Andy McCarthy On Amnesty...

Source: NRO

The problem with any comprehensive immigration reform that includes an amnesty — no matter how tightly you draft the triggers and certifications — is that it conveys the message that we are willing to accept some unquantified degree of violation of our laws. It conveys that some amount of law-breakers will eventually get pride of place over those who have tried to immigrate legally. Perhaps worst of all, it conveys the conceit that it is somehow our obligation to legitimize the presence of some unknown number of violators — notwithstanding that they voluntarily chose to come here and live as outlaws.

Those assumptions, implicit in any amnesty proposal, including Isakson's, will inevitably affect how the law is enforced. The immigration authorities are not going to be as aggressive as they might otherwise be if they are told from the start that we are willing to abide and ultimately reward some law-breaking. Including the amnesty, rather than just providing for better enforcement, suggests a lack of seriousness about enforcement — that it's just something to which we're reluctantly agreeing as the price of getting amnesty enacted. That will inexorably decrease the incentive toward aggressive enforcement.

Which is why he's still my favorite writer at NRO!

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