Ronald Reagan got it wrong! President Reagan promised us in 1986 that if we gave amnesty to illegal immigrants one time we would never worry about that issue again. The bill was called the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, also known as the Simpson-Mazzoli Act. Basically this law knowingly provided amnesty for up to four million (mostly Latin) illegals in exchange for setting up rigid employment barriers to deter future illegals. (My own company did a lot of hiring at that time. And every one of those mostly American born, young Northern New Jersey Catholic women had to prove their citizenship before we hired them). But President Reagan missed two major points. The first is the Dinerstein Iron Law of Immigration: “Amnesty Begets Illegals.” So while North America was hearing: “no more illegals,” Latin America was hearing: “Amnesty today. Amnesty tomorrow.” The second major point that President Reagan missed was: Barack Obama.
President Obama was different. He knew that the Democrat Party was hemorrhaging voters, like the families of my Catholic employees, and if the Democrats were to keep winning they would have to import new voters; their kind of voters, poorly educated, low skilled, Socialist by birth and with little or no sense of American “exceptionalism.” For a while President Obama would remind the public that he is not a king and comprehensive immigration reform is a topic for Congress, a place the Democrats had overwhelming control of during President Obama’s first two years. Then he changed his mind, personally deciding that “it’s good to be the king,” as the Disney people taught us, and he could grant future citizenship to everyone he wanted. Voila, DACA; the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. With a stroke of one pen President Obama gave us a reported 800,000 future citizens, presumably Democrats, while being cheered on by Congressional Democrats who were thrilled to give up their Constitutional prerogatives for such a “kingly” act.
The DACA spin was that these future citizens were brought or sent to our country by their parents and are here through no fault of their own. The reality? Not exactly. The average “Dreamer” is twenty three years old. The oldest? Thirty six. When the program was enacted in 2012 the age limit wasn’t 16 or 18 or even 21. It was 31! Dream on.
But President Obama also miscalculated. He never thought Donald Trump would be the next president. But with Hilary promising to end all the energy jobs and Trump promising to end illegal immigration, President Obama’s executive orders started looking like very thin gruel. It remains to be seen how much immigration reform comes to pass. Will we ever get the wall? Who knows. But we do know that illegal immigration is down 70 percent, gang arrests are up and voter fraud is being taken seriously. And mostly we know that immigration reform will be taken up by Congress and if something happens it will because Congress passed it and the president signed it. Our Constitution is a beautiful thing.
So what should the legislation do for the Dreamers? As little as possible. And here’s why:
1. Because “Amnesty Begets Illegals.” The more amnesty the greater the future illegal surge;
2. Because illegals are often victims of the human trafficking industry, coyotes extorting large sums of money from their families;
3. Because people die on the way North;
4. Because the sole purpose is to add Democrats;
5. Because there are law abiding people in Latin America who actually registered at our embassies to be legal immigrants. They should come first;
6. Because illegals commit crimes at an above average rate. I know because we are not allowed to report crime by citizenship status. If illegals were less likely to commit crimes we would always report by citizenship status and it would be on page 1;
7. Because any amnesty will be greatly expanded by the next Democrat President. Citizenship for all, not just Dreamers. President Obama “accidentally” put tens of thousands of illegals on a supposedly non-existent path to citizenship;
8. Because illegal immigration breaks up families, leaving some behind while the younger males are sent North. Keep them united in their homeland;
9. Because, last but most important, the Constitution of the United States of America is the law of the land. President Obama’s open contempt for our rule of law is a sin for which he should never be forgiven.
Let the legislating begin. I’ll be back!
Sid Dinerstein is a former chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party. He founded JBS Associates, a 600-person financial service company, and currently combines politics and business with Niger Innis in Inclusive Elections LLC, a firm that brings urban electorate voters to the GOP. He is the author of "Adults Only: For Those Who Love Their Country More Than Their Party." For more of his reports, Go Here Now.