The Democrats are moving on immigration reform, which is good news. But the details make it look like we're going to war:
The Democratic proposal includes increased money for border patrol and drug war agents, equipment, helicopters and unmanned drones. It would create a national ID -- which is dubbed a "biometric social security card." Though Democrats insist that it is not an ID card and can only be used for employment purposes.
Drug war? Drones? And a national ID card that seems eerily close to being "papers?" Okay, so maybe a bunch of hawkish Republicans applied their stink to the bill. But no. This is a fully Democratic bill without any Republican support.
Motherfudger. Utterly tone deaf. The Democrats just can't help it. The optics of this bill are terrible.
Adding... About those biometric ID cards:
Schumer estimates that employers would have to pay up to $800 for card-reading machines, and many point out that compliance could prove burdensome for many small-to-medium-size businesses. In a similar program run by the Department of Homeland Security, in which 1.4 million transportation workers have been issued biometric credentials, applicants each pay $132.50 to help cover the costs of the initiative, which so far run in the hundreds of millions. "This is sort of like the worst combination of the DMV and the TSA," says Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the ACLU, an organization that has traditionally opposed all forms of national ID. "It's going to be enormously costly no matter what."
Motherfudger.