'Obama to make illegals eligible for health care'
Jerome R. Corsi
Upcoming immigration bill seen as 'backdoor' to bring millions into plan
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
 Roger Hedgecock |
Calling comprehensive immigration reform the Obama administration's "second act," Hedgecock said illegal immigrants initially would be excluded from the health care plan but would have access to it once comprehensive immigration reform is passed by Congress.
Hedgecock charged the administration's immigration plan amounts to providing amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States.
He suggested the administration will follow the steps of the twice-defeated comprehensive immigration reform legislation proposed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., by including ample provisions for establishing a "pathway to citizenship" and providing for "guest workers" to give legal status to illegal immigrants already in the U.S.
Pointing to the anti-big-government rally in the nation's capital last weekend, Hedgecock said "America is waking up and is determined to have a say."
When asked by WND what his illegal immigration reform suggestions would be, Hedgecock responded, "Enforce the immigration laws already on the books."
Hedgecock told WND that some 150 radio listeners from his nationally syndicated show have traveled to Washington at their own expense to lobby members of Congress during the annual "Hold their Feet to the Fire" event, which began yesterday.
Hedgecock is headlining some 45 radio talk show hosts from across the nation who are participating in the two-day event, hosted by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR.
South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson drew national attention when he shouted "You lie!" during last week's joint session of Congress when President Obama claimed no illegal immigrants would receive health care services under the president's proposed health-care reform legislation.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who is leading bipartisan negotiations in the Senate with his "gang of six," has promised the compromise bill presented to the Senate would include enforcement provisions to bar illegal immigrants from buying health care insurance through a new insurance marketplace, according to the New York Times.
On Monday, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., scheduled a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for Sept. 22 on "Comprehensive Immigration Reform: How the Current Immigration Law Negatively Impacts America's Agricultural Industry and Food Service."
Schumer has announced his intention to introduce new comprehensive immigration reform legislation to the Senate this year.
Red Alert has previously reported that illegal immigrants make up a large portion of those in the United States who lack health care , with immigrants – both legal and illegal – accounting for 71 percent of the increase in the uninsured over the last two decades, since 1989.
WND has previously reported that President Obama in February, his second month in office, affirmed on a Spanish-language radio show that his goal was to pass comprehensive immigration reform this year, even though his administration had not yet announced the goal to the American public at large.
"Comprehensive immigration reform" became catchwords in the 109th and 110th Congresses for the legislation co-sponsored by Kennedy and McCain to create a "path of citizenship" and "guest worker program."
Characterized as a "shamnesty" bill by opponents that viewed the measure as amnesty for illegal immigrants, the U.S. Senate finally defeated repeated Bush administration attempts that trace back to 2005. A June 5, 2007, vote on cloture failed in the Senate by a vote of 34-61.