As the illegal alien problem reaches crisis levels
for a second time in less than thirty years
the national debate on how to deal with the millions of illegal aliens
living and working in the United States is being advanced in
earnest this month by the Obama Administration.
In 1986, the solution was “amnesty” otherwise known
as the Immigration Reform and Control Act. In 2013, the same problem has
reemerged in greater numbers and under the specter of terrorism, and the
proposed solution is again “amnesty” by yet another moniker, namely,
“Comprehensive Immigration Reform”.
The last amnesty actually took more than four years
of serious effort for the Congress and the Administration to bang out the
legislation which cleared the books for millions of persons illegally here.
Negotiations, consultations, and compromise at every level of government, the
private sector and community organizations during the four years were painful
and embarrassing for all concerned, particularly the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS). Painful and embarrassing because the final
product looked more like the problem than the solution. Having served as Director of the program for
the INS, I am convinced that had the INS known just what “amnesty”
would look like in the end, it would
have withdrawn its support for the proposal early on.
Through the entire four-year process, what started
out as a reasonable and fair solution was warped beyond recognition by business
interests, politicians, and community and religious groups. The proposed solution was grounded on
the argument that, since the vast, vast majority of illegal aliens come to the United States for jobs, that turning
off the magnet of jobs would reduce the numbers who would come. Further, the
method for doing so would be shifted to employers who would, under penalty of
severe sanctions, be responsible for ensuring applicants for jobs were legally
here. It all made sense, particularly to most employers who already had little
interest in employing illegal aliens. To some liberal members of Congress and
to many community organizations, who generally were soft on or advocates for
illegal aliens, it seemed like a trade worth making. Worth making because they
saw it as the goose that laid the golden egg during a time when the
Administration was looking seriously at using strong law enforcement as the
alternative. Besides, this was legislation in the making, and community groups
and legislators knew that negotiations with an over eager Republican
administration would be productive. Productive they were. In fact, negotiations
turned the amnesty proposal on its end. First, from within the INS, the Executive Assistant
to the Commissioner, a political appointee coordinating the effort, began a
campaign at staff meetings to involve community organizations in the amnesty
process. She argued that community organizations would be our allies in
carrying out the amnesty processing, and thus neutralize the stigma of “jack
booted immigration agents” dealing directly with the frightened aliens. Having
gotten her foot in the door for the initial processing being taken over from
the government by these “voluntary organizations,” (Volags) she parlayed that
into massive funding for these organizations.
However, the greatest concession to the community
groups, and the worst blow to the integrity of the proposal resulted in turning
a good idea into the biggest fraud ever perpetrated against the Immigration
Service. Supporters and sympathizers convinced the then Administration that, in
order give the amnesty program legitimacy, illegal alien applicants needed to
be shielded from government agents coming after them for fraud. Can you
imagine? Let any person come forward, make any claim they wished, based on
whatever documents they chose to submit; make any statements and claims they
chose, and do it with impunity.
In the final legislation, and in the implementing
regulations, the law as passed by Congress did just that. Through the
establishment of a “Chinese wall” barrier, Immigration Agents were prohibited
from seeing any files or documents presented to the Volags, nor could they even
question any applicants about their statements in their interviews. Result:
Tens of thousands of ineligible persons already here made fraudulent claims and thousands more aliens back in
their home country learning of the wide-open opportunity to jump on the
bandwagon swarmed into the U.S. and joined in the fiasco. Almost ninety percent of the amnesty
applications filed in the agricultural (SAW) category were fraudulent and yet
approved!
Volags became solidified in championing causes for
illegal immigrants and continued to receive massive government funding to
“assist” in processing. While employers who complied in the past by refusing to
hire illegal aliens continued to comply, those who knowingly used illegals
before the law was passed continued to do so with little fear that the few INS agents enforcing the new
law would cross their paths.
This was the beginning of the end of interior
enforcement of the immigration laws within the INS and the beginning of the
created need for a second amnesty today. Bleeding hearts in Congress and some
succeeding administrations, particularly during the 1990s, shaped policies and
shaved budgets to discourage enforcement programs and, in general, altered the
perception of illegal aliens in the country from lawbreakers to a deprived
underclass. Indeed, but for 9-11, the country was ready for and surely would
have accepted another amnesty a decade ago.
Now we have a proposal by the administration to
address the issue of illegal immigration again by enacting “comprehensive
immigration reform” legislation. The first leg of the proposal, which actually
goes back to the previous leadership, was to stem the flow of persons entering
the country illegally by erecting physical barriers at the border in the form
of tall fences and beefing up Border Patrol numbers as well. However, in a
not-so-subtle shift in policy, the Administration has all but abandoned the
idea, simply by failing to fund the construction of any additional fences, a
clear signal to present and future crossers. It now appears that the true
comprehensive aspect of immigration reform will be focused at finding a way to
quietly blend the 15 million or so persons already illegally here onto a path
to citizenship with the least disruption to them and their families waiting to
join them from back home.
However, I believe all may not be lost. If the
Administration is willing to return the processing of Comprehensive Immigration
Reform to government control with necessary safeguards to inhibit fraud, and,
in addition, to reinstate border integrity and sovereignty, comprehensive
immigration reform can and will work.
However, short of those two essential factors being in place and
becoming guidelines for lessons learned,
we’ll likely require a third effort to re-address the issue again in two
decades or less.
Ben Ferro
___________________________________________________________________
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