On September 17, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee was scheduled to consider and mark up three immigration bills. It appears that the Democratic majority wants to act on immigration legislation before Congress breaks for election campaigning. 

Consideration of the first two bills was deferred, but the third bill, H.R 6020, which includes "expedited immigration proceedings for servicemembers," was reported favorably to the full House for a vote.

As reported by NumbersUSA, "H.R. 6020, which would apply to the 23 million veterans of the armed forces, would grant amnesty to any illegal aliens who have served and to their families. For U.S. citizens who have served, it would grant amnesty to their illegal-alien spouses, children, parents, and minor children of their parents. In addition, the measure would waive certain grounds for deportation for any illegal alien who has served in the military and for that person’s spouse, children, parents, and minor children of their parents. Lastly, the bill would authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney General to waive all other grounds of inadmissibility or deportation."

Members of the U.S. military have a duty to obey our laws. Illegal aliens have engaged in criminal behavior by entering the United States in violation of our immigration laws. Serving in the U.S. military does not negate their lawbreaking, and this legislation would actually reward that lawbreaking. It is an insult to those who have served honorably. Hence, it should come as no surprise that the American Legion has already announced its opposition to the bill.

There have even been reports that gangs might very well be using military training to enhance their criminal activities. If the military is either unable to deal with such internal challenges with screening out U.S. citizens who are involved in gangs, or is turning a blind eye to them, then what kind of self-policing can we expect if larger numbers of illegal aliens step forward to join, whose backgrounds might be overlooked by a recruiter under pressure to make a quota?

If H.R. 6020 were to become law, it would serve as a magnet for illegal aliens to try and serve in the military, in order to obtain a special fast track to U.S. citizenship. It would also encourage military recruiters, who are under intense pressure to meet manpower quotas for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to attract illegal aliens into our armed forces. In addition, it would also encourage marriage fraud, because it removes the usual two-year probation period for non-citizen spouses.

Now that the bill has passed out of committee, Capitol Hill sources suggest that it could be attached to the Defense Appropriations bill, which Democratic leaders plan on passing before Congress goes on recess for the elections. Please contact your U.S. Representative through the Capitol Switchboard (202-224-3121) and ask him or her to oppose the passage of H.R. 6020, or any legislation that would grant amnesty to illegal aliens who have served in the U.S. military.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments