Guy W. Farmer: Immigration reform looks a lot like amnesty

Now that the Obama administration has jammed a trillion-dollar health care reform plan through Congress, it won't be long before immigration reform is back on the national agenda. Beware, however, because "comprehensive immigration reform" means conditional amnesty for more than 10 million illegal immigrants.

Immigration reform is an issue with major implications for Nevada because Hispanics account for more than 20 percent of the Silver State's population. No one knows how many of these Hispanic residents are illegal aliens but we do know that they exert a considerable strain on state and local budgets because of multimillion-dollar expenditures for education, health care, law enforcement and the judicial system.

Illegal immigrants are over-represented in Nevada prisons and from personal experience as a court interpreter I know that they represent a strain on the judicial system, where they receive court-appointed defense attorneys and interpreters. I believe that non-violent criminal aliens should be deported back to their home countries on one condition - that they never return to the United States.

Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are working on a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would offer "a path to citizenship" to illegals, allowing them to pay fines and remain in the U.S., which looks a lot like amnesty. Schumer and Graham apparently believe that millions of illegals want to become American citizens, which isn't necessarily true. The majority of them who reside here are proud Mexican citizens who simply want to send money to their destitute families in Mexico. Most of them don't speak English and have no interest in becoming Americans.

When some 250 demonstrators marched for immigration reform in Reno late last month, they made no distinction between legal and illegal immigration. The good news is that many of them carried American flags this time around. But at a similar rally in Washington, D.C., a few demonstrators carried banners that read, "Undocumented and unafraid." I can guarantee you that if hundreds of illegal immigrants marched down the main boulevard (Paseo de la Reforma) in Mexico City, they would be arrested. So much for reciprocity.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said that he'll welcome a comprehensive immigration reform bill if and when one comes to the Senate floor.

I think we should make it clear to Sen. Reid that we don't think immigration reform is a top priority with unemployment running at more than 13 percent in our state. Unemployed Americans should gladly accept the entry-level jobs formerly reserved for illegals on the theory that no job is beneath your dignity when you're unemployed. Fair enough?

• Guy W. Farmer, of Carson City, dealt with immigration issues during his 28-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service.