By Cliff Kincaid
Accuracy in MediaTuesday, April 24, 2007
Rep. Edward Royce, a high-ranking conservative California Republican, said over the weekend that a White House-backed amnesty plan for illegal aliens has provisions which undermine the national sovereignty of the U.S. and help facilitate development of a North American Union, much like the European Union that supersedes the sovereignty of 27 European countries.
He vowed to defy the White House and mobilize House Republicans against the bill, backed by what he called the “open borders lobby.”
Accuracy in Media has published several articles about the North American Union, the creation of which has been ignored by most of the media, except for Lou Dobbs of CNN and some conservative talk-radio hosts.
Speaking to the California Republican Assembly (CRA) on April 21, Royce, the Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, warned the audience that the Bush Administration is failing to protect U.S. borders not only from entry by illegal aliens but from potential terrorists. He disclosed that Bush has complained to congressional Republicans that some of his friends are not happy with the building of a border fence between the U.S. and Mexico. But the building of such a barrier is the law, Royce emphasized.
Delivering a wide-ranging attack on the Bush-backed amnesty scheme, Royce said that one of the laughable “enforcement” provisions of the bill requires that illegal aliens caught in the U.S. be provided with individual and group counseling, recreational programs, special religious services, private toilet and shower facilities, and clothes that are not “prison-style uniforms or jumpsuits.”
Under the bill, he continued, amnesty recipients will receive Social Security benefits for their illegal work, costing billions of dollars and draining more money from the Social Security Trust Fund. And once they become citizens and qualify for welfare, Royce said the additional cost to American taxpayers will be $30 billion per year. He said the bill even allows U.S. companies under certain conditions to fire American workers and hire foreigners.
Reading from a congressional analysis of the bill, H.R. 1645, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, a Democrat, and Rep. Jeff Flake, a Republican, Royce said not only does it propose “mass amnesty” for illegals but sets out an “immigration security strategy for North America” and “a common security perimeter” for the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Such terms suggest creation of a North American Union.
The bill, formally titled, “Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007,” is considered the House version of the Sen. Ted Kennedy amnesty bill in the Senate. Its amnesty provision is being euphemistically labeled a “pathway to citizenship” for most of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.
Royce called attention to Section 113 of the bill, “Reports on Improving the Exchange of Information on North American Security,” which also says the three countries should develop “common” biometric identification and security documents.
He told the CRA, a conservative group within the California Republican Party, that the White House and congressional Democrats need 70 Republican votes in the House to pass it. “If you do not stand up,” he said, “they will peel off these votes.”
Royce warned that the bill, if passed, would lead to more illegal immigration into the U.S. That was the result, he said, of the 1986 amnesty plan passed by Congress.
Mincing no words in his condemnation of the White House, Royce said the Bush Administration is not adequately enforcing current immigration laws and not supporting the border patrol.
The latter was evident when Joe Loya spoke to the hundreds in attendance at the CRA conference. The father-in-law of Ignacio Ramos, one of two federal border patrol agents sentenced to prison for their handling of a case involving a Mexican drug smuggler, Loya said the Bush Administration’s prosecution of the case has emotionally and financially devastated his family.
Agents Ramos and Jose Compean are serving 12- and 11-year sentences, and Ramos was recently assaulted in prison by criminal aliens who recognized him on television.
Many members of the CRA audience expressed shock at the case and came up to offer Loya and his family financial support. Loya said the financial costs, which include appealing the verdict in the case, are substantial and rising.
Loya was scheduled to leave California for Washington, D.C. to participate in the “Hold Their Feet to the Fire 2007” April 22-25 event on real immigration reform. Dozens of conservative talk-show hosts from around the country are participating. On Tuesday night, there will be a “Defend Those Who Defend Us” forum in support of the border patrol.
Loya told AIM that conservative talk radio has been absolutely essential to getting out the story and that tens of millions are responding in support. In terms of television, he gave special thanks to Lou Dobbs of CNN for covering the case.
The case against Ramos and Compean was brought by Johnny Sutton, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, who was appointed by President Bush. Sutton, who works with the Mexican consulate in order to find illegal alien “victims” of border patrol agents, previously worked for then-Governor Bush and before that was a television commentator for the Spanish language network Univision.
Royce is one of almost 100 members of Congress who have endorsed H.R. 563, a congressional pardon for Ramos and Compean, calling their convictions and sentencing an “extreme injustice.”
However, Bush Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez reportedly has said that Sutton’s job is “secure.”
2007 Cliff Kincaid - All Rights Reserved
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