Posted on 01/27/2005 7:15:50 PM PST by neverdem
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 - The battle within the Republican Party over immigration policy was joined Wednesday as President Bush vigorously promoted his proposal for a guest worker program and conservatives in Congress introduced an alternative proposal to tighten immigration restrictions.
At a news conference, President Bush said again that he considered his guest worker proposal "a priority" even though Senate Republicans left it off their list of top goals. "A program that enables people to come into our country in a legal way to work for a period of time, for jobs that Americans won't do, will help make it easier for us to secure our borders," Mr. Bush said, adding: "I know there is a compassionate, humane way to deal with this issue. I want to remind people that family values do not end at the Rio Grande border."
Party conservatives, however, have strenuously opposed a guest worker plan since Mr. Bush introduced the idea in 2001, even staging a losing revolt over its inclusion in the party platform at the 2004 Republican convention. Many conservatives call the president's ideas "amnesty" - a term Mr. Bush disputes - because his plan includes ways for currently illegal immigrants to obtain temporary worker permits.
On Wednesday afternoon, Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., the Wisconsin Republican who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, again introduced a measure to block illegal immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses.
At a news conference, he said the committee would not consider other immigration proposals, implicitly including the president's, until his own measure passed. A similar measure was removed from a bill to enact the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission last year. Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, is expected to introduce a driver's license restriction this year.
Mr. Sensenbrenner said his bill was primarily directed at border security, distinguishing it from other changes in immigration policy. "Immigrants are not terrorists, except a few of them," he said. "The legislation that was introduced today is designed to get the bad apples out of the barrel before the barrel was spoiled."
He said a group of House Republicans had written a letter to Mr. Bush urging him to provide full financing for provisions in last year's antiterrorism bill doubling the number of border patrol agents and tripling the number of beds for detaining illegal immigrants over the next five years. The Department of Homeland Security said recently that it was planning a smaller increase in financing, drawing the ire of advocates of tighter immigration laws.
Asked about the president's proposal, Mr. Sensenbrenner said his committee was "going to be plenty busy with other priorities, a lot of which are the priorities of the White House."
In an interview, Representative Chris Cannon, a Utah Republican who supports the president's plan, said a guest worker program would not amount to an amnesty because it would include a monetary penalty for currently illegal immigrants. "The people who want to kick them all out are not reasonable people," he said.
But Representative Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado and chairman of the Congressional immigration caucus, vowed to defeat any program that in his view would reward lawbreakers, even questioning the president's motives. "Could it be just the corporate interests, the money interests that rely so heavily on cheap labor?" he asked
If they are employed and making more than the jobs that they want to take from the illegals, why do they want them?
Wouldn't it be better to work for $10 an hour than not work at all?
Maybe they have drug problems or attitude problems or emotional problems or something.
Obviously they aren't very valuable as employees.
You're right up there with George Washington aren't you.../sarc
Just as a percentage of Americans are losers, a percentage of illegal aliens are losers too.
You can suggest it but I don't think he cares what you think. Dubya never had your vote.
And clearly, he could care less what the almost 80 percent of Americans want.
For a country that's supposedly xenophobic (according to certain FReepers) the United States isn't doing a very good job of being xenophobic (thankfully) when you consider the fact that we let in about one million foreigners, legally, every year.
You should be saying Oops. How does your quote from 1984 support your statement ...
Reagan and the Simpson half of Simpson/Mazolli called the 86 amnesty one of the biggest mistakes of the Reagan era.?
No he clearly didn't, nor did he deserve it.
You are incoherently babbling.
Then let's deport both.
Incoherent: 2 : lacking clarity or intelligibility :
Babble: 1 : to utter in an incoherently or meaninglessly repetitious manner
And you are repeating yourself. Which part did you not comprehend? I would say a comprehension problem of English might be your problem, not the writer's.
Your response to me is a 9 word sentence. It was...
You're right up there with George Washington aren't you?
I'm not sure how to break it down to parts with out losing the obvious depth you see in it. Which part? Which part? Yeah...um...the sentence part.
Illegal Immigration is the biggest problem. It negatively impacts just about everything else you mentioned.
Not very many, it took 18 months following the law's passage to get the rules in place. According to the former INS:
"During this period, INS issued citations only against first-time offenders who had already received an educational visit from the INS and imposed fines only against employers who continued to break the law after receiving both an educational visit and a citation. At the end of this period, INS had issued 2,322 citations and 107 Notices of Intent to Fine, totaling $448,450."
After Reagan left Bush 1 did continue with enforcement for a while but due to enormous pressure from businesses backed off. We've had no real enforcement since.
Affermative action reform is paramount???
Let me ask you this - there will be a crushing tax burden placed on you or your children in the next 20 years because of our actions today. Do you think that will cause you more grief, or living with Affermative action for a few more years???
I know what I'm focussed on - and it's not affermative action!
Bingo!
The border in Iraq was closed in days. DAYS!
Read your own initial post with the list Al.
I said number one and number seven.
If you take a second more focused look, you will see that is number one:illegal immigration and number two:degradation of individual liberties.
I would add that even legal Moon Rock Nazis should not be allowed here.
Affirmative Action while a royal pain in the ass is at least being addressed to some degree and not embraced like Norte Mexico is.
;>)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.