Democrats Will Use Immigration to Divide and Conquer

It reads like a page directly out of the Democrat's playbook on midterm elections. Let Republicans self-destruct by splitting from their base on a core issue. Senate Republicans this week will decide if the federal government will respond to 89 percent of Americans who believe illegal immigration is a serious problem.

Any bill that does not refuse amnesty, and require true border and internal enforcement will collapse public confidence in the GOP Congress, and therefore be the breaking point of the Republican Party. The bill passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee rewards lawbreakers with amnesty, plain and clear.

The temporary worker/amnesty bill from the Senate Judiciary Committee will cause every Democrat in Congress will jump onto it, because they know that this single issue is the opportunity to divide and conquer. If anything costs Republicans the majority this November, it will be this amnesty bill in the Senate that they are trying to force-feed to Congress and the American people.

In the face of bitter opposition from the majority of American citizens, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill to reward millions of illegal aliens with legal worker status -- despite the fact these aliens have already proven their disregard for the laws of this nation. Beyond sending a message to potential residents and legal immigrants that we don't take our own laws seriously, this is a misguided and dangerous path for our nation, particularly in a post 9/11 world.

Any policy that reduces or eliminates the penalty for violating our immigration laws is amnesty. It is disingenuous for any lawmaker to claim they are against amnesty, but support these temporary worker amnesty programs.

Economically, these programs don't help our country, but hinder its growth. Americans are conditioned to believe that illegal aliens support our workforce, because they supposedly take jobs Americans will not do. The reality is, employers hire illegal workers who will work for much less than legal workers, driving wages down and making it impossible for legal workers to compete. There is no job Americans will not do. The hottest, most difficult, dirtiest and dangerous job in the world is rooting terrorists out of Fallujah. Marines are doing that job for $8.09 an hour.

The core of the strength of America has always been an ever-broadening middle class. The flood of immigration, both legal and illegal threatens an eventual destruction of the middle class and is resulting in the creation of a servant class. We cannot stand by while our middle class is eroded so that the ruling class in America can create a servant class for themselves.

We can stop illegal workers from taking jobs in the U.S. My New Illegal Deduction Elimination Act, or New IDEA, H.R. 3095, would eliminate the tax deduction employers can take on wages and benefits paid to illegal workers so it becomes a taxable event. The result would be to raise the cost of a $10 per hour illegal to a $16 per hour worker, creating the opportunity for American workers, shutting down the jobs magnet and broadening our middle class.

In addition, it would be ludicrous to base our national and economic security policy on the promise that temporary workers will return home once their worker permit expires. There has never been a successful temporary worker program in history.

History has proven time and again that legalizing the illegals won't solve the problem, it only serves to exacerbate it. Since 1986, Congress has passed seven amnesties for illegal aliens. The mass amnesty bill passed in 1986 that legalized 3 million aliens backfired, and the illegal alien population quickly doubled in a decade and tripled in less than 15 years. Further, dangling the prospect of citizenship in front of potential lawbreakers will only spur a mad stampede for the U.S. border to get in line for the next amnesty.

As a sovereign nation, we must control our borders and enforce our own laws. Ignoring our laws is not the path to maintaining a free, safe and prosperous society.

The House passed a comprehensive immigration reform policy in December that provides tools to secure America's future. H.R. 4437 does not reward any amnesty program and includes heavier border enforcement and construction of a border fence. The bill also provides for real enforcement in our interior, reduces the jobs magnet by requiring worker verification, and invokes penalties for local governments that provide sanctuary for illegal aliens.

The Senate must use these provisions as a baseline for their debate. This issue has pushed fed-up Americans to the abyss, and if we don't take the right turn, we deserve to be pushed into it.