Posted on 07/12/2006 3:43:00 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - House Republican leaders are scheduling a new round of immigration hearings, saying three already held have strengthened their case for enforcement-heavy legislation.
Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Wednesday the hearings have made clear that a Senate bill that opens an avenue toward citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants would undermine border security.
He contended that members of both parties are moving toward the House position that the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants should be offered no guarantees against being deported.
"The hearings have been an absolute success and they've put us in a stronger position to pass a responsible that secures our border and strictly enforces our immigration law," Boehner said.
Last week's House hearings were in Laredo, Texas, San Diego and Washington. Senators held a hearing last week in Philadelphia and one on Monday in Miami; witnesses generally supported the position held by the Senate and President Bush that many illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the U.S.
At a hearing Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Bush wants a comprehensive bill. He said an approach of only enforcement does not encourage immigrants to learn English, assimilate or be part of society.
"The more this issue becomes one of enforcement only, we're driving them farther and father underground. What we want for our national security is to drive them above the shadows so we know who they are," said Gutierrez, who left his native Cuba in 1960 as a political refugee.
During last week's congressional recess, some lawmakers suggested a compromise could be forming around "triggers" that would allow a phasing in of guest worker or legalization measures after enforcement benchmarks are met.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said such "delays" already are in the Senate bill. A guest worker program for illegal immigrants could begin only after money has been appropriated for a system that employers could use to verify their workers are legal, he said.
"We may not be so very far apart," Specter suggested.
Seven new House hearings are scheduled, all but one in Washington. The House International Relations Committee will hold a hearing July 27 at a location to be determined on whether the Senate bill undermines diplomatic efforts to curb illegal immigration.
The other six hearings are scheduled from July 18 to July 27.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., one of the authors of the Senate bill, said that while Bush as stood up to the "Republican right wing," his party's leaders in the House continue to play politics with the issue.
"Clearly, the House hearings are more about politics than about serious immigration reform," Kennedy said.
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On the Net:
Information on the bills, H.R. 4437 and S. 2611, can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/
Yup that's true because we want them to stop stealing from the taxpayer and return to their home countries.
In the shadows my eye. They certainly weren't afraid to be right in our faces on May 1st.
If you ask me, I'd say ICE is in the shadows.
Note Specter says the House and Senate are not that far apart? When was the last time you heard of Specter folding his hand in a contest? If Bush can't control him, how could anyone believe Hastert can.
When was the last time you heard of House Majority Leader John Boehner folding his hand? How about June 14th 2006. Both sides will clearly state that they have eliminated illegal immigration. They will not tell you they have solved it by making Mexican immigration legal.
It sounds like the House and Senate are going into conference committee negotiations. The proceedings of all conference committees are secret.
Look for the contents house of the RULES committee rule on consideration of the returned bill. Betcha it allows little or no debate. If it does not allow much debate and prevents amendments the anti immigration cause is toast.
After they return a bill... both houses will do final passage... and the President will sign it saying it is is a compromise but the best that can be done.
At that point enforcement by the Bush Administration will go into low gear....
The media which supports unlimited immigration will move on to other issues.
Don't believe me? I give you two words to prove my case
Yep, that pretty much nails it. Excellent job.
"During last week's congressional recess, some lawmakers suggested a compromise could be forming around "triggers" that would allow a phasing in of guest worker or legalization measures after enforcement benchmarks are met. "
According to Tancredo, this must be CAREFULLY watched for. We keep hearing that Bush is 'leaning' towards an enforcement first, but what they really intend to to is to try and pass an 'enforcement first' that will automatically trigger guest worker/legalization as soon as the Administration deems the borders to be secured.
ping
I still don't think we need new legislation. Only the will and $$ to enforce what we already have. The US already has plenty of laws.
He's finally getting revenge for his father who was insulted by the white conservative republicans in Boston. I was hoping Kennedy would not live to see the destruction of America, but when we put George Bush in office we gave the Kennedys, both dead and alive, exactly what they have been striving for for decades - revenge.
Once Bush and the Congress gives amnesty the Mexicans, one of the first things that will happen will be an outright war against conservatives. Not only Mexicans but our fellow Republicans will join in this war to see that the conservative base is silenced for good. The Republicans will finally get what they have always wanted: the death of the middle class and slave labor across the board, and probably the most important thing for the republicans, those pesky conservatives will be overrun and wiped out.
