The immigration bill Kamala Harris said she would sign on day one if she became president would be a disaster for America, many say, by continuing the flood of migrants and giving them rights above and beyond those of U.S. citizens.
The new set of immigration laws was tied to legislation providing more than $100 billion in additional aid to Israel and Ukraine. Tabled over the objections of the Republicans, the bill included the following:
Make “Catch and Release” the official U.S. policy. This would require border agents to release anyone caught trying to enter illegally. This policy runs counter to former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” stance, which prohibited immigrants without proper visas from crossing the southern border.
Automatically provide work permits to anyone entering the country, regardless of legal status. This would be a huge hit to the low-middle-income working class, critics say, by forcing them to compete with illegal immigrants willing to work for lower wages.
Provide free legal counsel to immigrants as they sort out their asylum claims and fight deportation. Under the Biden-Harris Catch and Release policy, those illegally crossing the border were given future court dates. The adjudication of these cases has been backed up for years and will continue even longer as the taxpayers foot the bill.
The legislation would also allow 5,000 illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. each day. This would dramatically add to the estimated 15-20 million foreigners who have entered the country illegally under the Biden-Harris administration so far. It was estimated that under a Harris presidency, if she continues her current policies, nearly 100 million aliens would enter the United States.
The plan would grant citizenship to those already in the country, allowing them to vote, obtain driver's licenses, and avail themselves of taxpayer-funded services. Trump argues that switching the nation to a government medical system and providing free healthcare to immigrants, as Harris has advocated, would bankrupt Medicare and Medicaid.
Under the bill, billions in federal taxpayer dollars would be directed to sanctuary states and cities to pay for immigrant services. In New York, for example, the mayor estimated that taking care of the 170,000 immigrants currently in the city’s shelter system will cost $12 billion. Gov. Kathy Hochul has devoted $2 billion in this year’s state budget to immigrant services, with millions more in programs dedicated to them.
Veterans groups and homeless advocates deride the sanctuary policies, arguing that services for them are being cut in favor of the aliens. Trump raises the issue on the campaign trail, pointing out that veterans are sleeping under bridges while illegal immigrants are put up in luxury hotels.
The 370-page bill, known as the Border Act of 2024, was negotiated in private by Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). It was dead on arrival in the House and faced opposition from many Senate Republicans. Because it allocated funds to fund a border wall, it was held up as a way to solve the immigration crisis. Both the 5,000-per-day illegal immigration quota and funds dedicated to border security, as well as the sanctuary allocations, however, can be changed by the president at any time, according to the 370-page bill’s fine print.
Flooding America with millions of migrants is part of a long-range Democrat strategy to change the country’s “demographic destiny” to cultivate new voters and create new classes of citizens dependent on government services—regardless of the impact on the citizenry. The nation, already $35.2 trillion in debt, is nearing a critical mass where there won’t be enough taxpayers to pay the country’s bills and support those not working.