Immigration update
June 26, 2007| By Nathaniel Ward
The revived “compromise” immigration bill passed an early test today when Senators voted 64-35 to reopen debate. They will spend the next two days discussing the legislation and considering amendments before a procedural vote Thursday and a possible final vote Friday.
Here is some of Heritage’s latest analysis of the immigration proposal.
- “Despite its proponents’ claims to the contrary, amnesty is the cornerstone of the Senate’s immigration bill,” argues Heritage scholar Matthew Spalding.
- Heritage expert Robert Rector refutes an economic analysis made by proponents of the immigration bill. He notes in particular that the pro-amnesty analysis focuses on college-educated immigrants, while the immigration proposal would involve mainly low-skill immigrants. Bill Beach makes a similar argument in a separate paper.
- Visiting legal scholar Kris Kobach examines the legal consequences of the immigration bill, and finds that its provisions would create a “legal morass” and tie up America’s courts for years.
- The temporary worker program that forms a part of the immigration proposal would impose a tremendous bureaucratic burden on businesses and taxpayers, labor expert James Sherk writes.
- National security expert James Carafano looks at proposals for ways states could withdraw benefits granted to illegal immigrants and thereby discourage unlawful entry.
- Government affairs expert Brian Darling explains in a Heritage video how liberals in Congress are looking to block conservative arguments and amendments to the immigration bill.
All these analyses are forwarded along to members of Congress, the White House and the media to ensure they have all the facts as this debate continues.
Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation.
