Posted on 10/20/2010 11:35:23 AM PDT by greatdefender
Via Change.org, some interesting information about a proposed Arizona-style immigration bill in Florida: The bill includes a provision allowing Canadians and Western Europeans to be “presumed to be legally in the United States,” even though other non-citizens must carry papers. Florida’s bill, which was drafted by Rep. William Snyder (R), has support from Rick Scott, the Republican candidate for governor. Although proponents of the legislation argue it would not lead to racial profiling, the provision on Canadians and Western Europeans — most of whom are white non-Latinos — brings up new concerns for Latino groups. (The Miami New Times, which originally pointed out the provision, has a full copy of the draft bill.) Latino and immigrant rights groups have fervently opposed the bill, which would mimic Arizona’s SB 1070 by requiring police to check legal status on anyone they “reasonable suspicions” of being in the country illegally if the police have already stopped them. The provision would allow them to assume legal status if the person had a Canadian passport or a “passport from any ‘visa waiver country’” — which are primarily located in Western Europe. “That language makes it clear that police are targeting only a specific minority,” Susana Barciela, policy director at the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, told the Miami New Times.
Snyder said the language was meant to avoid deterring tourism from Canada. “What we’re doing there is trying to be sensitive to Canadians,” he said in a radio interview. “We have an enormous amount of … Canadians wintering here in Florida. … That language is comfort language.”
The bill has caused some tension between Florida politicians, particularly the three Latino Republican members of Congress from Miami who oppose the anti-immigration legislation. Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen tepidly endorsed Scott for governor earlier this month despite his support for the bill.
Good. We have lots of Canadian snowbirds plsu quite a few Europeans.
DUMB DUMB DUMB
Allows various groups to claim victim status and profiling stories will emerge.
DUMB DUMB DUMB
Well, that is one way to get your Immigration law slapped down by a court in a very hard and swift manner.
In the border we are asking, “Who are you?”
Heck, I carry ID in Canada and I was born here.
And, any legal foreigners who aren't willing to meet the requirements of living here (having valid ID, etc.) should go back home.
Coming to this country is a privilege, not a right
one rule...all people.
Florida currently doesnt have much of an illegal problem. Some from SA, Candians and euros may over stay student/tourst visa but not a big deal. Yrs ago there were a lot Colombians here but the illegals have mostly left.
Florida doesnt have the mexican problem .
EXACTLY! This is Stupid, but for the following reason: A LOT, and I mean a LOT of radical Muslims or other terror types go to Canada or the UK first and obtain citizenship there before entering the US. This is opening the door for them. Many Canadians I have met are of Middle-Eastern, southeast Asian, and African descent. How will they tell? Damn fools.
Why wouldn’t we want to deport illegal immigrants from socialist Canada and Western europe?
They already do that. I'm sick of that sh#t.
...The bill includes a provision allowing Canadians and Western Europeans to be “presumed to be legally in the United States”,..
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NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!!!
Why?
Our immigration law already treats immigrants differently based on their country of origin.
That's very different from what the title of the article implies.
But that’s not how it will be interpereted.
“Our immigration law already treats immigrants differently based on their country of origin.”
Can you name one other law that grants special privileges to a person who is in the country illegally and is from a specific country or geographic region?
The only solution is to place the military on both borders and to strictly enforce the law. But I think we both know that won't happen.
Partly, it is a matter of economics. Japanese tourists come here mainly to spend money and stay in four and five star hotels. They leave as scheduled.
Mexican tourists come here more to earn money. They stay with relatives and don't leave when their time is up.
So the immigration process is different based on two totally different patterns.
Years ago, when I was reentering Japan on a Thai air flight, I had the option of going through the immigration line for Japanese (since I had a residence permit) or the line for Foreigners (since I am an American).
I quickly scanned the crowd and concluded it was about 90% Japanese, so I naturally chose the shorter line.
Well, it turned out Japan's immigration protocol for Thais was entirely different from their protocol for arriving Americans. They were asking the Thais to show a return ticket, funds in cash or traveler's checks to support their stay in Japan and much more than I normally got asked as an arriving American.
I quickly moved over to one of the longer but faster moving Japanese lines and was finished before the foreigner line was barely halfway through.
Were the Japanese immigration officials racist or just practicing common sense based on their past experience? From what I could see, the answer was clearly the later.
Cubans step foot on US soil and get automatic asylum, right?
We have immigration quotas that are different for different countries.
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