Later this afternoon, House Republicans will hold a special conference meeting to discuss the way forward on immigration.

America has long been a beacon of freedom in a tumultuous world, and people from all walks of life, faiths and cultures come together under one flag. We warmly welcome those across the globe who seek to come within our borders legally and respect the rule of law.

The pressure from the political establishment and special interests to grant amnesty to those people who crossed our border illegally is already in full throttle, as evidenced by the Senate’s Gang of Eight bill that grants amnesty now, border security never.

The Senate’s amnesty bill is symbolic of everything that’s wrong with Washington. It’s a thousand-plus page bill filled with special backroom deals to buy votes, and empty promises that won’t be fulfilled. It’s Obamacare all over again.

The Senate’s amnesty bill was sold as the “the most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall,” yet it only ensures that we’ll throw billions of dollars at the border without any proof it will ever be secured. The bill leaves Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano authority to nix construction of the fence if she believes it is unwarranted, which she has already publicly declared to be the case.

In 2006, Congress paid for 700 miles of fencing on the border. That was seven years ago. Where’s the fence?

If we grant amnesty, we will come face to face with a fiscal nightmare that will hurt the middle class and bankrupt this country. According to a recent study by the Heritage Foundation, legalizing current illegal immigrants will result in a net cost of $6.3 trillion, as the benefits they will receive will be far greater than the estimated amount they will pay in taxes.

Amnesty will do nothing to help Americans who are struggling to find work. Instead, it will lower wages, lower benefits, and take away job opportunities for the middle class.

In 1986, Congress passed legislation that was supposed to grant amnesty to one million illegal immigrants. It ended up being three and a half million.

It was supposed to be a one-time deal, yet nearly thirty years later, we find ourselves facing the same situation. The only difference is Congress today seems determined to make the same mistake – just on a much larger scale. Today we would be granting legal status to more than 30 million people over the next 10 years.

As we saw last week with President Obama unilaterally delaying Obamacare’s employer mandate, the Obama administration isn’t serious about enforcing the law.

What would stop them from selectively enforcing comprehensive immigration reform by granting amnesty but ignoring border security? That’s why we need an enforcement-first approach, not legalization-first.

The political establishment – both on the right and on the left – have made a decision that they are going to give amnesty to 11 million illegal immigrants, and likely will perpetuate ongoing amnesty into the future. It’s time for We The People to rise up and make our voices heard to stop amnesty and uphold the rule of law.