Under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed
free-trade agreement, Congress could lose the power to control immigration
policy. We could find ourselves back in the era before there were restrictions
on immigration and anyone from anywhere could come to our shores. And
Republicans, from leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner on down, are
unwittingly helping President Obama achieve this goal.
The TPP, generally supported by pro-free-trade Republicans
but opposed by labor-union Democrats, reportedly contains a barely noticed
provision that allows for the free migration of labor among the signatory
nations. Patterned after similar provisions in the treaties establishing the
European Union, it would override national immigration restrictions in the name
of facilitating the free flow of labor.
The draft treaty, now under discussion among 12 Pacific Rim
nations, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Vietnam and Japan, makes provision
for needed labor to move across national boundaries without restraint. While
much of the commentary on the deal has been focused on high-skill, white-collar
migration, it could easily be interpreted as allowing farm workers and others
to flow back and forth without legal regulation.
In seeking approval of the TPP, the Obama administration has
proposed giving it fast-track authority to conclude trade deals -- a power that
would restrict Congress's ability to amend the deal, allowing only an
up-or-down vote. Led by Republicans, the Senate is moving toward passage of the
fast-track authority as a precursor to ratification of the TPP treaty,
immigration provisions and all.
Democrats are staging a last-ditch stand against the bill,
which their labor allies condemn as the worst trade deal since the North
American Free Trade Agreement of the 1990s, pointing to the potential loss of
jobs. But Republicans are using their majorities to grant Obama fast-track
authority.
It is odd, indeed, to see Republicans falling all over
themselves to reward this president with more power while voluntarily reducing
congressional oversight. At the very least, one would assume the TPP would give
the GOP-led Congress bargaining power to force Obama to backtrack on amnesty
for illegals and possibly on ObamaCare. But far from forcing concessions,
Republicans are lining up in support of fast-track and, by implication, the
TPP.
Because foreign treaties are the "law of the
land," according to the U.S. Constitution, any provision governing our
borders and the flow of immigrants could not be overridden or even modified by
Congress. A new president would be able to reverse Obama's amnesty plan but not
the open-border provisions of the TPP. The treaty could lead to the effective
repeal of the specifically enumerated power granted to Congress in Article I of
the Constitution to regulate immigration and naturalization.
While the treaty is still being negotiated, the current
focus on white-collar immigration would be sufficiently elastic to allow open
borders. For instance, what is white collar compared to blue collar? Are we
going to set an income limit on immigration?
Curtis Ellis, executive director of the American Jobs
Alliance, calls the trade deal "a Trojan horse for Obama's immigration
agenda" on The Hill's Contributor's blog. He notes that "one
corporate trade association says bluntly that 'The TPP should remove
restrictions on nationality or residency requirements for the selection of
personnel.' "
In his seventh and eighth year, every president worries
about his legacy and tries to control events in the future. But here Obama is
enshrining in a treaty -- that cannot be repealed or amended -- an open-border
immigration policy for all time.
Those who say he would never carry the treaty's provisions
that far have only to ask themselves this question: Would Obama extend his
powers to their maximum limit? Of course he would. Don't give him the power.
Morris: Obama Sneaking in
‘Unrestricted Immigration’ in TPA Trade Deal, Posted on April 21,
2015 Written
by breitbart.com
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