The Drudge Report highlighted the Senate passage of a comprehensive immigration reform bill by reviving the falsehood that the legislation amounts to amnesty for undocumented immigrants. Drudge announced the news with the headline, “Amnesty Clears Senate”:

Right-wing media have repeatedly invoked the amnesty falsehood to attack the bill, when in fact the Senate proposal requires immigrants who are in the country illegally to meet a number of requirements before they can apply for citizenship. Some of those conditions include passing criminal and security background checks, paying significant fines, and going through a waiting period that stretches to as far as 13 years.

Experts have further explained that the path to earned citizenship as outlined in the Senate bill cannot be equated with amnesty. As Cato Institute immigration policy analyst Alex Nowrasteh noted of the Senate bill: “If it was amnesty they would be legalized immediately with no punishment, no process. They would just be forgiven and handed a green card.”