Skip to main content

Amnesty Is Not Infrastructure: What’s Really in Democrats’ Reconciliation Plan

October 21, 2021

Is providing blanket amnesty to over 8 million illegal immigrants infrastructure? If you ask Democrats, the answer is yes.

That’s right, tucked away in socialist Senator Bernie Sanders’ $5.5 trillion spending package is a provision that would give amnesty to over 8 million illegal immigrants. The Democrats want Americans to believe this multi-trillion-dollar proposal is a historic investment in our nation’s infrastructure, but that characterization couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, this spending behemoth would fund abortions, prop up the Green New Deal, impose trillions in taxes, and invalidate Wisconsin’s right-to-work laws.

I could go on about the awful proposals included in this spending package, but one provision rarely talked about is the Democrats’ plan to provide amnesty to over 8 million illegal immigrants. This proposal couldn’t come at a worse time and it has nothing to do with infrastructure. The latest numbers from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) report there were 208,887 encounters at the southern border in August, this is a 317% increase from last year and marks the second straight month with over 200,000 apprehensions. Our country is experiencing the worst border crisis in over 21 years, and Democrats are turning a blind eye to the needs of our country. Granting amnesty to those already here illegally will only perpetuate this crisis at the border by incentivizing further illegal immigration.

My Republican colleagues and I made attempts to amend the amnesty proposal during Committee markups while the legislative text was being finalized, but with no success. I introduced an amendment that would have prohibited amnesty for sex offenders—a no brainer proposal to most people. Democrats voted my amendment down though, along with other Republican attempts to bar amnesty for illegal aliens who are gang members, that have gun charges, and that have multiple DUI offenses, proving there is no line they are not willing to cross to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants.

Even the Senate Parliamentarian has told Democrats twice now that their amnesty provision violates the rules of budget reconciliation—the process Democrats are using to bypass the filibuster. Democrats had originally tried using their spending bill to bypass normal procedures and fast-track 8 million green cards to Dreamers, temporary protected status holders, agricultural workers and other essential workers. The Senate Parliamentarian rejected that plan though, rightfully pointing out that it was "not appropriate" for the reconciliation budget process. Democrats then tried making a small administrative change to their provision, but the Senate Parliamentarian ruled again that their amnesty provision still violated reconciliation rules. Despite the repeated rejections, Democrats are still desperate to pass mass amnesty.

One thing has been made clear as the $5.5 trillion tax and spend plan makes its way through Congress, Democrats aren’t interested in working across the aisle, they’re interested in relentlessly institutionalizing their radical agenda and fundamentally changing the American way of life. The Democrats’ multi-trillion-dollar spending plan is riddled with proposals that are unrelated to infrastructure and cost the American people. The amnesty provision provides Americans only a glimpse of this dangerous behavior.