Were George Orwell alive today he would write a book titled 1986.  It would include a narrative of all the cast of characters who lied to us about immigration enforcement 27 years ago, yet are now serving as the problem-solvers to fix the lies they originally propagated.

It would include a character of John McCain demanding to “build the dang fence” in order to win reelection, and then running around two years later to demand that we build the dang amnesty, with no fence.

It would include a character of Chuck Schumer saying on the House floor in 1986 that the bill won’t bring “millions of people cascading across the border,” and then, 27 years into the cascade, leading the effort to do the same thing.

It would include a character of Marco Rubio proposing amendments to his bill that he claimed and still claims were in his original bill.

The storyline would portray a liberal opposition party spending millions on ads portraying the amnesty bill as the antithesis of what it really is.

And finally, it would include characters of credulous GOP senators entrusting the same people who have refused and continue to refuse to implement any laws on the books with the promise of implementing new laws…..after they get the amnesty “candy.”

Welcome to 1986.

Folks, this issue is real simple.  It can be solved overnight.  If these people really want amnesty, they would implement the laws on the books first and demonstrate that the circuitous cycle of insanity is over.  Yet, they made it clear that enforcement-first is a dealbreaker.  But, amazingly, Republicans like Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn are trying to find common ground where they can add some language to border security… ten years after all these people are legalized.

This proposal, and similar proposals offered to bolster enforcement after initial legalization (RPI status), represent the height of credulity and insanity.  These people have lied to us for 27 years about enforcement, and yet we are to entrust them with enforcing the laws after they get their candy?  Moreover, does anyone really think that the amnestied illegals will really be denied green cards and citizenship after remaining in “good standing” for 10 years…simply because exit-entry is not fully in place?  Do we really think they will last in that status without a subsequent change in law to expedite citizenship –no matter what happens with enforcement?  If there is such enormous pressure (inside of DC, not in the real world) to legalize them now – when they are totally illegal – will anyone have the stomach to withhold the promised citizenship from a legal and legitimate constituency?

Clearly, any amnesty that passes before enforcement is implemented will serve as a mere down payment that can only be augmented and never diminished or retracted.

Amazingly, McConnell and the entire establishment are defending their position as the only way we ensure border security in a bill that can actually pass.  They assert that if we fail to “pass something,” we will continue to have “defacto amnesty.”

So they are saying we must pass amnesty first in order to make progress on border security because we can’t trust these people to enforce existing laws even before they get their way on amnesty!  No border security amendment that is being proposed (after amnesty is granted) is more definitive and more specific than the 2006 Secure Fence Act, which specified exactly where 700 miles of double-layered fencing should be placed.  That is certainly more verifiable than Cornyn’s “situational awareness.”  Yet, they still managed to get away with only building roughly 35 miles, and eventually, killing the bill altogether a few years later.

And we are to believe that they will implement anything after they got their coveted amnesty?