It didn’t take long. Even as a sensible first-step solution has been announced and its results have yet to be seen or measured – the attacks have already begun all under the same terms: “Dangerous” “Illegal” “Amnesty.

” The question then: Who is really behind the failure of immigration reform? It should be clear by now… Axel

Via Media Matters

Fox Sees “Amnesty” Everywhere

Fox News host Dave Briggs claimed that a new immigration policy, which will postpone deportation proceedings of certain undocumented workers in order to prioritize convicted criminals, is “perhaps blanket amnesty.”  Fox News has a long history of labeling immigration policies “amnesty,” a term that has been shown to produce a more negative reaction than describing a policy as “a path to citizenship.”

Fox’s Briggs Claims New Immigration Policy Is “Perhaps Blanket Amnesty”

Fox’s Briggs Claims New Immigration Policy Is “Perhaps Blanket Amnesty.” On the August 19 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, guest host Dave Briggs teased a story about the Obama administration’s decision to prioritize convicted criminals for deportation by saying:

BRIGGS: And the courts want them out, but the president wants to give illegal immigrants, [who are] ready to be deported, a second chance. He’s going around Congress — perhaps blanket amnesty. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/19/11]

Poll Shows “Amnesty” Is Loaded Term …

Pew Research Poll Found More Respondents Opposed Immigration Reform When Described As “Providing Amnesty To Illegal Immigrants.” From a research brief published by the Pew Research Center on November 23, 2009:

When Congress and the president abandoned efforts to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2007, public opinion was quite conflicted. A Pew Research poll found that, among those aware of the legislation, more people opposed (41%) than supported (33%) the bill being considered by the Senate, but a solid majority of 63% of the general public supported the bill’s main objective to provide a “path to citizenship” for undocumented immigrants. At the time, support for this principle was bipartisan, with nearly as many Republicans as Democrats favoring it. And even when the provision was described as “amnesty,” a majority still supported it — though by a smaller margin of 54%-39%. Republicans were evenly divided on the question when the policy was described as “amnesty.”

The report included this chart:

[Pew Research Center, 11/23/09]

… And Fox Routinely Uses “Amnesty” When Discussing Immigration Policy

DREAM Act

Kelly: “Critics Call” The DREAM Act “A Pathway To Amnesty For Illegals.” On the November 23, 2010, edition of Fox News’ America Live, host Megyn Kelly introduced a segment on the DREAM Act by saying, in part, “Critics call [the bill] a pathway to amnesty for illegals.” She then brought on Fox host Gregg Jarrett, who said: “You know, for millions of illegals, the DREAM Act is a propitious title because it would fulfill their dream of jumping right to the front of the line and becoming U.S. citizens. Those who oppose it call it a veritable nightmare, granting amnesty right away to more than 2 million illegal immigrants, and in the end, maybe as many as 6 million or more illegals.” [Fox News, America Live,11/23/10, via Media Matters]

Gallagher: “I Think It’s Front Door Amnesty.” On the November 23, 2010, edition of Fox News’ America Live, Fox News contributor Mike Gallagher described the DREAM Act by saying: “The analogy I keep using … is that we feel sorry for these children of adults who made a bad decision and broke the law to come into the United States, but it would be like saying if one’s parent is a bank robber, the child gets to keep the money and the proceeds from the bank robbery. I’m sorry, most Americans don’t accept this.” Gallagher later said of the bill: “I don’t think it’s backdoor amnesty; I think it’s front door amnesty.” [Fox News, America Live, 11/23/10, via Media Matters]

Guilfoyle: DREAM Act “Encourages People To Essentially Seek An Amnesty.” On the November 23, 2010, edition of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News legal analyst Kimberly Guilfoyle claimed that the DREAM Act “incentivizes illegality and encourages people to essentially seek an amnesty by saying, ‘Sure, I’m going to be in the military.’” [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 11/23/10, via Media Matters]

Fox Nation: “Shamnesty: Reid Putting The ‘Lame’ In ‘Duck.’” In a December 1, 2010, post, Fox Nation linked to a story about Democrats attempting to advance the DREAM Act with the headline, “Shamnesty: Reid Putting The ‘Lame’ In ‘Duck.’” [Fox Nation, 12/1/10]

Malkin Called DREAM Act ”Reckless Illegal Alien Amnesty.” On the December 2, 2010, edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin said: “There are so many political payoffs that are currently in the pipeline. Foremost among them, Harry Reid trying to ram through this very unpopular, expensive, and reckless illegal alien amnesty DREAM Act.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends,12/2/10, via Media Matters]

Hannity Called The DREAM Act “Basically Amnesty.” From the December 8 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

SEAN HANNITY (Host): Actress Salma Hayek admits she was once an illegal immigrant in the U.S. Now the House this very night by the way passed 216-198 the DREAM Act, which is basically amnesty. [Fox News, Hannity, 12/8/10, via Media Matters]

Chris Wallace On Bloomberg’s “Path To Citizenship” Support: “Isn’t That Amnesty?” On Fox Broadcasting Company’s Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, “You support a path to citizenship. Question: Isn’t that amnesty?” [Fox Broadcasting Co.,Fox News Sunday, 4/24/11]

###

Via Politico

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer called the Obama administration’s new policy that will allow many illegal immigrants who don’t have criminal records the chance to stay in the United States “backdoor amnesty.”
In a statement, the Republican governor slammed the planned case-by-case reviews of the approximately 300,000 illegal immigrants who are currently facing possible expulsion.

“This plan amounts to backdoor amnesty for hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of illegal aliens,” Brewer said on Thursday.

The Obama administration announced Thursday that its top priority will be targeting illegal immigrants with criminal convictions for deportations, and moving low-priority cases — such as young people who were brought to the U.S. as children, military veterans and spouses of military personnel — out of the deportation pipeline.

Brewer, who enacted one of the country’s toughest immigration laws, said the announcement “is encouraging more illegal immigration at the exact moment we need federal focus on border security.”

Oscar Chacon, the executive director of National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities, one of the organizations that led protests against the Obama administration earlier this week about the rising number of deportations, said Brewer “clearly doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“You really have to be in the imaginary world to paint it as some sort of amnesty,” Chacon told POLITICO.
Last year, the Obama administration deported a record number of people — nearly 400,000. The rising number of deportations has angered the Hispanic community, which is a key voting bloc for President Barack Obama.

While taking aim at Brewer’s comment, Chacon made clear that his organization and those like it don’t see the new policy as a real immigration remedy. The first step, he said, is to end the Secure Communities program, in which local police share fingerprints of detainees with federal authorities and immigration officials.

“One of the political goals of yesterday’s announcement was precisely to distract organizations like ours from the focus on Secure Communities,” he said. “While we commend the announcement, we think it’s very late – why did they have to wait two and a half years?”

Brewer — who called the new deportation plan “especially disturbing” for border states such as Arizona in the wake of U.S. weapon sales to Mexican drug cartels — said Obama’s new policy “got it really wrong.”

“We need to remind President Obama that we elected a president that serves beneath the law and did not anoint a king that is above the law,” she said