The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 had two major features: to make it illegal for employers to knowingly hire illegal immigrants and to provide amnesty for the then approximately 5 million illegal immigrants in the country on the condition they had no criminal record. Some 2.7- 2.9 million illegal immigrants stepped out of the shadows and applied for amnesty. The President at that time, Ronald Reagan, supported the legislation with the understanding that there would also be enhanced border security to stem the flow of future illegal immigrants. 

By any measure the 1986 legislation and the amnesty program were a dismal failure. 

According to the Pew Research Center by 1990 the illegal immigrant population stood at 3.5 million and had grown to 12.2 million by 2007.  As of 2020, estimates of the illegal immigrant population range from 11-12 million. Some suggest it is significantly more than that, which is more likely.

This past Wednesday the White House introduced the US Citizenship Act of 2021 with a primary goal of providing a “pathway to citizenship” for the 11 million plus illegal immigrants now residing in our country.  But a “pathway to citizenship” is really just another term for “amnesty” re-branded to legitimize and sanitize the fact of criminal illegal entry and to conflate illegal immigration with legal immigration.  Nothing is more indicative of this attempt than the bill’s proposal to replace the terms “illegal alien or alien” with “non-citizen.”

The legislation as proposed would effectively provide the opportunity for amnesty for those illegal immigrants present in the country as of January 1, 2021. Those who pass criminal background and national security checks would be allowed to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and then five years later apply for a green card or Lawful Permanent Residence (LPR).  Three years hence they could apply for citizenship…a total transition period of eight years. Anyone deported after January 20, 2021, would also be able to apply for Temporary Protected Status. Anyone already in the country who are farm workers or under TPS or DACA protection could immediately apply for a green card and then citizenship three years later.

One significant aspect of the legislation is that, as noted by Bloomberg, “the citizenship path is not conditional on the implementation of border security measures.” This is a major flaw in the legislation, which in combination with the hijacking of existing programs that are designed to govern the legal immigration process, effectively moves us to an open border society … the ultimate goal of the progressive agenda.

More specifically, the legislation subverts the intent of Temporary Protected Status which is a designation applied to immigrants in the United States who cannot return to their country of origin due to ongoing armed conflict, natural disaster, or other extraordinary reasons. By allowing all illegal immigrants in the country to now receive this status, regardless of the situation in their home country, renders the program meaningless since it assumes they all entered the country illegally to escape those condition in their home country.

It also dilutes the basis on which Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR or green card) status is granted. LPR is primarily granted in the context of two major categories…as an immediate relative (spouse, fiancée or children) or a family member of a US Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident and as an individual being sponsored for employment by an employer in the US.  Individuals who are granted LPR status under false pretenses (for example, saying they are going to marry but do not or who marry and are subsequently divorced and/or who it is proven have not lived with each other) are subject to deportation. LPR status can also be revoked if someone has committed a crime of moral turpitude, an aggravated felony and drug-related crimes. LPR Status can be denied if a person is deemed a security risk, or is inadmissible for health or criminal reasons, or there is a finding that the individual is likely to become reliant on government assistance. The question is whether these standards will actually be applied to the 11 million or so illegal immigrants who will be put on a path to citizenship. Or will the administration simply go through the motions and end up granting LPR status to all covered under the legislation. 

The reality is that once you have, through amnesty, given tacit permission to immigrate illegally you have demonstrated a laxity that will carry over to other standards.

Biden’s immigration legislation proposal (along with his recent policy initiatives) is built on the premise that by granting amnesty, streamlining and shortening the immigration approval process, minimizing criminal violations, and liberalizing the criteria for those seeking asylum and/or refugee status we can stem the tide of illegal immigration.  

This predicted outcome, if we learn anything from the historical record, is disingenuous. In fact, Biden’s proposed legislation and policies are the equivalent of throwing up our hands and admitting defeat in the face of those who flout our laws.

There is no doubt that if passed as proposed we will be confronting the same or a worse illegal immigrant issue 30 years from now.

Instead of acquiescence we need to demand resolve on the part of our representatives to enforce our immigration laws and to ultimately hold people accountable for their trespass.

Amnesty is not the solution but another facet of the problem.