Let me give a hearty shout-out to the OC Blog for alerting me to this great column, penned by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, that appears on the Orange County GOP website. When I read it, I thought to myself, perhaps if this column were read here on the FlashReport by our readers, it would resonate with many, and make it clear to many others that Congressman Rohrabacher speaks for many, many of us who are outraged at the idea that millions of people who snuck/crept/smuggled/lied their way into America would be legitimized through amnesty*.
The Congressman’s article is entitled Turn Off the Faucet First, and begins like this:
If a bathtub is overflowing and water is spilling onto the floor, the first thing most rational people would do is turn off the faucet, remove the sink stopper and let the water drain. Then the clean up would begin. If only the federal government was as rational.
Unfortunately, there are many in Congress that would mop up the floor before turning off the faucet and draining the tub. Instead of turning off the massive flow of illegal aliens in our country and demonstrating that the government can keep that flow at a very low trickle, Congress is proposing to legalize the millions of illegal aliens in the country first. This strategy has not worked in the past and it will not work for our country now.
There is only one way to stop this unfettered flow of illegal immigrants: cut off the jobs and benefits that attract them. The federal government must demand that businesses verify the legal status of their employees and administer heavy fines to those who violate the law and hire illegal aliens. Next, the government must stop paying for the education and healthcare of those who have come here illegally. This strategy, coupled with stronger border control, is the only way to begin draining the tub.
If America turns off the faucet of jobs and benefits, the majority of illegal immigrants will go home. This strategy of attrition has proved successful for thousands of private and public employers who use attrition every day to reduce their payroll. Most people in southern California are familiar with this pattern in private industry: employers will freeze hiring and offer incentives for early retirement and/or relocating.
I’ll skip ahead to give you the closing paragraph:
It is absurd to say we can either give illegal aliens citizenship or we will have to deport all 18 million. By securing the border, eliminating the ability for an illegal to obtain employment and stopping free health care and education for illegal aliens, they will have no incentive to cross the border, and every incentive to go home. In addition, the attraction to those currently across the border hoping to come here illegally will disappear.
If you want to read his entire piece (which I recommend), just click here.
Here is my oft-repeated thought on "Amnesty" —
*GUEST WORKER PROGRAM = AMNESTY
What is "amnesty" when it comes to the national debate on illegal immigration? There seems to be some subjectivity being used in defining this term. So let me just throw out there my position….
First of all, Answers.com defines amnesty as, "A general pardon granted by a government, especially for political offenses."
Second of all, the offense that has been committed by every illegal resident of the United States is the same – criminal entry into this country without permission.
Therefore, the definition of amnesty is really straight forward — any proposal that grants to those who committed criminal entry into the United States a legal avenue for remaining here is amnesty.
Some have been saying that ‘amnesty’ means granting citizenship to those who came here illegally — and that would certainly be the most extreme type of amnesty. But it is smoke and mirrors to say that you support a guest worker program but oppose amnesty – they are one and the same.
It is okay within this public policy debate to say that you support some form of amnesty for illegal residents — after all, people who have snuck into the United States in the past have historically been granted amnesty. But please don’t make the debate even more complicated by obscuring positions by the mis-use of labels.