McCain's immigration island

Washington Post:

Sen. John McCain of Arizona found himself isolated Tuesday night as he staunchly defended controversial immigration legislation against a barrage of criticism from his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, who argued that the bill is deeply flawed and should not be approved by Congress.

The Senate will begin voting on Wednesday on the fragile compromise, which has the support of President Bush but is opposed by a majority of Republicans and has become a flash point in the contest for the GOP nomination.

"The problem with this immigration plan is it has no real unifying purpose," former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said. "It's a typical Washington mess. It's everybody compromises. . . . And when you look at these compromises, it is quite possible it will make things worse."

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney joined in attacking the bipartisan bill McCain helped write.

"Every illegal alien, almost every one, under this bill, gets to stay here," he said. "That's not fair to the millions and millions of people around the world that would love to come here, join with family members, bring skill and education that we need."

McCain stood his ground as Giuliani, Romney and virtually all the other candidates criticized the bill. Calling immigration reform a national security issue, McCain said that inaction represents "de facto amnesty" for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country.

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The Washington Times reports that the immigration deal is on the verge of collapse.

The immigration deal foundered yesterday, on the verge of collapse under its own weight just days after it appeared to have a clear path to pass the Senate.
By late in the afternoon, Republicans were accusing Democrats of trying to "stuff" them, and Democrats said Republicans were trying to kill the bill by obstructing the process. Both sides were saying they don't know whether the process can be put back on track.
A showdown is scheduled for tomorrow, when Democrats said they will force a vote to set a time limit on the bill, and Republicans have promised to block that move through a filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that if Republicans block his effort to limit debate, it would bump the bill off the schedule and likely derail it for the rest of the year.
"People are looking for excuses on the Republican side to kill this bill," he said.
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"I've been waiting 13 days for a vote on my amendment," said Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, who threatened to block any action until Democrats agreed to set up a vote. His amendment would prevent illegal aliens who have been ordered deported from gaining amnesty.
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Ace has Sen. Sessions' 20 Amnesty Loopholes.

Loophole 1 – Legal Status Before Enforcement:

Amnesty benefits do not wait for the “enforcement trigger.” After filing an application and waiting 24 hours, illegal aliens will receive full “probationary benefits,” complete with the ability to legally live and work in the U.S., travel outside of the U.S. and return, and their own social security card. Astonishingly, if the trigger is never met and amnesty applications are therefore never “approved,” the probationary benefits granted to the illegal alien population never expire, and the new social security cards issued to the illegal alien population are not revoked. [See pp. 1, 290-291, & 315].

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Check the link for the other 19. Hat tip to Larwyn.

Loophole 9 – Absconders Are Eligible is one I have mentioned before and it is very troubling. The 636,000 alien fugitives who have already been convicted of felony violations of the immigration laws, which requires multiple offenses would receive the benefits of the bill. This is one of the loopholes that Sen. Cornyn is trying to close and has been denied a vote, because voting against his proposal would be politically difficult for most senators. When people insist that the bill is not an amnesty, they should be required to explain the absconders.