Legal immigration advocate wants word with senator

The Senate will vote on cloture of debate for the Senate immigration reform bill today, but before debate over the plan ends, William Gheen wants a word with Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C.

Burr is a key senator; supporters of the legislation will need his vote to achieve cloture of debate, but Gheen wants Burr to vote against it, lest the bill pass into law.

"I want to speak with Sen. Burr for 15 minutes, before he votes, to make
sure he has the national and North Carolina polls that show a super majority
of his constituents oppose this bill and want our existing laws enforced
instead," said Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, in a press release.

Burr has stated he is willing to vote for cloture if a "touchback" provision is added to the bill, requiring illegal immigrants to return to their home countries for a single day before returning to apply for a Z-visa: a visa granting probationary legal status to illegal immigrants currently in the country.

"I believe the provisional period can be whatever length of time it takes to fully vet all these people that they are who they say they are. ... It doesn't entitle them to anything except the ability to apply [for a Z-visa]," Burr said.

The touchback provision Burr is promoting seems doomed. Illegal immigrants' voluntary return to their home countries prior to application for legal American citizenship is neither realistic nor achievable, say 76 percent of Americans polled by the Wall Street Journal earlier this month.

Burr has been in talks with numerous special interest groups and big business lobbyists promoting the legislation, though every politician who has supported the bill has suffered plummeting approval ratings, Gheen said.

"We need Sen. Burr to stop negotiating with big business lobbyists, which are pushing this amnesty bill," said Gheen. "If he votes yes on cloture and this bill passes, Sen. Burr is committing political suicide. He will be proclaiming that the voice of American citizens now means nothing."

As WND reported, Bush has visited Capitol Hill in his efforts to revive the plan that died in the Senate when supporters could not muster the votes to put it on a fast track.

It would provide a path to legal status for the estimated 12-20 million illegal aliens now in the U.S. Opponents call the provision amnesty. But the White House contends the carefully crafted compromise would focus first on enforcement, allowing for more Border Patrol agents, more cameras and other technologies.

Editor's note: The current edition of WND's monthly Whistleblower is a cutting-edge look at the federal government's immigration policies – and how the nation's most vexing problem can be solved. It's titled "NATIONAL SUICIDE: How the government's immigration policies are destroying America."

Special offers:

Feds leading U.S. into 'national suicide'

Get Rep. Tom Tancredo's "In Mortal Danger" direct from the people who published it – WND Books.

"Conquest of Aztlan": Will Mexicans retake American Southwest?

Autographed! Pat Buchanan's best-selling book, "State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America."

Michelle Malkin's "Invasion"

Illegal aliens invading U.S.: Expos? puts you on southern border as citizens battle human flood

"Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America's Borders," by Minutemen founder Jim Gilchrist

Previous stories:

Bush: Plan has permanent ban for illegals

Ingraham melts Snow in immigration smack

Bush wants Reid to resurrect bill