The more things change, the more they stay the same.
In 1986, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) successfully pushed for amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, promising that doing so would help slow the tide of illegal immigration and support America’s dwindling workforce. It failed.
In 2022, a reinvigorated Schumer is demanding that the country yet again allow millions to stay in the country and become new citizens— despite breaking the law to get here.
“Now more than ever, we’re short of workers. We have a population that is not reproducing on its own with the same level that it used to,” the Senate Majority Leader said on Wednesday. “The only way we’re going to have a great future in America is if we welcome and embrace immigrants — the DREAMers and all of them — cause our ultimate goal is to help the DREAMers but get a path to citizenship for all 11 million, or however many undocumented there are here.”
Schumer: "We have a population that is not reproducing on its own with the same level that it used to. The only way we’re going to have a great future is if we welcome immigrants… get a path to citizenship for all 11 million [illegal immigrants].”
pic.twitter.com/ag9XMQCvet— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 16, 2022
The 11 million number is certainly outdated, but Democrats and their media ilk have used that figure for more than a decade.
Per a 2018 Yale study, an estimated 22 million illegal aliens are living in the U.S. Under President Joe Biden’s watch, some project that 5.5 million have crossed the border.
There are other ways to encourage population growth. Tax incentives that benefit couples who marry and have children and other pro-natalist policies could help.
Yet it seems obvious that Democrats want to pass amnesty because they believe it would create a new class of voters for them.
Schumer and his gang are not alone. Some Republicans want a “pathway to citizenship” for illegal aliens as well — precisely because it would provide cheap labor.
As documented by Nate Hochman at National Review, Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Cornyn (R-TX) have been in talks with Democratic leaders throughout 2022 to create some sort of bill that strengthens border security while passing amnesty.
That sort of deal was the exact sort of thing offered in 1986. Obviously, the plan wasn’t sufficient enough in solving open borders and is one of President Ronald Reagan’s greatest blights.
More than 30 years later, we’re now faced with an almost identical problem and identical solution.
As Hochman put it, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. It’s time for Tillis and Cornyn to prioritize their constituents over the Chamber of Commerce.”
Unfortunately for Americans who care about borders, re-elected GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is already running headstrong into bipartisan efforts.
“My message to the administration …. let’s find some things between the 40-yard lines that we can agree on and do them,” he said. “And we did some of that this year: infrastructure, chips, school safety, mental health.”
McConnell: "My message to [Biden] is let's find some things between the 40 yard lines that we can agree on and we did some of that this year: infrastructure, chips, school safety, mental health." pic.twitter.com/R10DWW1WIi
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 16, 2022
While he stopped short of saying “pathway to citizenship,” it seems evident that amnesty would be included if a “bipartisan” group of officials can come up with a plan.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.