Posted on 12/10/2003 3:18:10 PM PST by Amerigomag
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told a Miami audience Tuesday that the country should legalize millions of undocumented immigrants living in the country.
"The bottom line is, as a country we have to come to grips with the presence of 8 to 12 million illegals, afford them some kind of legal status some way, but also as a country decide what our immigration policy is and then enforce it," Ridge said at a town hall meeting at Miami-Dade Community College.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
Thereby giving legitimacy to all the al Qaeda cells already in the U.S.
Brilliant maneuver. NOT
Why not enforce the current policy as it is, and then debate whether it needs to be changed after we deport most of the illegal aliens?
It's easy to say that we'll enforce the borders (or form a blue-ribbon commission to talk about ways to enforce the borders) after granting amnesty, but then they'll inevitably rediscover how porous the border is or how lacking the new policies are, and in another decade we'll have another 10 million illegal aliens clamoring for amnesty.
You're a disrupter. You also joined FR on Sunday.
""I'm not saying make them citizens, because they violated the law to get here," he said. "So you don't reward that type of conduct by turning over a citizenship certificate. You determine how you can legalize their presence, then, as a country, you make a decision that from this day forward, from this day forward, this is the process of entry, and if you violate that process of entry we have the resources to cope with it."
PLEASE DROP TOM RIDGE A NOTE EXPRESSING YOUR OUTRAGE OVER HIS UNAMERICAN STANCE. For those who think another e-mail won't make diddly-squat difference, I'm of the mind that sufficient numbers do make a mark, however small it may be. Thank you for your effort!
Penny
"The bottom line is, as a country we have to come to grips with the presence of 8 to 12 million illegals, afford them some kind of legal status some way, but also as a country decide what our immigration policy is and then enforce it," Ridge said at a town hall meeting at Miami-Dade Community College.
The forum was the second in a national series organized by the nonprofit Council for Excellence in Government, which aims to develop homeland security recommendations for various levels of government and the public. Business and community leaders, students and others had the chance to ask Ridge and state and local officials about topics that included cybersecurity, airport security, cargo inspection and immigration.
A man who identified himself as Miguel Arroyo, of Aventura, asked Ridge whether he supported immigration legalization and whether he thought it would benefit national security.
Ridge said he thinks the body politic is about ready to address the issue of the illegal immigrants, who he said contribute to communities and Social Security and pay taxes. He referred to a growing number of bills that would grant residency to some of those living here illegally. He said one of these, which would require all illegal immigrants to leave the country before applying for residency, is "not workable."
"I'm not saying make them citizens, because they violated the law to get here," he said. "So you don't reward that type of conduct by turning over a citizenship certificate. You determine how you can legalize their presence, then, as a country, you make a decision that from this day forward, from this day forward, this is the process of entry, and if you violate that process of entry we have the resources to cope with it."
At the town hall meeting and at a morning meeting with Gov. Jeb Bush, Ridge praised Florida's level of security preparedness. This year Florida is spending $403 million on homeland security. Most comes from the $29.4 billion in federal money for domestic security programs.
At the morning meeting, Bush told a national security advisory council that the state has improved coordination between law enforcement and emergency personnel and heightened security at seaports.
"In the event of a disaster, a terrorist attack of any kind, ... today we are better trained, better equipped, better coordinated," Bush said.
The town hall audience of about 300 was asked "Do you feel safer than you did a year ago?" Fifty-two percent said yes, 28 percent said no, and 20 percent said unchanged.
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It's not Jim's choice. It's the law. The system, based on URL recognition and word count, is a response to a court settlement
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