and the Representatives of these United States stood in front of the people of the United States and declared that this new law was guaranteed to control our borders.
In 1986, these Congress-critters stood in front of the citizens of the United States who had put them in office, and whom they were sworn to serve, and they solemnly promised that this new law would stop employers from hiring undocumented — illegal — immigrants.
The cost of this, they murmured piously, was that the United States would have to grant amnesty to the estimated three million illegal immigrants who were “hiding in the shadows” at the time.
Do this one thing, they promised us, and we will control the borders. Amnesty for no more than three million, and we will stop employers from hiring new illegal immigrants.
They lied.
Don’t bother with protestations — the Congress lied to the American People.
Oh, not about what would come to be called “la amnestia” — no, on that the Congress of the United States went above and beyond their call of duty.
No, Congress lied about controlling our borders. And Congress lied about preventing employers from hiring new illegal aliens.
Now, twenty-one years after the deed, the Senate of the United States, in their colossal arrogance, believed that the American people had forgotten that they had been lied to in the past about “immigration reform” — or believed that those of us who did remember would happily forgive Congress for lying to us about “immigration reform” in the past.
Surprise. A whole hell of a lot of us have neither forgotten, nor forgiven Congress for lying through their snaggle teeth to us back in 1986.
I seriously doubt if any Senator would deign to stoop to reading this little blog, but just in case one stumbles by, here’s bit of advice — no charge: Try not lying to us in the future.
Now, you’re going to hear a lot of lies and bushwa in the fallout of this little experience in basic courtesy — both from Congress, and from their Media lapdogs.
You’re going to hear that without “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” that America will not be able to control her borders.
The person who says that is a liar. Border control is an integral part of the “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” that was the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act.
You’re going to hear that without “Comprehensive Immigration Reform”, that Federal Law Enforcement will have no ability to deal with illegal immigrants.
The person who says that is a liar. Federal Law Enforcement has all the powers and directives they need to deal with illegal immigrants — an integral part of the “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” that was the Simpson-Mazzoli Act of 1986.
You’re going to hear a lot of dire warnings and predictions of American helplessness in the face of illegal immigration because the Senate didn’t pass “Comprehensive Immigration Reform”.
I will guarantee that a check of the U.S. Code will reveal a Federal Law to deal with just about any dire situation — passed by Congress — and ignored by Congress.
The American People trusted the American government to control our borders in 1986. Congress lied to us. The American People trusted the American government to control immigration in 1986. Congress lied to us.
Stop lying to us — enforce the laws you already passed, show the People on the United States a good faith effort to enforce the laws YOU ALREADY PASSED — THEN come back to us and float your Z-Visas, your touchback provisions, and your amnesty by and we’ll see who salutes.
But — BUT — until the Congress of the United States of America stops lying to the People of the United States of America about immigration laws, don’t expect my support for any new immigration reforms.
And nothing but the back of my hand to those Senators who decided they could walk another pack of lies past the American people with no challenge.
LawDog
Amen, dawg.
And let me hasten to add. Either they get with the program and put some teeth into the laws they passed o’er two decades ago, or it will surely come to pass that the populace will find itself forced to do so, independently.
That’d scare the hell out those Washington drones, methinks.
Jim
Sloop New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Dawg: you are so right. However, one of the biggest lies (either from your congress or media) was that the 9-11 people were let in by Canada. We don’t control your borders as you know. The U>S> Customs does
I agree with you no more laws are needed, curious how congress enforces laws though, isnt that really where the problem is? No matter who has been the president those charged with border protection have only been given lip service as to support, and little to no action has been taken against employers who profit from illegial immigrants. It has by all accounts I have read been much worse under this president. This was the presidents plan also Dog, not just congress.
There’s a fairly simple solution to dealing with illegal immigrants: bounty hunting. Set a price of X number per illegal found or reported, allow bounty hunters currently licensed to nab illegals just as they do bail-jumpers, and let private enterprise deal with the problem.
Law enforcement agencies can be hamstrung by politicians who are “persuaded” by business interests. Private parties who stand to make a lot of money off of rounding up illegals are tougher to persuade. Even if you offer them a bribe, the can just do their job anyway to collect at both ends…
Thank you for doing the research. I do my best to “stay in touch” with my congress critter and state rats.
Occasionally it does them good to be shown that such laws are there and they need to do their jobs, not pass new papers for ignoring.
