The bill is called Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009, and there are a few things you should know about it.
First, it's a dead letter. Gun-shy Democrats, smoked by an unthinkable defeat in Massachusetts, and remembering what happened the last time they tried a quarterback sneak on near-amnesty, know that it's a third rail.
Second, the "path to citizenship" is unpopular, according to a new Zogby poll. Among executives, 59 percent support enforcement to encourage illegal immigrants to go home, 30 percent support conditional legalization; 67 percent of small-business owners support enforcement, and 22 percent approve of conditional legalization. And in union households, 58 percent support enforcement while 28 percent like conditional legalization.
Third, the bill does nothing for legal immigrants because they already have full rights, along with their own burdens, such as the time and expense it cost them to come here the right way.
The bill is designed solely for "satisfying the demands of illegal aliens, ethnic special-interest groups and cheap-labor employers," says Bob Dane, of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a right-wing group.
Jen Rock, coordinator of the dovish New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, responds that the "violation of being in this country without documents is equal to jaywalking, a civil violation, not a criminal violation,"and that the bill "addresses the needs of having a just labor system, family unity and ensuring that the people who are contributing to our economy are treated the way that all Americans are treated."
Amid a crowd of 40, some holding banners reading "This Is the Only Home My Children Know" and "We Are Not Terrorists, We Are Workers," about a half-dozen speakers, mainly Hispanic, talked about the difficulties and fears they face as "immigrants," but something was missing - a single word they all omitted.
