Amnesty works around the law

Marc Jeric, Las Vegas

Sunday, April 7, 2013 | 2:01 a.m.

Section 212(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, first passed in the 1950s and still the law today, states:

“Any alien who, in the opinion of the consular officer at the time of application for a visa, or in the opinion of the Attorney General at the time of application for admission or adjustment of status, is likely at any time to become a public charge is inadmissible.”

However, our government today gives instructions to immigrants in the country illegally about how to obtain welfare benefits — namely food stamps, free medical assistance, housing vouchers, unemployment benefits, free school lunches and books for their children. The first amnesty under President Ronald Reagan included about 3 million people illegally here; the second amnesty under President Bill Clinton included about 5 million. And a gigantic third amnesty for some 15 million people is being cooked up in Washington right now.

After that, we could expect that 10 years from now there will be a fourth amnesty for 25 million people in the country illegally.

In 1957, I escaped a communist country, found work and settled in France for five years waiting for the U.S. immigrant visa. I finally arrived here in 1962, equipped with a special conditional two-year immigrant visa for legitimate political refugees, with conditions. Every six months, I had to visit the immigration officer to give proof of gainful employment. After the fourth such visit, my conditional immigrant visa became a normal one, and finally in 1967 I became a citizen.