Comprehensive Immigration Reform

"Comprehensive immigration reform" is a euphemism "amnesty".

The United States takes in approximately one-million legal immigrants every year2 - more than all other countries combined! In 2003, the Department of Homeland Security estimated that there were 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens in the United States and 700,000 new illegal aliens were entering and staying every year. Yet many convincing studies reveal that these unchanging statistics represent significant undercounts. Several analysis3,4 indicate that at least 20 million illegal aliens reside in the United States and that up to 12,000 illegal aliens enter the United States every day, or, as Arizona Senator John McCain reported - more than 4 million per year.4

"Immigration reform" has traditionally meant reducing these overwhelming numbers to a more reasonable level and to specifically address runaway illegal immigration.

Yet when open borders zealots use the phrase "comprehensive immigration reform", they are using the phrase as a code word for amnesty. By distorting the original meaning of the phrase, they are able to couch their special interest agenda in reasonable-sounding language while co-opting the original intent.

For example, the National Council of La Raza ("The Race") states that "NCLR supports comprehensive immigration reform that includes… undocumented people in our country to come forward, obtain legal status, learn English, and assume the rights and responsibilities of citizenship." In other words, an amnesty for those who entered the U.S. illegally.5

The Council of La Raza succeeded in having itself added to congressional hearings by Republican House and Senate leaders. And an anonymous senator even gave the Council of La Raza an extra $4 million in earmarked taxpayer money, supposedly for 'housing reform,' while La Raza continues to lobby the Senate for virtual open borders and amnesty for illegal aliens."6

 
Similarly, the special interest group, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), claims in their publication "Making the Case for Comprehensive Immigration Reform" that:

… the only viable path to a lasting and meaningful solution is holistic, comprehensive reform. Specifically, any effective reform program must… encourage the undocumented population to come out of the shadows and earn legal status;  AILA… believes that any workable immigration reform proposal must be comprehensive. Specifically, it must simultaneously create legal avenues for people to enter the U.S.; allow people already here to earn the opportunity to adjust their status."7

In other words, the AILA position is that illegal aliens should be given amnesty for their crime of entering the United States illegally and evading capture so as become legal citizens. They call this "Comprehensive Immigration Reform".