Posted on 05/25/2007 2:58:42 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
WASHINGTON -- Fred Thompson, a potential Republican presidential candidate, suggested that the 1986 immigration law signed by President Reagan is to blame for the country's illegal immigrants and he bemoaned a nation beset by "suicidal maniacs."
"Twelve million illegal immigrants later, we are now living in a nation that is beset by people who are suicidal maniacs and want to kill countless innocent men, women and children around the world," the former Tennessee senator said. "We're sitting here now with essentially open borders."
He made the comments Thursday night as he discussed the 1986 immigration reform bill and the Senate's current legislation to overhaul the immigration system during a speech to people attending the annual Prescott Bush Awards Dinner in Stamford, Conn.
Thompson, the actor on NBC's popular drama "Law & Order," is widely expected to enter the GOP presidential race this summer. His backers bill him as a conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan who can beat the Democratic nominee in November 2008.
That's the same Reagan who signed an immigration overhaul two decades ago that gave amnesty to an estimated 2.7 million illegal immigrants who had been in the United States at least four years.
"Future generations of Americans will be thankful for our efforts to humanely regain control of our borders and thereby preserve the value of one of the most sacred possessions of our people: American citizenship," Reagan said in a statement on Nov. 6, 1986, as the bill became law with his signature.
Immigration has dominated the Republican presidential race this week, with candidates seeking to navigate the tricky politics of the Senate measure that many conservatives oppose. They make up a large part of the GOP base whose votes are critical in the Republican primary contests.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
umgud’s plan
1. Secure the border
2. Real interior enforcement
3. Employee verification, match SS#’s, etc. (no national ID)
4. Employer sanctions
5. Border crossers, visa overstays banned from reentry, felony 2cnd strike
6. ID required for voting
7. No education, non-emergency medical or public assistance to illegals
8. No more anchor babies
9. Expand citizenship based on immigrant skill/education (end chain migration)
10. Provide guest worker program with application from home countries
That’s about right.
BTTT
It’d be fine by me and many others if Congress&crew went home for the summer and just came back in the fall.
Have a Safe Memorial Day week-end.
On May 25, Sen. Vitter (R-La.) -- as he did a year ago before the Senate passed the S. 2611 amnesty -- offered an amendment that would have stripped out all provisions to reward nearly all the 12-20 million illegal aliens with permanent legal status.
It lost 29-66. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00180
After weeks of phone calls and faxing, your Senators have now gone on record as either supporting amnesty or opposing it.
Why do they need to come back?
I agree, but that'll be horribly difficult to do - I believe that it is in the Constitution, and amending it is (thankfully) very difficult. Sometimes that works against us, but I'd rather have it difficult than easy.
Well, if it’s as difficult as you say, then we better get started on it yesterday.
(That is the only thanks Romney would get, at FR in general, and from JR in particular).
Seriously, kudos to Thompson for voicing the anti-amnesty argument. Aside from a few Senators such as Sessions, the Presidential candidates are the best spokesmen we have, of which Thompson and Romney are the only likely to get MSM notice.
He’ll change his tune if he’s elected. Hell Reagan did. That ought to tell you something. The value of your 401K absolutely depends on these borders staying open. The price of a share of Walmart has umpteen million new American consumers factored in. You take that out and you will cry when your 401K statement arrives in the mail. If the government got serious about border control the economy would slow down starting wth the stock market for the reason stated. Don’t shoot the messenger. Just trying to explain how it works.
Still we have to push back and slow it down. I called Cornyn’s office to remind that citizenship and the rule of law are supposed to mean something.
“I agree, but that’ll be horribly difficult to do - I believe that it is in the Constitution, and amending it is (thankfully) very difficult. Sometimes that works against us, but I’d rather have it difficult than easy”
The area of the Constitution that you refer to was meant to normalize former slaves, not all babies born to parents or a parent that snuck into the country.
“I called my senators (again) and the White House to voice my opposition to this bill. I pray that Thompson comes our very very strong against amnesty and this bill. I have called and emailed my friends and relatives to tell them to oppose this monstrosity. We need to keep the pressure on.”
It is so sad that we are being pushed into this excercise. Our government is trying to ram an amnesty bill, against the will of the people, that would destroy our nation. Even if this bill does not pass we need to vote THIRD PARTY, PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The courts are who I identify as culprits. They said employers could not tell if IDs were fake and the enforcement provision of 1986 went by the wayside. Anchor babies are a court interpretation of the 14th Amendment, not explicit language that addressed illegal aliens and it is probably from the Warren Court.
Congress has never come back with legislation on any of these issues so they are the cowards in all this.
What makes anyone think it will be different this time?
“The area of the Constitution that you refer to was meant to normalize former slaves”
That has been the problem for years is that courts too often go beyond the original intent of the constitution and its ammendments. If something new arises that was not addressed previously, then a new constitutional ammendment process needs to initiated. The “living document” nonsense is a bloody can of worms.
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