Ed Meese: It's Amnesty

Edwin Meese, who served as Attorney General under President Reagan, says the immigration plan the Senate is debating is very similar to the 1986 program enacted under President Reagan. The difference, he says, is that "President Reagan called this what it was: amnesty."

Meese, acknowledging that the 1986 amnesty didn't solve our immigration problems, warns "So here we are, 20 years later, having much the same debate and being offered much the same deal in exchange for promises largely dependent on the will of future Congresses and presidents."

Mr. Meese participated in a conference call with bloggers today and told them that if the current bill passes, we should expect to deal with this issue all over again in another decade or so, with even more illegal aliens having entered the country.

Monday I mentioned a couple of the less publicized provisions of the Senate's bill, which give preference to guest workers over Americans in areas such as firing for cause and prevailing wages.

As recounted by John Hawkins of Right Wing News, Mr. Meese also told the bloggers there is another troubling "hidden" provision in the Senate's bill:

"The current Senate bill would actually prevent police officers from making arresting anyone based on the fact that they're in this country illegally. Mr. Meese pointed out that we need more, not less cooperation from police departments for enforcement."