May I use your verbage in my communications with them?
Even though our borders are still unprotected, there is a bigger problem that Dawg is talking about. The lying by congress to the American people! Are we children that need to be lied to, to protect us from the real world? I don’t think so.
We need to address the individuals that do the lying.
Let hold them accountable for the words that fall out of their mouths.
There’s another piece of legislation from the late 90s that was also supposed to beef up the borders (I tried a quick google search but I’m not clear on the year. Maybe you can find it.
I just can’t believe that they’re gonna try to ram this crap down our throats again as if it hasn’t been done before.
What a waste of time and energy. Oh, and did you read that article about the Laotian family who came to this country LEGALLY (years ago) but are having status issues (the gov’t took TEN years to look over their refugee/amnesty application) and will be deported and the Senator that’s supposed to be helping them can’t follow up because he’s so busy with the Immigration legislation?!? Ridiculous.
Dawg,
Would you mind if I copy this and forward it to the drones we’ve sent to Washington?
Than you,
Bob
Why doesn’t Washington get it? Americans are sick of a bunch of whiny people who ARE BREAKING THE LAW–complaining about their rights.
Hey I am not allowed to break the law, why are they?
ADIOS–and OBRIGATO–go home and complain.
Money sent home to the families of countries of origin of illegals makes up a signigicant portion of the annual income of those countries, as much as a fourth. Considering that these illegals earn less than minimum wage and less than union wages, their sacrifice for their families indicates their desperation and love for their mothers, fathers, wives and children. A local pastor here in Oregon says that the Hispanic congregation of the small Methodist church he attends sees individuals seized and deported and then returned (after paying hugely for help of immigrant smugglers) within a few weeks. It’s time we stopped persecuting the little guys and follow the money. Go after big employers like DelMonte, recently raided here in Portland, and not the line workers. Remove the impetus of income for these folks and they will have to stay home and develop their own economies instead of depopulating whole towns as they flee north. Oh, DelMonte was not prosecuted. Their lobbyists are pleased, I’m sure.
Quaker Mole
Portland, Oregon
Beautifully stated, LawDog. As for the Congresscritters – damn their eyes.
I agree with you no more laws are needed, curious how congress enforces laws though, isnt that really where the problem is?
Congress must approvce the budget for all Federal Agencies.
If you have a Federal Agency whose duty is, for example, guarding the border — and Congress gives this agency a yearly budget of, for example, one dollar … then enforcment is — shall we say — problematical.
Ok, so what about our American Indians? They live in utter squalor on the reservations, without heat, without water, and without hope. Why can’t we try and fix them?
Because they’re ‘the defeated enemy?’
Because they’re an ‘alien’ culture inside our borders? And the Mexicans, Viets, and assorted others aren’t?
How hypocritical can we be?
What if we just leave off the ancestral enmities and the ancestral guilt and help out our own original people?
Deepsix the bleeding hearts and close the borders.
LawMom
Congress should stop lying? Heck, they wouldn’t have anything to say if they didn’t lie. They don’t know how to tell the truth.
Here’s the text of the act LawDog mentioned:
http://www.oig.lsc.gov/legis/irca86.htm
NMM1AFan
Vigilance Vig”i*lance, n. [L. vigilantia: cf. F. vigilance.]
1. The quality or state of being vigilant; forbearance of
sleep; wakefulness.
2. Watchfulness in respect of danger; care; caution;
circumspection. –Cowper.
And flaming ministers to watch and tend Their
earthly charge; of these the vigilance I dread.
–Milton.
3. Guard; watch. [Obs.] “In at this gate none pass the
vigilance here placed.” –Milton.
Vigilance committee, a volunteer committee of citizens for
the oversight and protection of any interest, esp. one
organized for the summary suppression and punishment of
crime, as when the processes of law appear inadequate.
Absolutely correct LD, and what makes it even worse is quite a few of them are the same ones lying to us today…
I would add a couple of things to what Quaker Mole said- We have to take away the impetus for all the illegal aliens to come here- the ability to send $$ home. Make it illegal to electronically transfer money to South/Central America- That stops $2 Billion a year leaving the country.
Second, make it illegal for the banks to electronically transfer money to South/Central American banks for check payment.
Third, make it illegal to provide credit/loans without PROOF of American citizenship and a green card that is not made on a copy machine.
