Hat tip, the Federale blog for an extraordinary story, Amnesty By Executive Order, Stroke Of Pen Law OF The Land.Tuesday, February 24 2009.

This is a discussion of The Path Less Taken: Is There An Alternative To Waiting For Comprehensive Immigration Reform? By Gary Endelman and Cyrus D. Mehta Immigration Daily February 25 2009. (One of several publications for ”immigration professionals” put out under the auspices of ILW.com)

Federale has an excellent summary:

Basically the plan is for the Regime ...to give all illegal aliens parole status then allow them to apply for work and family based adjustment of status/visas, give the applications preliminary approval and then an Employment Authorization Card, order Customs and Border Protection to allow the parolees to travel in and out of the U.S., but not give the illegals "final" approval until it is authorized by Congress. But that will only be a formality, as with work authorization and the ability to travel, the illegals will be legal permanent residents in all but name. Then the Obama Regime will dare Congress to not provide the visa numbers or legal authorization to convert all the paroled illegal aliens to legal permanent residents. (Vdare.com emphasis)

Actually, the plan is even more fiendish than Federale says. As the authors gloat in the penultimate paragraph, it would face Congress with a fait accompli, which would need positive Congressional action to overturn:

If Congress wants to overturn such executive action, it can do so. Likewise, if it supports the President, it can stay its hand. Either way, Congress is expressing its will, whether through positive action in the form of legislation or negative action in the form of silent acquiescence…In reality, we all know that there are 40 votes in the Senate to uphold such regulatory initiative. Congress will be more than content to allow the President to take the lead and solve what it has manifestly been powerless to solve. (VDARE.com emphasis.)

In other words, once done the action should be Cloture- proof.

The Path Less Taken is (of course) written by two immigration attorneys, and they do a fine job. It is ingenious, well reasoned, comprehensive, and fluently composed. It is also a poisonous sophistry designed to end-run American Constitutional procedures:

America should not wait for Congress to solve most of its major immigration problems…Given renewed political will, the Executive can take sweeping action on its own initiative. Action no longer should take a back seat to the endless controversy over comprehensive immigration reform.

(VDARE.com - a.k.a. democratic debate.)

The authors work systematically through the jungle of immigration law and regulation demonstrating how by a series on executive orders, a path to Amnesty could be cut.

Without Congress authorizing a single new immigrant visa, this one procedure will revolutionize employment-based migration…In effect, a new era of vastly increased legal immigration would result... . By increasing the opportunity for legal immigration without the need for congressional action, such an approach combines simplicity with maximum opportunity…

No action by Congress would be required; executive fiat suffices. For those who want some comfort in finding a statutory basis, the government could rely on its parole authority...to grant such interim benefits either for "urgent humanitarian reasons" or "significant public benefit"……for good cause shown.

They also slash down any scruples

There are those who argue that only Congress can make immigration policy in this fundamental way and this reservation is both serious and worthy of deep respect. Yet, we have a dysfunctional Congress that is or appears to be incapable or unwilling to reach consensus on immigration. Do we as a society simply throw up our hands and do nothing?

Lets see… Congress failed in 2006 and 2007, after gigantic fights, to enact ”Comprehensive Immigration Reform"/(Amnesty-Immigration Acceleration). Does that tell us something of what they sensed about the will of the people?

Or maybe that does not matter? Perhaps "we, as a society" are now paramount?

Who are these men, who are so eager to thwart American governmental procedures in the interest of hordes of aliens?

Gary Endelman is in-house immigration attorney at BP America Inc, the US arm of the U.K. oil company (a major importer of people).

Cyrus D. Mehta, an immigrant from India, has his own Immigration Law firm in New York

Tell Gary Endelman

And Cyrus D. Mehta

how much you appreciate their enterprising work for the Treason Lobby.

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Please be appropriately polite.