Bush Eyes Legal Status for Alien Workers

AP/Yahoo ^ | 1-7-04 | DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

[JustPiper]

WASHINGTON - A plan being proposed by President Bush (news - web sites) would give legal status to foreign workers, including millions already toiling in America's underground economy, removing the fear of deportation but not putting them on a fast track toward permanent U.S. residency.

In a speech Wednesday at the White House, Bush will ask Congress to approve changes to immigration policy, saying they would make the country safer by giving officials a better idea of who is crossing the border, bolster the economy by fulfilling employers' needs and protect illegal workers' rights. Also, in a nod to conservatives who oppose any reward to those who enter the United States illegally, Bush is including in his plan incentives to entice the workers to go back to their homelands.

There are an estimated 8 million to 10 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, perhaps half from Mexico.

Under the Bush proposal, which could smooth relations with Mexico and help Republicans lure Latino voters, foreign workers could apply for legal status for a three-year period if they had U.S. jobs. They could travel to and from the United States and possibly work in the country for additional three-year periods if approved by Congress.

Senior administration officials who outlined the proposal for reporters Tuesday night said the president is calling for an unspecified, but "reasonable," increase in the number of green cards available to workers. However, they said that being part of what is being called the "temporary worker program" would not give foreign workers any advantage to applying for green cards, or permanent residency status — the first step toward obtaining U.S. citizenship.

Immigrant advocacy groups say the president's proposal falls short of comprehensive reform. On the other hand, groups wanting to curb immigration say the president's proposal for a three-year temporary worker plan, rewards foreign workers who broke the law when they entered the United States.

"It's a two-step amnesty," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates strict immigration rules.

"It's not what the folks on the left want, which is a quick green card, but it is an amnesty nonetheless," he said. "It legalizes illegal immigrants and is going to increase the number of green cards so that people will be able to move through the system faster."

"Extremely disappointing," said Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic immigrant advocacy group.

"It's a serious backtracking to where the president was two years ago when the administration was prepared to provide some kind of path to legal status," she said. "They're proposing to invite people to be guest workers without providing any meaningful opportunity to remain in the United States to become legal permanent residents. It appears to be all about rewarding employers who have been hiring undocumented immigrants while offering almost nothing to the workers themselves."

She said that under current immigration law, foreigners who have violated U.S. laws, including entering the country illegally, can be banned from re-entry for three years to life. The White House was unclear whether it wants to waive that law for illegal immigrants who participate in the temporary worker program.

She also argued that there are only 5,000 green cards a year available for unskilled workers and the wait to get one is about 15 years. Congress would have to increase the number of green cards by hundreds of thousands to accommodate the millions of immigrants in the country illegally who would want to work, Munoz said.

The announcement comes just before Bush's scheduled meeting with Mexico's President Vicente Fox (news - web sites) next week at the Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico. Mexican officials have complained that the administration sought their help to improve border security and combat drug trafficking but failed to respond to pleas for an easing of U.S. immigration policy.

Bush also is expected to broadly discuss giving workers from some countries expanded access to Social Security (news - web sites) benefits, sources familiar with the plan said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Current law generally requires any worker — legal or illegal, citizen or non-citizen — in the United States to have a total of about 10 years of work history to become eligible for Social Security retirement benefits. Under reciprocal agreements the United States has with about 20 nations, some foreign workers are permitted to count work history in their native countries toward the 10 years they need to become eligible for Social Security benefits. These agreements also keep workers and employers from paying taxes into both countries' government retirement systems.

Associated Press writers Suzanne Gamboa, Leigh Strope and Robert Gehrke contributed to this report.

[JustPiper]

help Republicans lure Latino voters

NOW will you please write in Tancredo and register as an Independent in March? Read between of Bush's plan 'carefully'

Glance at Bush Immigration Changes Plan Tue Jan 6

Some details of the changes in immigration policy proposed by President Bush (news - web sites), according to senior administration officials who spoke with reporters Tuesday:

_The new "temporary worker program" would allow either one of the estimated 8 million illegal immigrants already in the United States or someone abroad to apply for the right to work legally in the country for a three-year term that could be renewed. The White House is not saying how long the term could be extended or how many times it could be renewed.

_An applicant for the program already in the United States must pay an unspecified registration fee and show they are currently employed. Applicants still in their home countries won't have to pay a fee, but must have a job lined up.

_The employer must show no Americans wanted the job.

_Temporary workers would get all the same protections afforded American workers.

_The worker must return to his or her home country at the end of the term.

_Dependants of the temporary workers would be allowed in the United States if the worker can prove they can support their family. The workers would be allowed to move freely back and forth between the United States and their home country.

_The White House also is calling for an unspecified increase in the number of green cards allowed to be granted annually.

_The plan also would provide incentives for the workers to return to their home countries, including the promise of access to retirement benefits and new tax savings accounts.

_Congress would have to write legislation for the changes to take effect.

[JustPiper]

Ping!

[JustPiper]

Ping!

[JustPiper]

Iowa newspaper smears immigration reductionists Issue 176: January 5, 2004

+== TIME-OUT PROJECT ==+

A coalition of public advocacy groups is currently running a series of pre-caucus TV ads in Iowa urging the presidential candidates to address the negative impact of excessive immigration on working Americans.

In a New Year's Day article, "Labor leaders blast TV ads by anti-immigration group," the Des Moines Register, a long-time foe of immigration moderates, tried to link the ad campaign to white supremacy and racism.

