From last night’s Special Report with Brit Hume:
—On the Immigration Bill—
FRED BARNES: Well, it is a comprehensive bill, and the three parts are, of course, border security and then the temporary worker program and then dealing with the 12 million illegal immigrants already here. . . . [T]he border security has with it a trigger, in other words, unless certain things are done, like having 18,000 — it’s 18,000 more border patrolmen there and 370 miles of fence — until that is done, you can’t move on to stages two and three. But once that’s done, you can have a program of bringing in 400,000 temporary workers a year who can stay two years, then they — but no longer, then they have to go back and stay in their country for a year if they want to come back again. And they can, but they’re not allowed to stay here and get on a path to citizenship.
And then thirdly, and of course the most controversial part, is the 12 million illegal immigrants already here. The will qualify after the trigger . . . for a card that will allow them to stay here. If they meet the qualifications, you know, they have a clean criminal record and . . . they have to pay a fine. But, if they want to — after eight years, if they want to get a Green Card and get on the path to citizenship, they have to return to their home country, only briefly, I think they’re guaranteed to return, the heads of household do, and then they get in line to be a citizen of the United States, which should happen, I think like something after about 13 years. . . .
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Well, I’m unimpressed by the touchback. It’s like tagging up at third base, I think all that has to happen is the head of household heads home, he spends a while there, he returns, he’s guaranteed a return and the whole process proceeds. Look, this is clearly amnesty. . . . Look, the penalty for illegal immigration in America, the important one is deportation, it’s not a fine. Deportation is your penalty. Well, under this bill, as soon as the triggers are triggered, everybody shows up at the INS and gets a “Z” visa . . . Who needs the Green Card? That’s my point. You’re here. You’re legal — as Kennedy has said, you’ll sleep well at night and your family — because you’re now here legally, indefinitely, and you can work. So — and it’s renewable indefinitely.
If the enforcement is serious, I’m in favor of this, because I believe in amnesty after you shut the border. But I have to be shown that this is serious stuff. Doubling the number of agents is bureaucratic stuff that’s meaningless. If you get a reduction of the people who cross the border illegally, by say 90 percent, that’s a trigger. You build a fence and you do that — I’d be all in favor of amnesty for the 12 million already here. . . .
BARNES: Here’s the problem with what you said, Charles . . . and that is that the 12 million people who are here illegally aren’t going back. America is not going to deport them, there is no Republican administration that’s going to do that, there is no Democratic administration that’s going to do that.
They’re here. So, we got to deal with them. And what’s the best way to deal with them? Well, we want them to work, we want them to come out of hiding, we want to give them a card so we’ll know who’s at least here and who’s not and we want them ultimately — because most of them — I think most of them came here because they want to be in America and would like to be citizens, to give them a chance after paying a penalty and they get there in 13 years, Charles, that is not amnesty.
KRAUTHAMMER: Look, I’m not against this. I’m in favor of this, but only after you shut the border. And you’ve got to show me that this actually is going to do that. I think it’s a lot of loopholes. It will be waived — the president will say all of this is done and yet, the borders will remain open.