I Don't Appreciate Liars

I Don't Appreciate Liars

If this Kerry guy becomes president... well, let's just say he better tread lightly on making promises he can't keep for the sake of getting elected.

Candidates Court Illegal Immigrants
Thursday, July 08, 2004
By Matt Hayes

On June 30, John Kerry went to Phoenix and spoke before the national conference of the race identity group La Raza (search). By now most Americans know that ¡°La Raza¡± is Spanish for ¡°The Race,¡± and also that the media accept that groups such as La Raza are conspicuously race conscious while being intolerant of others for being so.

This may be why Kerry, a presidential candidate of a mainstream political party, didn¡¯t see much of a downside in speaking before such an organization. In Kerry¡¯s appearance, Americans can see just how far behind its politicians have left the truth. They can also see that most candidates for federal office will propose almost anything if votes are in the offing.

Kerry said to his audience, "It is time to fulfill the promise of America, so that those who work hard and take responsibility and build a better life for them and their families, and live by the rules, and pay their taxes and raise their families have a right to share in America and its citizenship in the fullest." Kerry then went on to promise that the 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens in the U.S. would be given a ¡°path to citizenship¡± in his first 100 days in office.

The speech, one of many by candidates for office, reportedly drew the loudest applause.

On closer inspection, it¡¯s clear that Kerry¡¯s pronouncement could have come right out of Orwell. Not a single individual who could benefit from Kerry¡¯s amnesty plan has by any definition ¡°played by the rules.¡±

Eligibility for the Kerry amnesty plan requires an individual to not just be present in the United States without a current visa (which is a crime under Title 8 of the U.S. Code) but also working, which is a crime under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (search)signed into law by Ronald Reagan in 1986. Both activities are capable of treatment as felonies.

If federal legislation represents the national will expressed through our representatives in Congress, then Kerry¡¯s plan is in outright conflict with the will of a majority of Americans. But the fact that Kerry¡¯s amnesty proposal puts only unprosecuted felons ¡°on the path to citizenship¡± is not likely to be its downfall. After all, Republican Chris Cannon, the congressman from Utah who also spoke at the conference, has proposed similar legislation and it has garnered the support of 63 members of Congress (though several supporters are now distancing themselves from the bill). Kerry¡¯s problem is more likely to be the fact that his amnesty is predicated on payment of one¡¯s taxes...

Matt Hayes began practicing immigration law shortly after graduating from Pace University School of Law in 1994, representing new immigrants in civil and criminal matters. He is the author of The New Immigration Law and Practice, to be published in October.

Normally I don't like to post such long articles (the above is actually the first half of the article) but this one had me mind-boggled for some time. Someone should arrest politicians who lie and make false promises. I'm not too political, so I really don't like to dive into matters of weapons and whatnot, but things involving immigration really hits home.