Amnesty Talk in Congress a "Starter's Pistol" For Illegal Immigration

"In the coming weeks, as President Bush and the Democrat-controlled Congress take up immigration reform, and the political talk turns to amnesty, everyone living along border smuggling routes will hunker down to wait for the worst. They know their lives will get miserable in a hurry. The word amnesty possesses remarkable power on the Mexican side of the line. It has the same effect as a starter's pistol," says Leo Banks in the Tucson Weekly. "It happened after Jan. 7, 2004, when Bush floated his idea for a temporary worker program. The idea was broadly viewed in Mexico as amnesty, and the Border Patrol's own survey proved it. In the weeks following the proposal, the agency quietly questioned crossers apprehended at the southern border and found the president's plan had caused a big spike in illegal crossings. Forty-five percent said they'd entered our country 'to get Bush's amnesty.'"

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