100 million new immigrants?
May 15, 2006 | By Nathaniel Ward
Today, Heritage’s Robert Rector released a new study showing that the Senate’s immigration reform plan would let an estimated 103 million immigrants into the U.S. over the next 20 years. That’s fully one-third of the current population of the United States.
And tonight at 8:00 PM eastern time, President Bush will address the nation on the immigration issue. He is expected to announce the immediate deployment of thousands of National Guard troops to the border to support the Border Patrol until more agents can be brought into the field. He is also expected to:
- Propose that illegal immigrants currently in the country pay a penalty for being here; pay back taxes; learn English; and, if they hold a job for several years, then become eligible to be put at the back of the line for citizenship applications
- Recommend tougher penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants
- Call for a temporary visa program that allows employers to hire foreigners for set periods of time
A look at the President’s proposals
- The President is absolutely correct to emphasize border security. The border must be secured before any other changes are made. But while using the National Guard is a good temporary measure, it cannot be used in place of a comprehensive reform and it must not interfere with operations in Iraq.
- The President is right to speak about internal enforcement. Any immigration reform should include a determined strategy to enforce the rules, including steep penalties for those who hire illegal immigrants and new efforts to target the worst offenders.
- The President will discuss a temporary worker program. Any temporary worker program must be temporary. It must rely on free enterprise, incentivize legal immigration and institute real internal enforcement. It must not be open-ended and poorly implemented, as is the program now being considered by the Senate, and it must not be a way to circumvent the rules and procedures of the citizenship process.
- The President must not only verbally reject amnesty but he must recognize that the Senate bill currently under consideration is an amnesty. An amnesty would undermine the rule of law, reward illegal behavior, be unfair to those who follow the law, and invite further illegal immigration.
- The President should also make clear the need for immigrant assimilation—and follow through on the rhetoric. Assimilation must include an emphasis on learning English, learning about this country’s political principles, history, institutions, and civic culture, and establishing primary allegiance to the United States.
At what cost?
Many of the President’s proposals are included in the Senate’s bill, based on compromise legislation from Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Mel Martinez (R-FL).
But the long-term implications of this bill, including the provisions for amnesty for law-breakers, have not been seriously considered in the Senate or by the White House. In fact, some of the provisions were considered so good for political reasons that they were inserted without any regard for the consequences.
So now The Heritage Foundation has done the work that needed to be done. Thanks to the continued support of our members, our experts have done the analysis, crunched the numbers and determined exactly what this “reform” would do.
And we’re getting the word out: just as soon as our latest research on immigration was published this morning, the Fox News channel ran a series of special alerts. See the Fox Alert online!
The Senate bill means amnesty
Heritage expert Robert Rector breaks down the Senate’s proposal. It would:
- Grant immediate amnesty for 10 million illegal aliens, comprising 85 percent of all illegal immigrants
- Create a “temporary guest worker program” that is anything but temporary, since most guest workers would be eligible for citizenship
- Provide additional permanent visas for family members of immigrants, including siblings, parents, and adult children
- Open the door to nearly four times as many permanent worker visas as are now issued
100 million more immigrants
Under the Senate’s bill, Rector explains, more than 100 million new immigrants would come to America, as a conservative estimate. And under some scenarios, the bill would allow almost 200 million. Put another way, immigrants numbering anywhere between 1/3 and 2/3 of the current United States population could legally enter the country. This would fundamentally alter the character of our nation.
Even if the guest worker program were not to grow at all, he says, immigration levels would still be three times as high as the 19 million immigrants over 20 years currently allowed.
As a result, fully a quarter of the population would be foreign-born. This is higher even than during the massive immigration boom of 1870 to 1920, when up to 15 percent was foreign-born.
“There is no precedent for that level of immigration at any time in U.S. history,” Rector wrote.
Amnesty means more poverty and higher welfare costs
A new Heritage paper, also by Robert Rector, presents a stark picture of what will happen if Congress passes the Senate’s amnesty bill. If passed, he writes, it would legalize thousands of illegal workers who are statistically among the poorest and most criminal populations in the country. And the Senate bill “would be the largest expansion of the welfare state in 35 years” as the ten million illegal aliens currently here become eligible for benefits—costing $46 billion a year or more.
Amnesty means more illegal immigration
Rector also points out that amnesty may well increase illegal immigration, as the 1986 amnesty bill prompted a five-fold increase in annual illegal immigration. “It seems plausible that the prospect of future amnesty and citizenship served as a magnet to draw even more illegal immigrants into the country,” he writes. “After all, if the nation granted amnesty once why wouldn’t it do so again?”
Liberal myths on immigration
Liberals have come out with all sorts of distortions about immigration. So MyHeritage.org has taken the two most common myths and de-bunked them:
What you can do
- Get the facts out: This is a message that needs to reach as many people as possible. Forward this e-mail to your entire e-mail list—before it’s too late.
- Take action: Visit the MyHeritage.org Activist Toolkit and see how you can help change the debate
Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation.