The Democrats, on the other hand, are in a win win situation: They will benefit from the Mexican voters, who will cast millions upon millions of votes for the crooks of the century - the Democrat party.
Seems everyone will win but the few patriotic American citizens who are trying desperately to save America. Our days are numbered.
A Somali arrives in Minneapolis as a new immigrant to the United States. He
stops the first person he sees walking down the street and says, "Thank
you
Mr. American for letting me in this country, and giving me housing, food
stamps, free medical care and free education!"
But the passer-by says "You are mistaken, I am Mexican."
The man goes on and encounters another passer-by. "Thank you for having
such
a beautiful country here in America!"
The person says "I no American, I Vietnamese."
The new arrival walks further, and the next person he sees he stops, shakes
his hand and says "Thank you for the wonderful America!"
That person puts up his hand and says "I am from Middle East, I am not an
American!"
He finally sees a nice lady and asks suspiciously, "Are you an
American?"
She says, "No, I am from Russia!" So he is puzzled, and asks her,
"Where are
all the Americans?"
The Russian lady looks at her watch, shrugs, and says ... "Probably at
work!"
The hearings are clearly political, though not aimed at constituents but members of the Senate.
Whereas their actual bill was about serious enforcement.
This is responsible and commendable.
Now with the Senate it's entirely different. Both the Senate bill and your hearings are about politics.
Oh, and everyday Kennedy praises the President I am sickened just a bit more. And, no, to thos concerned and the fools know who they are...Kennedy isn't driving my naive gullible brainwashed mind into division with the President by diabolically aligning with him. The president is foolishly recklessly wrong and, to boot, insulting to the nth degree on this issue. And everyone knows it, even though some support it for their own differing reasons.
Ah, yes, Pence's cheap sell out.
As it stands I'm sort of cynically awaiting the House to sell us out but...I'm making it as difficut as possible for them to do so by praising their first bill and shreading any approach to amnesty whatsoever no matter who proposes it.
My goal still remains to stop passage of any bill and then try desperately to find someone that will enforce the laws in the 2008 primaries. It's really our only shot at serious enforcement.
A bill right now will mean amnesty.
Even if, miracles of miracles, a non amnesty did pass with no catches? The President would undermine it. Oh, he might not VETO it, but he'd still refuse to enforce it as he does with current laws.
I'd like to tie immigration and any "guest workers" to triggers, but how?
Tie it to enforcement? With 12 million illegals already here they arrest virtually no one. If they wanted they could shut down those few arrests in a heartbeat. So it can't be tied to arrests.
Tie it to the census? The Democrats already tried to create whatever census numbers they dreamed up while Clinton was in office. So it can't be tied to the Census either.
What will they tie immigration or guest worker programs to that they can't easily manipulate?
We need someone, smarter than me, to come up with a simple mail activist idea to flood the house and senate with tons of mail expressing our total lack of trust in our representative to do the right thing. It should be cheap and simple.
Congressman Pence's plan is an idea that has been shopped around by the Krieble Foundation. In mid-2005, the Krieble Foundation came to FAIR asking our support for its solution to the nation's illegal immigration crisis—a privatized guest worker program that allows illegal aliens to participate. As a core principle, FAIR is opposed to amnesties and mass guest worker programs. FAIR stayed true to its principles and refused to sign on to the Krieble Foundation proposal. Unfortunately, in a well-intentioned but misguided effort to break the ongoing stalemate between the House and Senate, Mr. Pence signed on.
Now called the "Pence plan" and "a compromise" by some, this guest worker program exceeds even the Senate's guest worker plan because there are NO NUMERICAL LIMITS for at least three years. Everyone in the world, including illegal aliens in the United States, is invited to get a guest worker visa, called a "W" visa. Guest workers are immediately allowed to apply for a green card and as long as a guest worker's green card application is pending, his W visa is indefinitely renewable. Thus, this plan is nothing more than a back door amnesty.
The Pence plan is not about finding a legislative means to end our immigration crisis; it is about importing unlimited cheap labor and yet again compromising the future of the American worker. It is no wonder that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were willing to spend so much time learning about this plan. The plan is a gift to those in big business who are willing to sell out the American worker in order to profit off of cheap foreign labor.
President Bush might back the Pence plan in an attempt to push House members to compromise, but this is not what the American people want! The Pence plan is not a compromise—it is a back door amnesty.
The hearings are doing nothing, but keeping us busy while the politicians sell out the middle and lower classes.
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