Previously: AMNESTY ALARM! The Democrat Budget Bill Is An Anti-American Trojan Horse
Immigration patriots received good news last week when the Senate Parliamentarian ruled against the proposed Amnesty concealed in the budget bill. Elizabeth MacDonough found that the provision, which would have legalized at least eight million illegals, was inappropriate. But the Democrats are unashamed. They’re still trying to jam an Amnesty into the bill—WA State Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and herself an immigrant, reportedly bawled during a meeting with President Biden about it [Tears in the Oval Office, by Tara Palmeri et al., Politico, September 23, 2021]. Worse, the bill still contains measures that would also boost legal immigration. It’s still a Trojan Horse, if arguably a smaller one. No matter how bad the border crisis or how poorly the Democrats perform in the polls, they are fanatical in their drive to replace the Historic American Nation. It’s almost as if they’re worried about the 2022 midterm elections.
Democrats had pinned their hopes for fast-forwarding The Great Replacement on the reconciliation process, because this would bypass the filibuster and require only a simple majority to pass. The $3.5 trillion bill just needed to be considered strictly confined to budgetary concerns. Democrats argued for the Amnesty on the grounds it somehow had something to do with the budget.
But MacDonough’s ruling was clear: Amnesty would amount to “a broad, new immigration policy.” “The policy changes of this proposal far outweigh the budgetary impact scored to it and it is not appropriate for inclusion in reconciliation,” she ruled.
Still, Treason Lobby Democrats won’t give up. They’re still looking at ways to include Amnesty. “I certainly intend to keep working until we get to a yes, and we’re not going to take no for an answer,” New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez said [Democrats prep Plan B after immigration bid rejected, by Suzanne Monyak, Roll Call, September 20, 2021].
Prior to MacDonough’s ruling, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said that he’s losing sleep over the process and that this is the best opportunity for Amnesty in years [Democrats see do-or-die moment to overhaul immigration, by Sahil Kapur, NBC News, September 16, 2021]. In her lachrymose meeting with Biden, further proof of Lance Welton’s thesis that the Democrats have become systematically more emotional and irrational than the GOP, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, argued through her tears: “I’m the first South Asian woman ever elected to the House … and one of only two dozen immigrants in Congress … as an immigrant woman of color, I just want to share my perspective.” It’s worth recalling that Jayapal is not above helping illegals file what are probably bogus asylum claims.
I was able to successfully assist 5 asylum seekers - 2 unaccompanied minors, a mother and her 9 year old child, and a young man with a serious medical condition - into the United States.
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) December 2, 2018
So how can Democrats keep Amnesty alive? They could ignore MacDonough and go forward, a major breach of Senate custom. Leftists are pushing the party to do just that, but it appears party leaders are hesitant [Ignore Senate parliamentarian on immigration reform, by The Editorial Board, Seattle Times, September 23, 2021]. It could alienate moderate a.k.a. swing district Democrats and thus jeopardize the simple majority needed to pass the bill.
The other idea: scrap the filibuster and pass the bill as standard legislation. That’s also unpopular with moderates, whose position has only hardened during the past year. West Virginia’s Joe Manchin and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema don’t want to eliminate the filibuster. Neither is thrilled with the budget bill. Both think it’s too expensive and will raise taxes [Democrats confront their Manchin and Sinema dilemma, by Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine, Politico, September 13, 2021]. They aren’t likely to scrap a core part of the legislative process to pass a bill they don’t even like, particularly given that it would hurt their re-election bids.
But Leftist Democrats have a few other ideas they hope MacDonough might approve. One is updating the “immigration registry,” which allows illegals to naturalize if they’ve been living in the U.S. since a specified date. Currently, it’s 1972. Democrats would update it to 2010, which would exclude many of the illegals they would like to legalize.
Other ideas: retroactively giving away “unused” green cards to illegals, or settling for legalizing illegals but not giving them a pathway to citizenship. No idea is as yet preferred [Democrats still have real options for immigration reform, by Nicole Narea, Vox, September 22, 2021].
Sources on the Hill tell the Watcher that Democrats are in fact flailing about and are not confident they can find an Amnesty alternative to please the parliamentarian.
