House GOP Alternative to Shamnesty

It's times like these when I tip to my hat to Long Island's Peter King, a man who never is afraid to be called names and generally does the right thing, most notably recently in the Flying Imams/John Doe legislation in the House (which the Democrats are trying to bottle up).

Now King and Lamar Smith of Texas have introduced a bill focused on improving security and urging President Bush to enforce the laws already on the books, Steven Dinan reports today.

Goodness, they must be taking their marching orders from talk radio. Or, more likely, they realize the overwhelming majority of Americans are opposed to Shamnesty.

Key House Republicans yesterday said they would stick with current immigration laws rather than adopt the Senate's reform bill, taking a poke at the key selling point of President Bush and Senate Republicans to try to earn conservatives' support.

"Ideally, you would have the current law plus the legislation we are proposing today, but what we want to do is stop the Senate amnesty bill in its tracks right now," said Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee.

He and fellow Republicans -- including Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee -- introduced a bill enhancing existing security and a resolution calling on Mr. Bush to enforce a dozen laws already on the books.

Mr. Bush and some Senate Republicans have argued that the current situation is de facto amnesty for illegal aliens because the laws are too difficult to enforce. They say the Senate bill -- which gives legalized status to most illegal aliens, creates a new worker program and requires stricter employer checks ? is needed to gain control.

Meanwhile, Dinan also notes the focuse of Georgia's two GOP senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, who are under tremendous pressure on both sides.

The battle for each senator's vote on immigration is at the hand-to-hand combat level now, with business groups that want the bill and grass-roots activists who oppose it fighting it out through phone calls, radio ads and personal visits at offices back home.

Georgia is the newest fight, with the state's U.S. senators considered premier prizes: Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, both Republicans who appeared to back the Senate's immigration bill before distancing themselves in the face of voter opposition. But even as they try to increase the gap, the Bush administration and Georgia businesses are trying to rope them back in, telling them the state's economy needs the workers.

Michelle Malkin, as usual, is leading the charge, today highlighting an ad from 9/11 Families for a Secure America. It is the notion of us allowing undocumented terrorists into this country which is in great part driving the opposition to this legislation.

You can make all the arguments you want that we cannot deport the millions of illegals here. Fine. Still, what Americans want is our borders secure and the flow of mysterious people coming in halted. It's as if we have sat by for 40 years and watched an invasion without putting up any resistance. Nobody is implying poor Mexicans who want to come here have nefarious motives, but it isn't a stretch of the imagingation to see Al Qaeda being able to recruit Mexican gang members to work with them, is it?

Finally, if we need to reinforce to logical choice of deporting criminal illegals, Patterico, the newest addition to Hot Air, has yet another example of a criminal illegal -- who never should have been in the country -- taking lives while driving drunk.

Ironic that a drunk driver who snuffed out a life -- hello, Ted Kennedy!, is the driving force behind allowing a swarm of illegals to overrun this country.

Others weighing in include 7.62mm Justice.