Here is another reason why it’s impossible to take liberal politicians seriously when they promise they will secure America’s borders if only a “path to citizenship” is offered to illegal aliens who are already in the United States.
Back in 1998, Hurricane Mitch caused destruction in the Central American nations of Honduras and Nicaragua. Then in 2001, earthquakes did damage in El Salvador. After the catastrophes, our federal government permitted hundreds of thousands of people from those countries who were in the United States at the time to remain here while their homelands recovered.
That was called a “temporary” legal status.
But it wasn’t “temporary” at all. Twelve years after Hurricane Mitch and nine years after the earthquakes, those citizens of El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua remain in the United States with their supposedly temporary legal status. In fact, that status has been repeatedly extended over all those years. The latest “extension” was supposed to end this July. But a few days ago, the Obama administration said all those hundreds of thousands of individuals may remain in the United States through early 2012.
The administration said the Central American nations have not recovered enough to take back their citizens. But with all due sympathy for any nation that suffers a natural disaster, if it has not “recovered” 12 years later, it may never do so.
For all practical purposes, our nation has declared those nearly 300,000 foreigners permanent legal residents of the United States.
So do you really believe liberal lawmakers who promise to “get tough” on illegal immigration? Isn’t it far more likely that a “path to citizenship” would simply legalize the 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the United States today, without preventing millions more from invading?