WASHINGTON, June 2 — President Bush’s advocacy of an immigration overhaul and his attacks on critics of the plan are provoking an unusually intense backlash from conservatives who form the bulwark of his remaining support, splintering his base and laying bare divisions within a party whose unity has been the envy of Democrats. (NYtimes.com)

It isn't often that I and Mr. Bush agree on foreign policy, yet it seems to me that this time he is working on a proposition that may well bring about some positive change.

It is estimated that there are currently 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S (Martin, Express-news) . Clearly, this indicates that the present border security measures and immigration policies are not working. Yet the bill faces opposition not only from the left, who tell us that it will cause issues for families attempting to reunite (certainly an issue, and something that the left needs to fight for), but also from Bush's generally staunch right-wing base. Their issue with the proposed legislature? That it will allow illegal workers to pay fines and fees to achieve residency. They're calling it amnesty.

Dictionary.com defines amnesty as: 2.Law. an act of forgiveness for past offenses, esp. to a class of persons as a whole.

One struggles to see how paying a fine, that is, an individual providing restitution to the government for past offenses, comes under the heading of amnesty. A fine, my fine friends, is a punishment.

Personally, I am unable to understand the issue here. Is it a problem because these workers came into the country illegally and 'stole' jobs and money by not paying taxes? Or is it because they're from another country, and those of the right who oppose the bill simply don't want them here? Is it something else?

Of course, I don't have the answer to this question. However, if -as I suspect- the first suggestion is the problem, then perhaps it is time for opponents of this bill to sit down and consider just what they are fighting for.

You see, this bill appears to provide a remedy to one of the more common arguments regarding the problem of illegal immigrants. The argument generally goes something like this: immigrants enter the country illegally, work for less than minimum wage - thus 'stealing' the jobs from American citizens- and then do not pay taxes, all the while eating up public services. This is a bad thing. Certainly, I can see the logic behind this argument. Yet, if this bill allows immigrants to pay restitution for their past 'misdeeds' and also put their names on the tax roll -so that they can be taxed- the bottom falls out of it entirely. Formerly illegal immigrants now become tax-paying green-card-carrying residents.

However! We then get to the tricky subject of morality. With the job-stealing tax-ducking argument out of the way, opponents of this bill will most likely fall back on "Yes, well, they -came- here illegally, and that's just...wrong." Please people, enough of the Dogma! It is time for change, time for a solution, not time to hide behind morals that we don't follow ourselves half the time, morals that achieve nothing. It is time to stop being so ethonocentric, so nationalistic, so judgemental, so that -no matter our past differences- we can work together to solve what is quite obviously one of the more serious issues facing the U.S today.

I remember a story, from the bible in fact -and you'll not often hear me quote the bible, let me tell you- of The Good Samaritan. I am sure you all know it, but in short, a wounded man was passed by and ignored by a priest, and a levite, both of whom were so tied up in the rules and dogma of their lives that they failed to help a fellow human-being in distress. It took a Samaritan who was willing to ignore the 'rules' and everyday restrictions, to help someone in distress.

What are you? Samaritan, or Demagogue?