April 28, 2007

Chuck Hagel's point-based amnesty scheme

Someone didn't get the Brownback Memo, namely Sen. Chuck Hagel, who's offering a new point-based amnesty scheme. Illegal aliens would pay a $2000 fine and run the standard gamut: a background check, English proficiency, etc. Then:

They would then be evaluated on factors including work history, education level, family, English proficiency, civic engagement and the amount of time they have been in the country.

Illegal immigrants who earn a certain number of points would qualify for a greencard, but would have to wait behind those who have already applied as a legal immigrant.

"This is not amnesty," Hagel said.

It would have been nice if a neon sign with "THIS IS AMNESTY" was flashing behind his head as he said that, but I doubt that happened.

What exactly would happen to those who don't make the grade isn't clear. Bush and others (and perhaps Hagel) keep telling us that we can't deport millions of people, so either the points system is going to be mostly meaningless, or we're going to have millions of unadmitted illegal aliens still here. And, of course, the ACLU and racial power groups would be first in line to file suits claiming that the points system discriminated in some way against someone.

Hagel also says:

"At a time when America's standing in the world is as low as it's ever been, this is one of those issues that the world is watching," Hagel told participants at an immigration conference in Omaha. "This is going to tell a lot about who we are, how we handle this issue."

Posted to Immigration2007a at April 28, 2007 12:19 PM