Kennedy-Gutierrez Bill Promises Unrestricted Immigration
WASHINGTON, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Legislation unveiled today by Senator
Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) would
guarantee legal U.S. residence for virtually every illegal alien living in the
U.S. and countless millions additional relatives who would be permitted to
join them in this country. Under the Kennedy-Gutierrez legislation, most, if
not all, of the estimated 8-13 million illegal aliens in the country would be
granted immediate amnesty, and nearly all existing limits on people seeking
admission to the U.S. would be lifted.
In addition to granting amnesty to illegal aliens and moving their
relatives to the front of the immigration queue, the bill would allow newly
legalized immigrants to sponsor additional relatives to come to the United
States, even if they lack the means to fulfill their commitments of support.
The legislation also waives existing re-entry bars for illegal aliens who have
been removed, allowing them to return to the U.S. to claim amnesty.
Illegal aliens who can show they have been in the country for five years
and have been employed for at least two of those five years, will be eligible
for immediate amnesty along with their spouses and children under 21. Illegal
aliens who have been here less than five years will not be left out in the
cold under this legislation. They will be granted "transitional status" and
remain here until they have accumulated enough time to qualify for amnesty.
"This is the 'No Illegal Alien Left Behind' bill," commented Dan Stein,
executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
"Nobody who has violated our immigration laws will be turned away. Even
criminals and terrorists will be given sufficient opportunity to appeal the
denials of their applications.
"Even if there is no fraud attached to this amnesty -- and based on past
experience there will be a significant number of people who file fraudulent
applications -- with all the family reunification provisions included in the
bill, we would be looking at a legalization program that includes 20 million
people, and many millions more over the next few years," Stein noted. "Who is
going to pay for all of this? How are we going to do meaningful background
checks on 20 million people? How are schools, hospitals, and other essential
local services going to cope with this unprecedented influx?
While the Kennedy-Gutierrez bill provides every conceivable benefit to
illegal aliens, it contains not a single enforcement provision to stem future
illegal immigration. "About the only positive thing that can be said about
this legislation is that it does not insult the intelligence of the American
people by making more empty promises to enforce our immigration laws. The
authors of this bill have no intention of stopping anyone who wants to come
here illegally and at least they do not propose spending billions more of the
taxpayers money to prevent millions more illegal aliens from coming here,"
Stein said.
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SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform
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Related links:
http://www.fairus.org
CONTACT:
Ira Mehlman of Federation for American
Immigration Reform, +1-202-328-7004
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