Senators Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) crafted a compromise amnesty bill for an estimated two million undocumented youth – in exchange for keeping Title 42 in place for one more year. But it fell through last week after it came up short of the 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate to advance legislation.
Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, spoke with AFN. "It was a terrible deal. An amnesty in exchange for vague promises that we could all take to the bank would have been worthless. So, it was a big win," he states.
Mehlman also addresses the EAGLE Act (H.R.3524), which would have eliminated country caps on visas. It was also tabled last week after a plethora of lobbying efforts by his group. That bill would have resulted in some 90% of employment-based green cards being issued to citizens of just two nations: India and China.
"And of course, we know China is an adversary," he adds. "They have been using U.S. visas as a mechanism to infiltrate people who steal industrial sometimes military secrets."
FAIR says it's encouraging that support for such an "ill-conceived and dangerous" bill waned among lawmakers in both parties – especially the GOP. FAIR sees that as another indication Republicans are unifying behind efforts to end the unprecedented wave of illegal immigrants as well as programs that have had negative impact on American workers.
