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Local Politics

Meuser Votes Against Amnesty Bill

meuser amnesty bill hr 6

Schuylkill County’s representative in Congress voted against legislation he calls a “Democratic Amnesty Bill.”

Rep. Dan Meuser (PA-9) says the bill, known as HR 6, or the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019, disregards American safety.

Meuser Says HR 6 is Mass Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants

In a statement issued last week, Meuser says, “Once again, Democratic leadership forced through a partisan bill, refusing to negotiate across the aisle and ignoring the fact that this bill will never be signed into law. Not only does this bill disregard the safety of the American people, it rewards those who knowingly break our laws at the expense of the many individuals patiently pursuing legal entry into the U.S.”

American Dream and Promise Act aims to provide the proverbial “path to citizenship” for millions of illegal immigrants to the U.S. In addition to the illegals who came here as minors, this latest attempt at amnesty also includes anyone here on Temporary Protected Status.

Here’s the bill summary on HR 6:

This bill cancels and prohibits removal proceedings against certain aliens and provides such aliens with a path toward permanent resident status.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Department of Justice (DOJ) shall cancel removal proceedings against certain aliens who entered the United States as minors and grant such aliens conditional permanent residence status for 10 years. The bill imposes various qualification requirements, such as the alien being continuously physically present in the United States and being enrolled in or having completed certain educational programs. Aliens who were eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status and not disqualified for renewal also qualify.

DHS shall remove the conditional permanent resident status granted to such aliens, if the alien applies and meets certain requirements, such as completing certain programs at an educational institution or serving at least two years in the Uniformed Services and being discharged honorably.

This bill also repeals a restriction that bars states from providing higher education benefits to undocumented aliens unless those benefits are available to all U.S. citizens.

DHS or DOJ shall cancel removal proceedings against certain aliens who qualified for temporary protected status or Deferred Enforced Departure status on certain past dates (both statuses temporarily protect covered aliens from removal). For such aliens who apply, DHS shall grant permanent residence status.

When DHS eliminates temporary protected status for nationals of a foreign country, it shall report to Congress its reasons for doing so.

Obviously, it sounds like a free-for-all. And if people are crossing into the country illegally, obviously they can all lie and say they’ve been here since they were minors. Anyone who doesn’t will just try to evade capture until President Trump isn’t in office anymore. And then the government just goes back to allowing illegal entry into the country and shouting down or laughing off anyone who raises concerns with it.

Meuser calls it what it is, mass amnesty.

“If Democrats truly believe mass amnesty will solve the crisis at the southern border, they are deceiving themselves. Not only are Democrats failing to acknowledge the crisis, H.R. 6 actually makes illegal immigration more attractive. A mass amnesty proposal is effectively an invitation for illegal immigrants to continue to disregard our laws,” he says.

This bill essentially replaces the “Dreamers” Executive Order or “DACA” signed by then-President Obama.

Of course, since Trump isn’t interested in violating the Constitution the way Obama did by passing a similar Dreamers bill. He’s previously said he’d consider legislation similar to a DACA bill. Some accused the President of caving when he said he’d even look at a bill that was a veiled form of amnesty for many illegals.

HR 6 Passes House, Awaits Defeat in Senate

Meuser says, “The amnesty policies proposed in H.R. 6 are limitless. This bill would welcome convicted criminals, including those with multiple DUI and firearm-related convictions, into our country. I firmly believe in the concept of ‘high fences and wide gates,’ but the safety of our communities must always come first. Real immigration reform can be made, but we must first secure our border.”

Despite his NO vote on HR 6, the bill did move on to the Senate by a 236-187 margin.

Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick joined 6 other Republicans voting in favor of this bill.

Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. Bob Casey Jr. urged Sen. Mitch McConnell to bring the bill up for a vote, despite it having a snowball’s chance in Hell of passing the Senate.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, Democrats denied a Republican change to the bill that would have given $4.5 billion to address the humanitarian crisis currently the border.

Meuser says there’ve been 100,000 illegal border crossings in each of the last two months.

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