[Peach]

Contrary to claims the administration's investigation and arrests of employers hiring illegals is down from the Clinton administration, this table tells a different story. Credit RedBloodedAmerican for finding this:

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1632888/posts?page=187#187

By 2004, the annual inflow of foreign-born persons was down 24% from its all-time high in 2000, according to the Pew Hispanic Center analysis of multiple datasets collected by the Census Bureau and other government agencies.

http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=53


Note that I don't think anyone is claiming that nothing should be done, but the hysterics claiming that nothing is being done couldn't be more wrong.

Fact sheet:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1633068/posts

[mnehring]

Very good Peach, thanks for posting.

IMHO, with the thought of Jim Gilcrest running, we have a couple of groups, those who want a change and think that a grass roots effort can actually get a Constitution Party candidate elected, and those on the left who see this as an opportunity for the Perot effect.

[DoctorMichael]

Careful now, you might get accused of being a spammer.

[calex59]

BS, I call BS.

[MizSterious]

Thank you. Like many, I'd like to see more done, and if I had my wish, it would have been done as of yesterday. Wishes aren't always reasonable, let alone possible. EVEN IF the President doesn't do as much about illegal immigration as I'd like, he's done much for this country and I am grateful.

I wish others would stop and think a minute before abandoning the President. We have a better USSC because of him. We're clearing out the rotten-to-the-core CIA. The economy is absolutely booming. Despite media claims to the contrary, we're doing well in Iraq, and continue to clean out the nest of terrorists there--terrorists who, in many cases, have either always been there or supported by Saddam all along.

There is more to the local, national, and global picture than just one, very narrow issue. Illegal immigration is, indeed, an important issue, but it's not the only one.

Another thing I wish these people would consider is, how would Kerry have handled immigration?

Far, far worse, in my estimation.

We need to count our blessings.

[Realism]

The Presidents plan sounded great, just what is needed for a successful policy. The reality is that once the smoke clears it will be enforced with the same enthusiasm as the current laws.

[Wallace T.]

The Border Patrol officially states that only one quarter to one third of the illegal entrants to the country are intercepted. Congressman King (R-IA) claims that active duty and recently retired Border Patrol officers, speaking off the record, state that less than 10% of the illegal entrants and narcotics traffic is interdicted. Whether the percentage is 10% or 33%, the Border Patrol is not doing the job.

Until the President takes more effective measures than what he has proposed, including use of the Regulars, Marines, and Air Force in surveillance and construction, a massive expansion of the Border Patrol, and the construction of a physical barrier (not just cameras like at the local bank branch or convenience store), he and the party will not regain the enthusiastic support of conservatives. Furthermore, with the proposal to permit the existing illegals to enter a track to citizenship, the support of conservatives may become a moot point. If 12 (or possibly 20) million illegals receive the voting franchise, they will use that power to elect liberal Democrats. Thus, America will once again have a Democratic majority, the GOP will return to its mid-20th Century status as a permanent minority, and conservatism as a political ideology will be extinct.

The stakes are too high for the half-hearted measures the President has proposed.