When ProjectUSA was founded in New York City in 1999, it was common for mass immigration ideologues and their allies, the beneficiaries of corporate globalism, to try to silence advocates of common sense immigration policy with charges of racism.

Thankfully, that kind of slanderous rhetoric has been discredited and has largely disappeared. Out in Iowa, however, the Des Moines Register still uses that disreputable tactic to squelch difference of opinion on immigration policy.

Between now and the 2004 elections, ProjectUSA will be very active in Iowa, engaging in the American right to free speech, political dissent, and the democratic process. The people of Iowa deserve balanced, professional, and honest reporting on both ProjectUSA's activities, and the efforts of the immigration reduction movement in general.

+== TAKE POSITIVE ACTION ==+

Please call the publisher of the Des Moines Register and politely express your disappointment with the quality of coverage the paper has been giving the important issue of immigration. Remind her that journalistic reporting should always be objective.
___Mary Stier

________________________________________________________

Together we can make 2004 the year US immigration policy finally conforms to the will and benefit of the American people.

+== QUOTE OF THE WEEK ==+
"This was meant to scapegoat and turn Iowans against one another."
___Presidential candidate John Kerry speaking against the immigration ad campaign in Iowa

Shafting Americans: Bush's immigration package makes bad policy worse - O'Sullivan/Chicago Sun-Times -Jan 6, 2004

[Reaganwuzthebest]

The employer must show no Americans wanted the job.

Employers will find so many ways to get around that rule it'll be a joke.

If this ridiculous scheme passes it's not only the middle class that's finished, you can kiss the Republic as we've known it goodbye forever as well.

[virgil]

That's right. These rules will never be adhered to by people who broke the law in the first place. Besides, the gov't is not going to place the proper resources to regulate this program. It's so much B.S.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

All anyone has to do to see how this program would work is look at the H1-b scam.

It's a complete sellout of the American people.

[exit82]

Ok folks if you want to roll over, don't use the phone number in my tagline.

This program is an insult to every taxpaying American citizen.

[bushfamfan]

It's amazing how Bush is doing this. He is so comfortable that he will get the conservative vote because they supposedly have nowhere else to go, but they will not vote. He is a miserable failure and a damn liar when he says he's for principle not politics. He's a joke and this shows you a glimpse at his character.

[SpinyNorman]

In a speech Wednesday at the White House, Bush will ask Congress to approve changes to immigration policy, saying they would make the country safer by giving officials a better idea of who is crossing the border, bolster the economy by fulfilling employers' needs and protect illegal workers' rights. Also, in a nod to conservatives who oppose any reward to those who enter the United States illegally, Bush is including in his plan incentives to entice the workers to go back to their homelands.

Maybe a better approach would be to stop border crossings, hire American citizens for employer's needs, and deny any right other than to return home with all due haste to an illegal worker. Incentives should be fear of imprisonment.

Alternatively, if he really "needs" to have them here, we could put all 8-10 million along the border and pay them to keep out other illegals. They get pay, room and board, and a warning that "if they get in, you go out. In a pine box."

[Faithfull]

I have always been a loyal President Bush fan until now. I am sickened by this for various reasons. In the future- this will come back to bite us - and we will pay the additional taxes to cover the immigrants' needs. Most of America will yawn through this or will be too busy watching sitcoms but the 'informed' will be outraged.
How sad that the President and Republicans have sacrificed security and our futures for short term votes. This is the beginning of the end of the Republican /conservative party.

[tomakaze]

re:It's amazing how Bush is doing this.
 
Really? after trashing the 1st ammendment with campaign finance reform, signing the medicare drugs welfare expansion and the so-called patriot act nothing this guy or the other RINOs in the house and senate do surprizes me.
 
He is so comfortable that he will get the conservative vote because they supposedly have nowhere else to go, but they will not vote. He is a miserable failure and a damn liar when he says he's for principle not politics. He's a joke and this shows you a glimpse at his character.
 
ditto that. another example of "don't watch what they say, watch what they do".
Almost Clintonian.

[citizen]

I ain't voting for bush, I'm doing like my tagline sez...

[kaktuskid]

In otherwords, a rat vote!!!

There is NO way you can return 10 million people back to their respective countries...it is logistically and physically impossible!

We have a bunch of people on this site that want to round every illegal and totally close down the border...you would have to take every soldier in the military and put them on the Mexican border (not including the wide-open Canadian border)...it ain't gonna happen!

[TigersEye]

Go here and find out how we can motivate them to leave of their own accord.

[El Gato]

Since both the anti immigration and pro immigration sides seem not to like the plan, it's probably a good one.

It's really a lot like the old "guest worker" program. Notice that it would not provide for permanent resident status, nor would it permit folks who don't have a job to come here to collect welfare.

[pgkdan]

I just don't understand Bush. He seems to be BEGGING for a Third Party Conservative to run. I would think that he'd have learned a lesson from Ross Perot.

[Zipporah]

TANCREDO 2004 - PRIMARY WRITE-IN

The vast majority of the electorate is 100% against this move by Bush. Give the GOP a message by writing in Tancredo, the man that has stood up and told the truth about the illegal alien issue. IF the GOP et al won't listen send them a message they will hear!

[MarcinIN]

it's a shame it took something like this before i decided to finally post

[JustPiper]

What Zip says -g- We need to make a large statement in March!!!