Democrat wins presidential race by a landslide

My Desk | 01/24/04 | Centennial

[Centennial]

Start by closing the doors. Then treat the people already here with dignity and fairness. As for the cost, we already pay over 1 billion dollars per year just to lock up criminal illegal aliens (DOJ). That is not to mention the health care costs and other expenses. How many military divisions could we support on our borders for a couple of billion a year?

[deport]

Well they already have a bill filed:

S2010 by Hagel and Daschle to reform the Immigration Act..... This Act may be cited as the `Immigration Reform Act of 2004: Strengthening America's National Security, Economy, and Families' or the `Immigration Reform Act of 2004'.

Yep don't think they are going to make the standing at the border with the Troops on point as their focal issue..... just my guess.

[Hand em their arse]

So, are you proposing amnesty for people already here?

[Consort]

If 500 thousand illegals come in this, then decrease next year's legal quota by 500 thousand. Do that every year and the quotas will be met and not exceeded. It's an interim measure while they find a solution.

[Centennial]

No I do not support amnesty. I don't think we should pound them into the ground either because our government has not had the guts to enforce our laws for the last 40 years. Document them, and know who they are. After a period of time and close border controls the problem will become a thing of the past. The pressure a halt in illegal immigration will put on the Mexican Govt. will result in changes that will benefit the Mexican people in the long run.

[Consort]

Change "come in this" to "come in this year".

[Blood of Tyrants]

Yes, except that all the Rats believe exactly the same as the GOP in this and don't want to lose the illegal alien vote.

[paul51]

and a problem faced

Plus we get more of them on the tax rolls.

[Centennial]

You are right. These people have a rotten attitude and a lack of commitment. But think about it, minimum wage and no benefits doesn't give a person much to look forward too. It is supply and demand. If we eliminated an unlimited supply of workers who will work for poverty wages it will force up the wages for most Americans. Better pay means that workers have something to look forward to and is worth keeping. Let the market set the wages. Illegal immigration screws up the market place by keeping wages too low and it affects you and I.

[Hand em their arse]

Don't you think that's rewarding the law breaking illegals while screwing those that actually have sought the legal way to gain citizenship.

What bothers me most is the way we set such amazingly strict guidlines towards countries that may produce exceptional productive citizens (many european or asian nations for example) while we let all the drug pushing columbians or guatamalans fly by.

It's just getting pathetic

[PhiKapMom]

Very true! They will have to pay taxes!

[paul51]

Start by closing the doors

That would undermine the strategy behind the proposed policy. A lot of the illegals don't return to Mex when their seasonal job is up for fear of not getting back in. Shut the door and we are back to where we are with all the undocumented roaming around the country. If we let them pass back and forth once they are documented, it's a better situation than we presently have

[Hand em their arse]

I do see your points, I am 35 years old and can remember making minimum wage with no benefits as well in my teens. But I think the way society has gone, we've allowed younger people to get to this point. Alot of foreign immigrants will end up gladly filling these jobs, though.

The answer is tremendously more complicated than we can fix on this thread.

[Centennial]

Good question Ray. Hispanics vote their pocket book just like everyone else. I have lived all over the southwest and have found most Hispanics to be on the conservative if not pratical side. They don't like to be stereotyped or taken for granted and have little love for law breakers. They have opinions as varied as any group of people you will ever find. A Hispanic from Montana looks at things differently than one from San Diego verses one from Miami.
It is a real mistake to think of them as a homogeneous group of people.

[Coeur de Lion]

It's never going to happen. Did you not possibly notice that Bush didn't address "border security" with respect to his plan? Did you not notice that he also didn't spell out in any detail the exact nuances of his plan (i.e. will employees have to provide minimum wage, or basic health insurance, etc.)? And of course, you probably missed the fact that Dennis Hastert announced today the plan as virtually dead, because there was no way they could get the votes in Congress for it. I don't think that's going to change after the next election. What ever is proposed in this plan leaves Bush ample wiggle room to get out of anything the Democrats might throw at him. Also, if anything from this plan survives it's going to require a lot of "horse-trading."

[Centennial]

You are right, document them. But you must then close the doors and control the flow of aliens to our country. Bush proposes to document them and leave the door open for an unlimited number of aliens to enter. That spells big problems for all Americans.

[Fabozz]

"This will be the headline the day after the November elections if the Democrat nominee is astute enough to use one single viseral issue to hammer George Bush."

If it's a "viseral" issue then the Dems would actually squeeze Bush with it, not hammer him.

[Centennial]

Yes and "decimate" means to reduce by one tenth but no one ever uses it right either. Thanks anyway for the correction.

[paul51]

If we say we are going to document and then shut the door, how many do you suppose will step forward to be documented?

[Consort]

I considered that, as others have. But maintaining immigration quotas, and not exceeding them, is importatnt, as well. If 500 thousand illegals come in and we decrease the allowed quota by 500 thousand to maintain the quota, then new immigrants from Columbia, as you mentioned, and France, Somolia, Haiti, Germany, Uganda, Russia, etc will not be allowed to come here. It's a trade off until the problem is solved.