When the impetus is gone, so will the illegal aliens… Just my .02 worth
Here’s a question for anyone interested: how long should the US continue to allow immigration in any form?
We already have 300 million people in the country. True, we still have open spaces and room here, but does their existence come with a compulsion to simply fill them up?
By 2050, it’s estimated we’ll have (at current birth and immigration rates) 500 million people. Do we want half a billion people here? Do we want a nice, round billion?
When do we finally have enough people in our borders?
Stephen, there are jobs that Americans won’t/can’t fill. And I’m not talking apple pickers either. The US has a shortage of American citizen economists. Did you know that? When I was up at UW-Madison, my Econ classes were about 90% Korean, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese (lots of Asians). When they need economists to fill sensitive positions in DC, like the CIA, they can’t find anyone to fill the job.
It’s just an ugly situation. One little bit of trivia for you to think about.
I’m about as “white-bread” as they come. Noone could possibly mistake me for an illegal immigrant. Yet I’ve never been able to start a new job without the documents necessary to complete an I-9 form.
Once I lost a job because I misplaced my wallet over the weekend before my Monday start-date.
Another time I’d moved cross-country to stay with family, and been mugged on the trip. That situation was telling — couldn’t get a job, but was given a welfare-check until I could get the docs I needed (birth cert to get a new SS card and driver’s license) to get a job.
Seems all the “respectable” employers — EVERY ONE I’ve ever dealt with — are already following the 1986 law.
We already have a Federal “new-hire registry” which is used to track child-support and student-loan defaulters. Why can this not be used to “flag” cases like the teenage boy with 3,900 jobs?
http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070624/COMMENTARY/106240012/1012
How in the h-ee-double-hockey-sticks can this happen?
This case is simple: The Dems are pandering for 12-20 million new votes, not to mention those already here who will sympathize.
The Repubs want to get their share.
Then there’s the MONEY issue.
To me it’s simple:
(1) Enforce existing law.
(2) Detain and deport EVERY suspected illegal. Before deportation, tattoo them with a flourescent ink — invisible in normal light, visible under the right UV band. If we catch you a second time, you spend 10 years at hard labor — to repay our government for the costs of your detention and transport — before going home. Subsequent offenses double the penalty each time — 20 years for a third, 40 for a fourth, 80 for the 5th. Come back and you’ll probably die in prison.
(3) MAJOR punitive fines for any employer who doesn’t follow the rules and hires an illegal. Fooled by false docs is one thing, but any average american should be able to judge a “mistake” from “a pattern of abuse.”
(4) STOP the massive export of cash. Every bloody convenience store seems to advertise in spanish that they can send money to mexico. Use these stations as “bait” — check the papers of every person who uses them.
(5) Pull all federal funding for any state or local government that doesn’t hand over illegals for deportation. No “sanctuary” here, folks. If you’re in law-enforcement, you’re charged with helping find and deport illegals.
(6) Pay a bounty for turning them in — $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and deportation of an illegal. $2,000 for helping nail their employer, plus the $1,000 for each illegal caught as a result. Employer+3 =$5,000.
Legal immigrants should have no problem with ANY of this — they should WANT to help the crackdown on the law-breakers.
If not, well — they can go home too.
DD
Sorry for the broken link — this one will work…
Boy with 3,900 jobs
We just had a service guy return from a project in India. There is some serious anger brewing over there due to the large numbers of potential immigrants trying desperately and LEGALLY to enter the US, even on a worker visa. I suspect this is not unique. What message do we send to the world when we allow another amnesty? We tell them, “Come on in, just stick it out a bit and we’ll let you lawbreakers stay forever!”
It is not just Mexico or the Americas we should be considering what the next wave of illegals we will be dealing with will be.
Thank you for a great post. I will be reprinting (and giving you credit) for this fine article. Thank heavens (and resident’s calls and writings to our two Senators), they both voted against the crap of “Immigration Reform”.
Posted on thefirearmsforum.com
Thank you, Sir.
Pops
As you appreciate lying so much I thought you might like to see the lies of Your favorite bushes
http://www.unknownnews.net/logoflies.html
If you can find where they are wrong please let them know.
America has no native born criminal element … except Congress. – Mark Twain
Power corrupts … absolutely. – Macchiavelli
Drop-kick the arses who broke their oaths to us in 1986 over the border of Afganistan. Let them look for Bin Laden. – ME