The dictionary defines amnesty as a general pardon for offenders by a government, and the Obama administration’s new proposal to grant legal status to millions of illegal aliens surely meets that definition. Millions of people who broke the law by entering, staying and working in our country will not be punished, but rather rewarded with a visa. This is amnesty, plain and simple. Lawbreakers are given legal status, while those seeking to immigrate legally face years of paperwork and long waits for a visa.

The president claims that America lacks the political will to deport millions of illegal aliens already here, so we have no choice but to grant them visas. But what message does that send to the rest of the world? If we reward millions who came here illegally; surely millions more will follow suit. Ten years from now, we will be in the same situation with a whole new generation of lawbreakers seeking amnesty. The Obama administration proposal does not provide a coherent immigration policy, nor does it address the urgent need for stricter control of our borders. The overwhelming majority of Americans — including legal immigrants — want immigration reduced, not expanded.

Illegal immigrants also threaten to place a tremendous strain on federal social entitlement programs. Under the Obama proposal, millions of illegal immigrants will qualify for Social Security and other programs — programs that already threaten financial ruin for America in the coming decades. Adding millions of foreign ruin for American in the coming decades. Adding millions of foreign citizens to the Social Security, Medicare and disability roles will only hasten the inevitable day of reckoning.

Paul Westrum

Albert Lea