“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” –Emma Lazarus

Once again it’s immigration reform time in Washington, D.C.

Republicans have decided that after losing two Presidential elections in a row and losing seats in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House now might be a good time to take a look at immigration policy.

Seeing their nominee, Mitt Romney, lose more than 70 percent of the Hispanic vote to Obama probably helped change Republican minds, too. Like I’ve said, it’s all about the next election in Washington. John McCain believes that, too.

So, four Republican senators and four Democratic senators teamed up to form a “Gang of 8” to tackle immigration reform. Their plan includes “Four Basic Legislative Pillars.” These pillars are:  

-Create a tough but fair path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants currently living in the United States that is contingent upon securing our borders and tracking whether legal immigrants have left the country when required;
-Reform our legal immigration system to better recognize the importance of characteristics that will help build the American economy and strengthen American families;
-Create an effective employment verification system that will prevent identity theft and end the hiring of future unauthorized workers; and,
-Establish an improved process for admitting future workers to serve our nation’s workforce needs, while simultaneously protecting all workers.

The far-right Republicans are not that enamored with this idea because with people just talking about a bill, the far righties will scream, “No Amnesty!” Talk about baseball, the weather, or the Super Bowl and the far righties will scream, “No Amnesty!”

Back in 2007 elected officials tried to make immigration changes with a 790 page jewel-of-a-bill called, “Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007.”

In the past (2007), I’ve written a lot about Immigration reform saying we must seal the borders, find a way to deal with those illegals that are here, develop a system where companies that employ these workers can easily identify who is legal, and there must be no amnesty for those in this country illegally.

Today, we have 11 million illegal immigrants in this country and I don’t want to give them amnesty, but I am fine giving them a path where they can earn citizenship.

The “Gang of 8” and their supporters must be able to sell this plan to enough people on the right to get it to pass. Republicans will be looking over their shoulders for primary challenges if they vote for anything that can be construed as amnesty.

President Obama will fly to Las Vegas today (Tuesday) to talk about his plan for immigration reform. According to the Associated Press, the President’s “blueprint” includes “a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., improved border security, an overhaul of the legal immigration system and making it easier for businesses to verify the legal status of workers.”

Surely with all the love in D.C. this year so far, one would think that Congress would be able to form some sort plan that would gain enough support for passage…(I know, don’t call your  Shirley).

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