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Carrying Capacity Network Action Alert Reform Lite Sell-Out Again! "Dim Lite" Group Undercuts Immigration-Reduction Effort, Again!

Yet another serious setback to the immigration reduction movement caused by an Immigration Reform Lite Group.

CCN HAS A POSITIVE ALTERNATIVE

It would be funny if it weren't sad…

Unbelievable, but true, one of the two Washington D.C. area Immigration "Reform-Lite" Groups again has betrayed real reform. Why does "Dim", as in tactically dim, come to mind?

Last year CCN's E-Alerts were acclaimed by activists nationwide for exposing two Washington D.C. Area Immigration "Reform" Groups whose tactics harm the Immigration Reduction Cause [See CCN's "Open Borders Lobby Loves Reform-Lite Groups" 2002 and related e-Alerts]. And one of them has done it again!

This Dim Lite group actually pushed for and helped pass the Hostettler Amendment [to a bill (H.R. 1950)] which would empower the Bush Administration State Department to, in its discretion, regulate acceptance of Matricula ID cards (used by illegal aliens to get benefits, drivers licenses, jobs, visas, etc. in the U.S.A.)

Yes, this "Dim-Lite" group pushed this Hostettler Amendment to empower that same Bush Administration which wants amnesty and Social Security benefits for illegal aliens.

They pushed this Amendment despite the fact that over 100 House members had signed on to a much better bill (H.R. 687), a bill which the Dim Lite group abandoned! A better bill because it would effectively ban the Matricula I.D.!

The absurdity of the Dim-Lite Group's position is as follows:

The Hostettler Amendment to H.R. 1950 which Dim Lite pushed, effectively removes immigration control from the jurisdiction of the United States government and transfers it to Mexico and other foreign countries.

How does the Hostettler Amendment do this? It cedes to Mexico and other foreign governments authority to:
a. determine if the person to whom a Matricula card is issued for use in the U.S.A. is a bona fide foreign national;

b. determine whether back-up documentation supporting such a claim is sufficient;

c. The Hostettler Amendment further gives our pro-open-borders State Department discretion in whether or not to sanction foreign governments that inadequately vet the documents used in issuance of Matricula cards!

Does Dim Lite expect Mexico to accurately verify foreign nationals with their flimsy I.D.?! The Assistant Director of the FBI's Office of Intelligence, told a congressional subcommittee the card "is not a reliable form of identification." It is easy to obtain through fraud, he testified, and easy to forge. Supporting the FBI's assessment was C. Stewart Verdery, an assistant secretary for the border and transportation at the Department of Homeland Security. Said Verdery, "We are concerned at Homeland Security about the acceptance and use of these cards."

Does Dim Lite realistically expect Secretary Colin Powell to withhold visas from Mexican nationals just because their government was sloppy in issuing Matricula cards?

Evidently, yes.

Evidently they are this trusting. Either that, or Dim Lite did not want to oppose allowing illegal aliens to operate freely in the United States, effectively with all the rights of legal immigrants and citizens.
To add insult to injury, this "Dim-Lite" group called passage of H.R. 1950 with the Hostettler Amendment attached a "victory"!

But how could this in any way be a victory when what passage of the Hostettler Amendment really does is remove the pressure to pass the Matricula Ban bill - H.R. 687?

Indeed, can you imagine the Bush Administration disqualifying Matriculas or revoking visas as elections near when they are already pandering to Hispanic radicals by pushing for amnesty and guest worker programs for ILLEGALS? Of course not!

This piece of legislation, if it makes it through the Senate and to the President's desk, will be just about as effective an immigration reduction technique as employer sanctions were after the 1986 bill - NOT!

No wonder the immigration reductionist side has been losing.

Worse still, this Dim Lite group claims to support U.S. population stabilization but refuses to actively push a moratorium on all immigration above 100,000 a year (the ASAP! [Alliance to Stabilize America's Population] Coalition position) as a first priority. That is the highest level which would make U.S. population stabilization possible, ever.

This "Dim" stance not only removes the possibility of credibly making the arguments for population stabilization.

The Dim Lite position also undercuts any leverage to pass legislation which repeated demands for a moratorium can generate, as we explain below.

Bottom Line: The "Dim-Lite" group was apparently co-opted by certain House leaders, who, the Dim-Lite Group claims, told them the immigration "reform" side could be taken seriously and show its clout, if Dim-Lite would just support the Hostettler Amendment giving the State Department jurisdiction over Matriculas.... One would have thought, and hoped, Dim-Lite would not have fallen for that bait and been neutralized so easily.

Unfortunately, the Dim-Lite group has not considered the implications of its being an advocacy group and not part of the Congress. Namely, that the function of advocacy groups is to apply political pressure without compromise, while Members of Congress realize most bills are a result of compromise.

Is There A Subversive Pattern Here?!

At least there's a Shoot Ourselves in the Foot (Again (!)) Syndrome -

One more important, and ominous, point. This "Dim-Lite" group is the same Lite group which, in the last session of Congress, refused to push Congressman Tom Tancredo's Moratorium bill! Instead, it asked its activist supporters to "wait" until another ostensibly "better" bill was introduced. This turned out to be the Gekas bill which would have made only modest reductions in immigration numbers. Needless to say, without the pressure created by pushing for a moratorium bill, both Gekas and his bill migrated quickly into the dustbin of political history.

