Obama’s amnesty would only buy Hispanic votes at election time

By Frosty Wooldridge

Dan Stein, director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, www.fairus.org , gave his thoughts on what Americans face as to Obama’s re-election bid.

The Obama administration has been issuing memos recommending that large categories of illegal aliens are not to be deported.  There have been many recent examples of “prosecutorial discretion” used to prevent illegal aliens from being removed. 

Some media reports indicate the Border Patrol is not operating under new Obama administrative amnesty guidelines.  A recent Texas Tribune story included a Border Patrol supervisor saying, “until there is policy and guidance from DHS, we still do what we have to do.”  So what is happening?  

“The most likely possibility is that because it’s still early in the process, not all ICE and Border Patrol have “gotten on board” yet with the non-enforcement policies,” said Stein. “Over time, ICE and BP will be given more guidance and more non-prioritized illegal aliens will simply be let go in the field.

“But another possibility is that the Obama administration is snookering its Hispanic base. The administration has announced administrative amnesty guidelines to appease a small, but much needed voting base and is buying time until the election. At the same time, the administration will continue apprehensions and deportations as usual to satisfy Obama’s broader base of voters who expect continued enforcement.

“While cynical, this move is politically advantageous (if true) but, it does not imply it’s a benign state of affairs.  By continuing to dangle an amnesty carrot, the incentive to come into the country illegally is constantly lingering.  And of course, President Obama is corrupting immigration policy by using it as a political instrument.”

A Plan for American Jobs

 Employ Americans, Not Illegal Aliens

“The 2012 presidential campaign is well under way with President Obama and Republican hopefuls canvassing the country for support,” said Stein. “All point to a stalled economy and high unemployment as top priorities, but none acknowledge a central hurdle to job creation: illegal immigration.

“Missing from the President’s jobs proposal is any recognition of the impact of nearly 7 million illegal workers in this country – over half of the estimated 13 million illegal aliens in the U.S.  To illustrate the effect of illegal alien workers, let’s compare the President’s jobs plan to an immigration enforcement job creation plan:

President’s American Jobs Act

• Cost of President’s plan – $447 billion

• New jobs it claims to create – 1.3 million by end of 2012

• Cost of each new job created by President’s plan – $344,000

Removal of Illegal Alien Job Holders

• Cost of removing a single illegal alien – $23,000 (per DHS estimates)

• Cost of removing 7 million illegal workers – $161 billion

• New jobs created – 7 million

“So, removing illegal alien workers would theoretically create 5.7 million more job opportunities for American workers than the President’s job creation plan and save us $286 billion,” said Stein. “Of course, there is an even more cost effective way to open up jobs for Americans.  The passage of national E-Verify, along with consistent enforcement of laws against hiring illegal aliens, would also open up millions of jobs for unemployed Americans.  Widespread implementation of employment verification deters illegal immigration and encourages the hiring of legal workers.”

Federation for American Immigration Reform, 25 Massachusetts Avenue – Suite 330 Washington DC, 20001
www.fairus.org

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Frosty Wooldridge is a member of the board at FAIR.