I've been reading various places where people are claiming that this bill isn't amnesty. I'm guessing those people haven't actually read the bill. Norman, at Norman's Blog, says:

1) It is not amnesty. It imposes an initial $1,000 fine and an additional $4,000 fine upon application for a green card by Z visa workers.

Terry, at The Right Track examines the nitty gritty meanings of words and declares:

So are illegals being absolved of the consequences of their crimes? I’d have to say in the strongest possible terms: it depends.

S.1348, Title II, Sec 201:

A record of lawful admission for permanent residence may be made, in the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security and under such regulations as the retary may prescribe, for any alien, as of the date of the approval of the alien’s application or, if entry occurred be fore July 1, 1924, as of the date of such entry if no such record is otherwise available, if the alien establishes that the alien—
‘‘(1) is not described in section 212(a)(3)(E) or in section 212(a) (insofar as it relates to criminals, procurers, other immoral persons, subversives, violators of the narcotics laws, or smugglers of aliens);
‘‘(2) entered the United States before January 12 1, 1972;
‘‘(3) has resided in the United States continuously since such entry;
‘‘(4) is a person of good moral character;
‘‘(5) is not ineligible for citizenship; and
‘‘(6) is not described in section 237(a)(4)(B).’’

Folks, that IS amnesty by definition. That particular line may not be amnesty for everyone, but anyone who claims the bill doesn't include amnesty is either lying or doesn't know what's in the bill.

Sec 602(a)(1)(B):

Notwithstanding sections 245(a) and (c), the status of any Z-1 nonimmigrant may be adjusted by the Secretary of Homeland Security to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

And the related 245(a) and (c):

That's right, there's nothing there. In other words, according to this proposed law, the Secretary of Homeland Security can, at any point in time, by executive fiat, just grant blanket amnesty to anyone he wants -- and no one can stop him.

Oh, but he can only grant total amnesty to Z-Visa immigrants. So who gets those Visas?

Definition of Z nonimmigrants- Section 101(a)(15) of the Act
(8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) is amended by inserting at the end the following new subparagraph "(Z) subject to Title VI of the [Insert title of Act], an alien
who-
"(i) is physically present in the United States, has maintained continuous physical presence in the United States since January 1, 2007, is employed, and seeks to
continue performing labor, services or education; or
"(ii) is physically present in the United States, has maintained continuous physical presence in the United States since January 1, 2007, and
"(I) is the spouse or parent (65 years of age or older) of an alien described in (i); or
"(II) was, within two years of the date on which [NAME OF THIS ACT] was introduced, the spouse of an alien who was subsequently classified as a Z nonimmigrant under this section, or is eligible for such classification, if-
"(aa) the termination of the relationship with such spouse was connected to domestic violence; and
"(bb) the spouse has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by the spouse or parent who is a Z nonimmigrant.

In other words, literally anyone who comes to this country illegally can get a Z-Visa and the Secretary can grant total amnesty to every last one of them (and their entire families).

This bill is really, really bad. If you haven't called your Senators yet, please do. This needs to be stopped. This bill has the power to completely destroy America as a free country and as a representative republic.