The serious question raised by the Dim-Lite Groups repeatedly counterproductive and negative tactics is why it fails to embrace CCN and its ASAP Coalition Allies positive program for immigration reduction.

Indeed, Dim-Lite and the other "reform" Lite NeoCon groups have for years been pursuing a policy of incrementalism which has utterly failed. That other Reform-Lite group turned its back on Representative Bob Stump and 75 members of Congress who cosponsored a moratorium bill in the mid-1990's, and instead pushed a bill which would have allowed 780,000 immigrants into the U.S. Predictably, it utterly failed because the leverage which had been generated by pushing for Rep. Stump's moratorium bill was dissipated.

So it was not surprising that the NeoCon Lite and Dim-Lite groups refused to endorse the moratorium bill in the last session and had to be pushed into a grudging endorsement of that same bill in this current session, by their alert activists.

And consider one final insult to credulity. Both these Lite groups claim they are in favor of U.S. population stabilization.

So it would seem to follow that a bill which would get us close to that would take first priority. But no, the Dim-Lite organization has a whole slew of bills which they are pushing, without any particular priority. There are "lots of good bills" which have been introduced in this session, the Lite Group says.

But if our reductionist side does not push for bills to reduce legal immigration numbers as its first priority and if it does not advocate a moratorium to do so, immigration reductionists will continue to have about as much success in getting reductions as we have had in the last 20 years- very little.

CCN's (and the ASAP Coalition's) Positive Solution

By comparison, lets consider the tactic which the Open Borders lobby has successfully (!) employed to get victory after victory in the past 20 years.

Every year for the past 20 years it has demanded amnesty for illegal aliens. As a result, in several years beginning with 1986 when 3.6 million illegals were amnestied, amnesties were passed. Of course, each amnesty creates a magnet for more immigrants to enter illegally in hopes of yet another amnesty. The key to the Open Borders lobby's success has been the repeated demand in unison for an "amnesty and nothing but an amnesty". Of course, simultaneously, they continue to demand other legislation and they continue to get some of it, but the demand for amnesty has never relented.

So why does the Dim-Lite "reform" group fail to "get" what makes this strategy successful? Will they not understand that we will never succeed in reducing numbers so long as they pursue their current nebulous ("there are good bills out there") strategy? Why do they not change their policy of seeking incremental reductions which has achieved no reductions?

Let us explain, once again (as has been done more than once to the Dim-Lite Group leaders), the key.

If all of us immigration reductionists had been demanding as a first priority, a moratorium on all immigration in excess of 100,000 a year in unison for the last 20 years we would likely have gained, at the least, some victories including some numbers reductions.

If the entire "reform" movement had repeated a demand for a moratorium on all immigration in excess of 100,000 a year this would provide an opportunity for describing all the benefits of population stabilization- because, we reiterate, the 100,000 per year level of legal immigration is the highest level of legal immigration which would allow the U.S. population ever to stabilize.

Bottom line: CCN and its' ASAP! Coalition Allies position is the only position which could eventually lead to U.S. population stabilization.

From an ecological, resource, and sustainability point of view, no number higher than one hundred thousand a year is justified. So why not say so, and advocate that position if you really believe it?

It is especially important to stick to 100,000 since tactically speaking, advocacy of a moratorium on all immigration above that level provides the best leverage to get numbers reductions?! Advocating a moratorium as first priority creates tremendous pressure for the passage of other good bills even if it doesn't itself pass. A moratorium on all immigration in excess of 100,000 a year is important both because it is the right position, and, for the leverage it creates, it is crucial.

So lets say it once again so that perhaps, the Dim-Lite and the NeoCon Lite groups will hear it. How did the Open Borders lobby get several amnesties of several million illegals in the last 20 years? Answer: they kept demanding in unison, an amnesty in every session of Congress.

But are the Dim-Lite and NeoCon groups really pushing the Moratorium bill (HR 946) as first priority legislation in this session? Of course not.

There is something effective you can do:

1. Contact your Representative and Senators and urge that they cosponsor the Moratorium Bill (HR 946) AND that they push for a Matricula Card Ban by cosponsoring HR 687.

2. Ask the groups you support if they have signed on to the ASAP! Coalition four-point program in which every signatory makes pushing for a moratorium its very first priority, and to send you a copy of their letter signing on.

3. Ask them to tell you, in writing, what they actually are doing to make the immigration moratorium their very first priority.

4. Support CCN and its ASAP! Coalition allies in creating a unified front behind the only position that will work to get reductions, the ASAP! Coalition's four-point program.

NOTE: Of course the members of the House who support immigration reduction had politically to support the Hostettler Amendment. Except in extraordinary circumstances, they could not ever be seen to not support any bill which has a chance of reducing immigration.

NEVER FORGET:

Over 1,200,000 legal immigrants settle in the U.S. every year.

Over 500,000 illegals settle in the U.S. every year.

We import the population equivalent of one New York City every five years.

This is not sustainable- it will ruin the quality of life in our country.

Just remind this next time some Lite group claiming to be for "reform" wants to barter away our quality of life to be in the "favor" of Washington insiders.

America didn't get to be a great country through pandering to selfish special interests and their lackeys on Capitol Hill.

We'll never win by pandering to our opponents- ever.

Carrying Capacity Network
www.carryingcapacity.org
P.O. Box 18221, Washington D.C. 20036
Phone: (202) 296-4548 Fax: (202) 296-4609