Senate's Immigration Bill Hinders Law Enforcement

The Washington Times reports that the politically correct Senate bill would restrict "the ability of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to share information on illegal alien guest-worker applicants who are criminals and terrorists."

The head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the agency will not be able to remove criminals and national security threats if they're not allowed to pass information uncovered in background checks to other agencies.

A proposed amendment to correct this problem failed on a tie vote. Senator Ted Kennedy fought to maintain the "confidentiality" provisions.

(Hat tip: Michelle Malkin.)

As previously blogged here, the Senate's bill would also prevent local law enforcement agencies from arresting anyone on an immigration-related violation.

The Senate bill, which enjoyed majority Democrat support, seems much more interested in amnesty and guest workers than in national security.

Meanwhile, Robert Samuelson has written a very interesting article this week about what the Senate and the media aren't telling us about how the Senate's bill would impact our nation, inasmuch as it would double the current rate of legal immigration. Samuelson discusses possible reasons for the lack of information about this in the media:

"Whether or not the bias is 'liberal,' group-think is a powerful force in journalism. Immigration is considered noble. People who critically examine its value or worry about its social effects are considered small-minded, stupid or bigoted. The result is selective journalism that reflects poorly on our craft and detracts from democratic dialogue."