(February 18, 2021, Washington, D.C.) – The following statement was released by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in response to the introduction of the U.S. Citizenship Act. The statement is attributed to Dan Stein, president, FAIR:
"Today, Congressional Democrats introduced a President Biden-backed mass immigration bill that grants a sweeping amnesty to at least 14.5 million illegal aliens, significantly increases legal immigration levels, and provides $4 billion in foreign aid to Central American countries while eviscerating immigration enforcement. This bill is 353 pages long, indicating just how far the administration intends to go in its pursuit of Biden's promise to amnesty every illegal alien in the country."
Mass Amnesty:
"This amnesty would be the largest in U.S. history, promising citizenship to nearly 14.5 million people. They do not even have to live here, as the proposal allows any illegal alien who was deported by the Trump administration to return and receive the amnesty as well. The legislation is wide-reaching, and even extends legal status to illegal aliens convicted of multiple crimes."
Increased Legal Immigration:
"The U.S. Citizenship Act accelerates failed family chain migration policies by clearing long visa backlogs by expediting admission of a whole range of family members already in the queue, and the tens of millions of family members of those who will get amnesty under the bill. FAIR estimates that there will be 52 million more legal and illegal immigrants entering the country because of this amnesty and related policies. This shortsighted legislation increases the unpopular green card lottery from 55,000 to 80,000 visas a year, and awards green cards to all foreign students who graduate with an advanced degree in a STEM field from a U.S. university or college despite the continued unemployment of more than 10 million Americans."
"An entire section of the bill is devoted to training (and retraining) border and immigration enforcement agents about how not to enforce immigration laws. Under curricula Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be given 'cultural awareness' training, taught where they may enforce laws (likely nowhere where immigration law violators are likely to be found), and how to 'refer complaints to the Ombudsman for Border and Immigration Related Concerns.'"
Foreign Aid:
"The legislation calls for $4 billion in funding to address the so-called 'root causes' of migration in Central America, even though history has shown that foreign aid packages do not work in these countries due to corrupt governments and U.S. immigration policies that encourage migrants to come to the U.S. border."
Not the Time for Any Immigration Bill:
"Even Democratic Representative Vincente Gonzalez, whose district sits along the Texas-Mexico border, noted his concern, stating, 'The way we're doing it right now is catastrophic and is a recipe for disaster in the middle of a pandemic.'
"Rep. Gonzalez is dead-on. Now is not the time for any bill that does not address the concerns of the American people, or even worse, exacerbates a border crisis. Even the White House is tacitly acknowledging that the bill will have little public support, and is suggesting that it might be broken up into smaller pieces. The problem is the 'recipe,' which ignores every public interest immigration policy. Serving it up in smaller portions will not make it any more palatable."
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