Just over a year ago, the American people voted for one thing in particular. That was to shut down the border and begin mass deportations. Since then, the Trump administration has been doing the work of deporting millions of people who had no business living here in the first place. But apparently, Republicans in Congress did not get that message from people.

Instead, as she has almost yearly since 2017, Florida Congresswoman Maria Salazar introduced another amnesty bill. This time, it is called the "DIGNIDAD" Act. To save you time reading the massive bill, it gives amnesty and debt forgiveness to illegals. It forgives student loan debts of immigration attorneys and gives people citizenship if they have lived here for five years. Just five years and boom, suddenly you are somehow an American. No assimilation needed.

To make matters worse, there are other Republicans who support the idea. The people do not want amnesty under any circumstances. They want deportations on a mass scale. Just suggesting this idea is bad enough, but any Republican supporting it is taking a potential career-killing poison pill.

We have done this before, though. Amnesty was granted to around three million illegals by Ronald Reagan in 1986. But immigration expert Simon Hankinson says there was a caveat to that deal, which was never held up.

"It was in exchange for never letting it happen again...what became E-Verify would make sure that there would not be magnets to suck people in and get jobs illegally...of course, that did not happen," he says.

It is not surprising for promises to be broken in Washington. In fact, sadly, it is expected. But this was during one of the best presidencies in the nation's history. Even then, still, the deal fell apart and now we are left with the result. Which are millions of people who disrespect our laws, and hate being here, but profit off living here along the way.

Thankfully, the wounds of that broken 1986 promise are still fresh enough to be remembered by the GOP. So, it has made many of them wary of any amnesty deals, because it was a hard lesson to learn. So, the idea of the GOP rallying behind this is far-fetched, even with midterm desperation approaching.

But there is a split among the GOP, which is where the discussions are now. That is how to handle what has already been done.

"What do you do with the 15 to 25 million people living here illegally, some of whom have been here a generation and have American citizen children," Hankinson says.

Frankly, none of it should matter. If you are here illegally, pack the bags, it is time to go. We are a nation of laws, and it is beyond time to uphold them. Coddling everyone because they are an immigrant does no one any good, certainly not the country.

In the end, Hankinson says this bill likely never gets off the ground or passes. If it does gain traction though, any GOP member supporting it is taking a pill that could end their career.

Jimmy Barrett