The "Gang of Eight" immigration bill is full of provisions many senators seem to be ignoring, former Lt. Governor of New York Betsy McCaughey said at a Senate briefing Wednesday afternoon.
McCaughey, author of Beating Obamacare, warned that much like the Obamacare bill, the immigration bill contains many provisions no one is aware of or talking about.
She rejected the notion that immigration reform requires a comprehensive bill. "A comprehensive bill is an unread bill," she said, adding that Congress should instead pass individual bills focusing on singular issues that congressman will actually read.
McCaughey’s briefing focused on six provisions in the bill, which she said should be removed if the bill is to be passed.
Several sections of the bill will weaken controls on asylum seeking despite several terrorist attacks linked to asylum seekers, most recently the Boston Marathon bombing.
McCaughey also expressed concerns that the cost of the immigration bill has not been fully calculated. Making welfare benefits available to illegal immigrants could cost taxpayers $9,000 per recipient. Additionally, the bill could increase the cost of Obamacare by $100 billion.
McCaughey said the most alarming provision is a section that creates a nonprofit called United States Citizenship, which will develop "citizen preparation" programs to teach immigrants about American history, voting, and the Constitution. The nonprofit will be run by national community organizers and will receive permanent government funding.
The federal Office of Immigration has previously done this job.
This nonprofit would be allowed to rewrite American history with whatever slant they want without public scrutiny, McCaughey said.
The goal of this provision is to register more Democratic voters, she said.