"Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles": pro-amnesty, pro-guest worker fantasy from Robert George

Robert George of Princeton University, former George W Bush official Alfonso Aguilar, and Alejandro Chafuen (see this) are the founders of the "Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles" (latino-partnership.org), an outgrowth of George's American Principles Project. See this for a recent WSJ article involving their efforts to promote comprehensive immigration reform, aka amnesty.

They say that their group "promotes conservative values and ideals within the Latino community and works to integrate Latinos into fuller and more active participation and leadership in the conservative movement" and George promotes the group on the video at peekURL.com/v4y7iz1 That was posted five days ago and it hasn't exactly set the world on fire: it has just 174 views.

Taking a look at their "Position on Immigration" (latino-partnership.org/Immigration_Position.php), they call for amnesty and guest workers:

1. Strengthen Border Security. We must continue to strengthen border security to combat drug trafficking and discourage immigrants from risking their lives to cross illegally into the country.

This is boilerplate; see secure the border.

2. Prioritize Internal Enforcement. Federal immigration enforcement resources and actions should focus on immigrants involved in criminal activity rather than workplace raids and "audits" that harm both workers and employers.

That is, of course, quite "business friendly". It's also not far from the actual position of the far-left, whether Luis Gutierrez or the American Civil Liberties Union even if some of them hype tough enforcement despite not supporting it. The amnesty that Robert George supports would serve as a huge magnet to encourage more people to try to come here illegally, and if he had his way corrupt businesses could hire them with little risk.

3. Legalize the Undocumented. The vast majority of undocumented immigrants are good, hard working people who are doing jobs Americans do not want or for which there are simply no Americans of working age available. We should establish a path for undocumented immigrants to earn legal status after paying a penalty for having entered the country illegally.

The jobs Americans wont do talking point is even more false and despicable now with massive unemployment. The last sentence would make a mockery of our immigration laws, establishing two channels for coming to the U.S.: the legal variety (for suckers who want to wait a decade or two to even set foot in the U.S.), and the Robert George variety where someone can come here illegally, wait a while (working at one of the companies the George won't raid), and then pay a fee.

4. Create a Guest Worker Program. Immigrants are not competing with Americans for jobs. They are doing jobs that are vital to our economy, but that Americans, for various reasons, are not doing. The economic growth and stability of the nation depends on the capacity of American business and industry to recruit foreign workers as needed. Current work visa quotas are too limited and have been set arbitrarily by Congress. We must create a Guest Worker Program that allows for the entry of foreign workers as the needs of our economy dictate.

The despicable lie in the last section is made more explicit with the lie in the first sentence of this section. About the only job category only done by immigrants is sheepherding; there are Americans working in a vast range of job categories and in every one they're competing against both other Americans and immigrants. Millions of Americans are unemployed, and Robert George would turn his back on them in order to help businesses seeking lower-priced or more malleable foreign labor.

5. Promote Patriotic Assimilation. Immigrants who remain in the U.S. as permanent residents as well as those who become citizens should learn English, learn and identify with the principles upon which our country was founded, and study the basics of U.S history. New Americans’ attachment to the nation and our institutions is essential for the preservation of the social cohesion of our political community.

The last sentence is correct, although that could be argued. What precedes it is could be how things are done now, although it's not clear what sort of testing would be involved (if any) and what he'd do about those who won't assimilate. And, of course, it doesn't answer any questions similar to those raised by Samuel Huntington. Having divided loyalties is an issue even among those in the political sphere such as Martin Sandoval, Juan Hernandez, and Fabian Nunez; they offer no clue about how they'd deal with the hundreds of thousands or millions of foreign citizens inside the U.S. who have little or no loyalty to this country. Confronting that issue would show that they're familiar with this topic and that they want what's best for the U.S. Clearly other things are more important to them.