December 7, 2005
No Amnesty, No Deal, Mr. President
By Pat
Buchanan
When the 17th
Street levee broke and the floodwaters of Lake Pontchartrain inundated
New Orleans, the immediate imperative was: Fix the levee. Before
the cleanup could begin, before the refugees could return, the
levee had to be repaired so water stopped flooding into the city.
Everybody understood this.
Why, then,
has it taken five years for the White House to wake up to the
first imperative in the immigration crisis: Fix the border, stop
the flood? Why is President Bush still chattering on about a "guest
worker" program that has nothing to do with the crisis?
Since he
took office in 2001, Bush said in Tucson, Ariz., U.S. border agents
have apprehended and sent home 4.5 million illegal aliens, "including
more than 350,000 with criminal records."
Astonishing.
That is 75,000 criminals a year, 200 felons a day, for the last
five years, trying to break into our country to rape, rob and
kill, and molest our children. Of the millions of illegals who
succeeded in breaking in on Bush's watch, how many came to rape,
rob and murder, like John Lee Malvo, the Beltway sniper?
This is
a national crisis, an existential crisis. But after five years
of ignoring it, and now finally addressing it, what did Bush say
in Tucson? I can't defend the border if you won't give me a guest
worker program. Said Bush, "(W)e will not be able to effectively
enforce our immigration laws until we create a temporary worker
program."
But this
is preposterous. Bush is saying he cannot do his constitutional
duty to protect the nation from invasion -- unless we let 12 million
illegal aliens become guest workers and allow greedy U.S. businesses
to go overseas and hire foreigners for jobs that U.S. workers
won't take at the paltry wages they offer.
But not
since the "bracero" program of decades ago have we had
a national guest worker program. And never in our history have
we given business carte blanche to go abroad and hire foreigners
to come and take American jobs. Yet Bush says if we don't, he
can't control the border. What he means is, he won't control the
border.
The president's
speech in Tucson was a kind of extortion of those who have fought
for tough border protections. Bush is saying: Unless you give
me what I want, a guest worker program, you're not getting what
you want. But what a majority of Americans want is what they have
a right to demand: That Bush do his sworn duty and enforce the
immigration laws of the United States.
Conservatives
should reject this "guest worker" program, even if it
is Bush's price tag for border protection. Far from solving the
crisis, this Chamber of Commerce-LULAC scheme will mean final
defeat, after decades of struggle to protect the borders. For
though Bush may say, "I oppose amnesty," his guest worker
program is amnesty.
Amnesty
means no punishment and a reward for law-breaking. And that is
exactly what Bush is proposing. In his guest worker program, those
who broke our laws and broke into our country get to stay and
work for six years, then go home on sabbatical, then return to
work permanently. What is that, if not rewarding law-breaking?
Twenty years
ago, Ronald Reagan was persuaded to grant a one-time amnesty to
millions of illegal aliens who had been here for years. Result:
Some 1.5 million illegal aliens were caught almost every year
after. They had missed out on the amnesty, and they, too, wanted
in. When Bush first broached his "guest worker" program
two years ago, there was a surge to the border from Mexico.
A recent
Pew Hispanic Poll found 46 percent of all Mexicans say they would
like to live in the United States and 20 percent, more than 20
million, are willing to break in. If Congress votes for Bush's
guest worker program, nothing will stop the flood -- for the world
will see it as admission that America is a weak nation that will
not even order out of its home those who have broken in uninvited,
sat down at the table and demanded to be treated like a member
of the family.
As Reagan
said, the country that can't control its borders isn't really
a country anymore.
The battle
to regain control of the borders is a cause that has won the support
of a No-Longer-Silent Majority. The open-borders, Business Roundtable
Republicans know it. On the run, they want to compromise. They
will accept some border security, they say, if they can get in
return an amnesty for their illegal workers and the legislated
right of U.S. businesses to go overseas and hire foreigners to
take American jobs.
Conservatives
need to tell the White House: No deal, no amnesty, do your duty,
defend the border, or we will find men and women to replace you
who will enforce our laws and protect our country.
Copyright
2005 Creators Syndicate
