Reform...? an open letter to Washington D.C...

Amnesty (from the Greek amnestia, oblivion) is an act of justice by which the supreme power in a state restores those who may have been guilty of any offence against it to the position of innocent persons. It includes more than pardon, inasmuch as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offence.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty.

I'm confused at all the talk coming from the U. S. Congress and the White House. I keep hearing that the current bill going through the Senate isn't amnesty. However, I look at the above definition and a short paragraph at the beginning of the bill, which states :

"the programs established by Title VI of this Act that grant legal status to any individual or adjust the current status of any individual who is unlawfully present in the United States to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence,shall become effective on the date that the Secretary submits a written certification to the President and the Congress that the following border security and other measures are funded, in place, and in operation..."

How exactly does that read to any English speaker in the country; that this bill isn't an amnesty?

Wouldn't someone being here "unlawfully" suddenly being considered, "an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence..." constitute a textbook definition of just that?

I'm reading through the text right now, but I can say at this point I'm truly disappointed in the obvious perception from Washington, that we, The American People, could be so easily led down this particular primrose path.

While I believe in compassion and fairness, I also believe that I live in a country under the rule of law. Why are we wasting the time, and the money to create another law that will be ignored and unenforced?

While I understand that removing so many people would be a difficult task at best, they are criminals. They have broken the laws of this nation.

By the same logic, can we now assume that because so many Americans would like to break the laws of the IRS, that they now recieve a "Z" tax form?

Do we now decriminalize drug users because incarcerating millions of legal Americans would be difficult to accomplish? Apparently not, it seems to happen everyday. Perhaps we should give them a "Z" Pardon?

I hear that there is some effort to inject some compassion into this issue; to treat people with respect and dignity. Where is the compassion for many other current social wrongs? Why can the current Administration show such compassion over breaking up the families of foreign nationals, while ignoring the anguished families of our own U.S. Armed Services?

How does Mr. Bush balance his compassion for another country's people while attempting to create a second-class status of Americans by proposing an amendmant to The Constitution of the United States of America to deny certain Americans the right to marry who they choose?

Wait, by his own words, “Stop throwing the Constitution in my face, It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!” A statement, which should have had him impeached on the spot. I guess he doesn't feel he really needs balance.

I was always taught, as a boy, that the government worked for the people and not against it's interests. I think that the men who built this nation would weep to see what it has become. They would be ashamed to see the American People sold out so thoroughly for the interests of corporate greed, cheap labour at a very high cost.