RUSH: Diane in St. Louis. Hi. I’m glad you waited. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hi.

CALLER: Mega dittos from St. Louis, Missouri, Rush.

RUSH: Thank you very much.

CALLER: I’ve been wanting to talk to you for several weeks now, ever since you had Marco Rubio on a few weeks back —

RUSH: Yes, ma’am.

CALLER: — about illegal aliens —

RUSH: That’s right.

CALLER: — and amnesty. He gave some bullet points, and I think this all dovetails in what you were talking about, the intrusiveness of government. He gave some bullet points. Illegal aliens would have to pay taxes, there would be penalties imposed, restrictions. They wouldn’t be allowed to vote for the first few years. They’d actually have to pay health care. And I understand why the politicians want these illegals to become citizens. They want their votes. But my question is, what’s the draw? Who in their right mind would say, “Yeah, sign me up for this”? Sign me up to pay taxes, penalties, sign me up for the intrusiveness. We were just talking about how the government’s watching us. I’m really thinking that if this legislation is passed, they’re not gonna see the floodgates open and illegals, you know, wanting to come in. They keep silent.

RUSH: You are questioning why anybody would want to actually become a citizen of this country —

CALLER: Well, yeah.

RUSH: — when you can get all the benefits without being one?

CALLER: Right. What’s the draw? I mean, what’s gonna actually bring these people to the table and say, “Yeah, I want to be a citizen,” when they’re enjoying everything that, you know, we have now.

RUSH: Well, the people who sign up are not going to pay taxes. They’re gonna get money back from the IRS, earned income tax credit. But look, that’s beside the point. The answer to the question, I think if you asked certain people, would be that citizenship is such a wonderful thing. These people are fleeing oppression. The United States is the beacon of hope around the world. The United States is the light of freedom. The United States is an escape from bondage and tyranny, and I want to be able to come there without fear of being kicked out. I want to come there and be able to vote. I mean, American citizenship is still a highly treasured thing for most people around the world.

CALLER: I don’t see them marching in the streets, requesting, demanding, hoping for citizenship. They just seem to be very silent.

RUSH: Look, playing devil’s advocate. The reason they’re not marching in the street and demanding is because they got La Raza doing it for ’em, and if they do that then they’re afraid they’ll be identifying themselves, they’ll be deported.

CALLER: I doubt that.

RUSH: Well, it’s what they fear. I know it’s not gonna happen. It’s what they fear.

CALLER: Yeah, I don’t see that here.

RUSH: It’s the whole notion of living in the shadows. I don’t think they’re living in the shadows, by the way.

CALLER: No, I don’t either. I don’t see that fear here in St. Louis.

RUSH: Yeah, look, I understand your question. The reason I’m reluctant here to get into details is because I can’t. I’ve gotta take a break. I’m gonna get the “ahem” from the timekeeper here any minute, but Diane, I’m sure your call will inspire others, and it’ll start a conversation. So sit tight. We’ll be back and continue in just a second.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Look, why would illegals want to become citizens? It’s called chain immigration. They can bring in all their relatives without having to pay to have ’em snuck across the border. They can increase their demands. There’s a bunch of reasons why they would want to be legalized, and a bunch of reasons why the Democrats would want it to happen.

Anyway, I didn’t get a chance to talk about Rubio may be pulling out of the Gang of Eight. Not sure if that’s true but we’ll talk about it tomorrow.