Immigration reform creating jobs … for lawyers

June 27, 2013

By John Seiler

As I’ve mentioned, I’m for some kind of immigration reform — just not the 844-page monstrosity, S. 744, the Senate just passed, 68-32. Nobody knows what’s in it, not even its authors. To read its impenetrable legislativeese is impossible.

But I like to provide a little taste of the absurdity. This is from page 843:

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may from
15 time to time prescribe regulations increasing or de
16 creasing any dollar amount specified in paragraph
17 (6) of section 203(b) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act, as added by section l18 2, subparagraph
19 (X) of section 101(a)(15) of such Act, as added by
20 section 4801, or subsection (s) of section 214, as
21 added by 4802.

Which Secretary is that? The Secretary of Homeland Security, the unconstitutional, Stasi-style police-state agency Bush pushed on us?

Or is it the secretary that takes notes at the Stasi meeting?

It’s impossible to say. But some people are going to make a lot of money trying to figure it out. The Mercury News reported:

“So sweeping and complex is the immigration bill set for a final vote this week in the U.S. Senate that it will bring an unintended bonanza for one American constituency: the thousands of immigration lawyers who will be hired to interpret it.

“Many of them began gathering in San Francisco on Wednesday for an annual conference to talk shop about America’s immigration code, a hefty tome that could soon get even weightier.”

By 844 pages. And that’s just a start. Interpreting the 844 pages will bring many thousands more regulatory pages.

Why don’t we just grant all 7 billion people on planet earth automatic American citizenship rights? That would be cheaper because the lawyers all would be out of work.