But even without Amnesty, the bill still poses a threat to the Historic American Nation. Last week, former Trump adviser Stephen Miller showed that the bill would boost legal immigration by the millions with these measures:
ALERT: The Democrat Budget not only grants mass amnesty for illegals but also eliminates statutory immigration caps to award MILLIONS of extra green cards to chain migrants & foreign workers. Biden’s “budget” is the most dramatic immigration rewrite since 1965 w/Ted Kennedy. 1/11
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) September 15, 2021
And MacDonough’s ruling left those untouched; her ruling concerned the Amnesty alone [Read the Senate rules decision that blocks Democrats from putting immigration reform in budget, by Lisa Desjardins, PBS, September 20, 2021].
The good news: her ruling, paired with growing division among Democrats, might doom the bill. The ruling was a huge setback for Progressives. At the same time, Dem moderate opposition is growing and the party is struggling to come up with a bill more favorable to their interests [As Budget Bill Talks Intensify, Here Are the Five Biggest Issues Dividing Democrats, by Gabriel T. Rubin, Wall Street Journal, September 25, 2021].
The Dem moderates primarily want a bill with a lower price tag. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says they will cut the bill to placate them [Pelosi on $3.5T spending package: It 'seems self-evident' it will be less than proposed, by Monique Beals, The Hill, September 26, 2021]. But concessions to moderates might alienate angry progressives, which might wreck the whole thing. Hill sources tell the Watcher the bill’s prospects are grim, at least for now. (Despite cries of crisis from the Democrats and MSM, it is not actually necessary for this budget to pass—paychecks for civil servants, et cetera, will keep being paid by the traditional “continuing resolution”.)
If Democrats can’t get Amnesty passed through reconciliation, their only hope lies with the limited Amnesties that have made it through the House. Those bills are stalled in the Senate because Democrats won’t give the GOP anything on border security and immigration enforcement. Theoretically, Democrats could make concessions to squish Republicans to get these Amnesties through. But last week’s events show that’s not a real possibility.
The 12,000-strong Haitian border invasion didn’t convince Democrats their immigration policies have failed. Instead, it inspired them to raise their bet and demand even less border enforcement. The images—and subsequent false narrative—of Border Patrol agents mounted on horseback “whipping” black “migrants” drew some of the most hyperbolic rhetoric in recent memory. California Rep. Maxine Waters said the scenes were worse than slavery [Maxine Waters: Treatment of Haitian Migrants Worse Than Slavery, by Kyle Morris, Fox News, September 22, 2021]. President Biden cowered and promised that the agents would “pay” for doing their jobs.
Outside of condemnatory rhetoric, Democrats propose more changes to make it easier for illegals to flood our country, despite this year’s record surges. Several lawmakers want Biden to scrap Title 42, a law that permits the immediate deportation of illegals on health grounds. Without Title 42, the Haitians wouldn’t be deported in a timely manner and a greater incentive for immigration would be added to the many Biden has already implemented [Amid backlash, Biden administration defends use of Trump-era order to expel migrants, by Armando Garcia et al., ABC News, September 26, 2021]. Some Democrats also want to grant the Haitians temporary protected status, another invitation for more illegals [Rep. Green: We Should Grant Protection to All Haitian Migrants, by Ian Hanchett, Breitbart, September 25, 2021].
Hysterical shrieking works—the Biden Regime has changed enforcement policies after the Big Whip Lie. Border Patrol can no longer use horses, which makes their tough job even harder. The Regime’s condemnation will further lower agents’ morale and inspire more resignations and departures. The Border Patrol is stretched to the limit, but the Regime is more concerned with appeasing the Left than with border security [Biden administration stops Border Patrol using horses in Del Rio amid Dem outrage, by Adam Shaw, Fox News, September 23, 2021].
The reaction to the Haitian illegals should dispel any optimism that the Democrats will offer meaningful concessions to squish Republicans. They won’t even tolerate the arrest of illegals. They want them in the country forever.
Republicans know this insane policy plays well for them and that their voters want border security and no illegal immigration. Not ten Senate Republicans are dumb enough to give Democrats what they want in the middle of a border crisis in exchange for nothing.
It’s do or die for Democrats right now. The budget bill is their last shot to get Amnesty passed before the 2022 election. If they lose the midterms, they will have to hope they win in 2024 to have another shot.
The threat of Amnesty is never far away. But if this bill fails entirely, the Historic American Nation lives on to fight another day.
Washington Watcher II [Email him] is an anonymous DC insider.
