Democrats' plan to include a multi-million alien amnesty in the massive partisan fiscal spending bill (a.k.a BBB) Dems. hope to pass via 50 Senate votes through the budget reconciliation process - has now entered "plan C" after the Senate Parliamentarian shot down the past two attempts.
The pro-amnesty Center for American Progress released a new analysis Tuesday which says that "plan C" would include 'temporary' enforcement protections for approximately 7.1 million illegal aliens. Democrats' first plan included approx. 8 million illegal aliens, "plan B" covered around 6.5 million illegals.
The new plan supposedly would include the offer of "parole" for millions of illegal aliens, creating another class of aliens protected from enforcement. Parole has often been used to bring smaller groups of aliens to the U.S., including recently for tens of thousands of lightly-vetted random afghans evacuated from Kabul during the country's fall.
Now, Democrats hope to ditch the law's intent and expand the parole process to cover over half the estimated illegal alien population already present in the country. In their report, the Center for American Progress stated that if Democrats pass the parole, through a partisan 50 Senator vote, to include all illegal aliens present in the U.S. before Jan. 1, 2011 - it would cover 7.1 million illegal aliens.
It is important to note, parole is not a pathway to citizenship. So not only does it fall short of the demands of illegal aliens and pro-amnesty groups, but it also falls short of fulfilling the promises of Democrats who have campaigned on a "pathway to citizenship" for years. Parole is a temporary legal status, it comes with the opportunity to apply for a work permit and access to limited taxpayer-funded benefits.
The Center for American Progress erroneously called parole "a durable, long-term protection." "As [some Democrat] senators pursue all avenues to grant relief to undocumented immigrants, parole is an important policy consideration that should pass parliamentary muster," the analysts said.
In the same report, CAP accurately stated that parole is not a permanent status, and offers limited benefits for parolees. According to the analysts, this temporary nature resolves the Parliamentarian's issues with the previous attempts. For both "plan A" and "plan B," the Parliamentarian stated that amnesty's size and permanent nature had too large of a policy impact to pass the budgetary Byrd Rule.
Additionally, parole can be revoked by a future congress; and, as the Parliamentarian stated in her rejection of "plan B," if it can be passed through the filibuster-proof reconciliation process, it can be withdrawn through it as well.
CAP added that under another section of U.S. immigration law, known as "advanced parole," aliens could be granted a "pathway to citizenship" if they can provide a reason to leave and re-enter the country after already receiving parole, approval of these reasons would be granted on the subjective whim of DHS.
According to the Washington Times:
Immigration activists say avoiding deportation isn't enough. They argue that illegal immigrants have earned a chance at citizenship by planting deep ties into their communities and holding jobs most Americans won't do at the rates of pay offered.
For more, please visit the Washington Times.
