Posted on 01/19/2004 11:33:34 AM PST by zipper
As far as conservatives are concerned, the very definition of "lead balloon" is the President's recently announced illegal alien amnesty...er, "temporary worker" (yeah, that's the ticket) program. We haven't heard a thud like that since Hillary's "National Health Care" blimp crashed and burned in the mid-90s.
But why? To understand this visceral rejection of President Bush's proposal, it's important to understand what it DOESN'T do. Consider the following.
Let's say you stumble upon a car wreck. The driver has a sucking chest wound and is bleeding like a fire hose. He's also dangerously overweight, so much so that his obesity could well be life-threatening down the road.
What do you do FIRST? Do you stop the bleeding...or put him on a healthier diet?
Illegal immigration is this country's sucking chest wound. President Bush's "temporary worker" proposal is the South Beach Diet. Sure, the amnesty program might help address the problem of illegal aliens already here...but it doesn't stop the bleeding of illegals pouring into the country.
However, opposition goes even deeper than that. It's not just the problem of illegals (let's be honest, Hispanics) coming into the country, but how they assimilate into our society once they get here. Or, more to the point, how they DON'T assimilate.
It's not the temporary worker program or even Hispanics themselves which drive Americans up a wall. Rather, it's every time they call the DMV and get the ol' "Press one for English; press two for Spanish" routine. It's every time they go to their ATM machine and have to choose English or Spanish before making their transaction. It's every time they see a government form - especially an election ballot! - in both English and Spanish.
Many Americans won't say it for fear of being branded a racist; however, there's a strong undercurrent of emotion at play here which says, "If THEY want to move to OUR country, the least THEY can do is learn OUR language...not the other way around."
Here's the other point which really gets conservatives' goats on this issue: If it's illegal, it's ILLEGAL. Hello!
Should an illegal alien get caught - especially caught committing an additional crime - he or she should be sent back...and quickly. No long, drawn-out deportation hearings. We need to show that illegal "line jumping" will no longer be tolerated. It's not fair to legal immigrants who worked hard and played by the rules (did I just say that?).
We need not deport all 8-14 million illegals here currently. But we DO need to make an example out of SOME of them to send the unmistakable message that we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it any more. Enough is enough.
It's also time to stop rewarding illegals with benefits which should be reserved to citizens. Let's start by saying if you're an illegal alien, you don't get to vote in our elections. Any of them. Local, state or national. Get caught...you go back. It's time to start matching our voting files against our immigration files to assure the sanctity of our elections.
And no driver's licenses for illegal aliens. And no special, reduced college tuition rates for illegal aliens. And no acceptance of matricula consular cards as ID for illegal aliens. No free health care (emergency services excepted) for illegal aliens. No welfare benefits for illegal aliens. No Social Security benefits for illegal aliens.
The key word here, in case you missed it, is "illegal."
Yes, we ARE a nation of immigrants...and better for it. But American government policy which turns a blind eye to line-jumping and encourages separation instead of assimilation will not be embraced by the American people.
Stop the bleeding first, Mr. President. Then we'll be more open to your other ideas on this issue.
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Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a non-profit public policy advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Citizen Outreach. He may be reached at chuck@citizenoutreach.com.
The annoying menu choices on ATM's and phone messages are minor symptoms of the much larger problem of the Balkanization of America, with foreigners, especially Mexicans, setting up their own enclaves without bothering to learn or appreciate our culture and value systems. Some dems are even angry about it, but only because of their self-centered fear of losing jobs-- they're too busy promoting diversity to notice the greater and enduring danger to our values and culture.
Immigration Nation: First, Stop the Bleeding BREEDING
I consider you, and your Bush/GOP/Mexican hating pals, greater political enemies than I do the Democrats. You people reek, and you are making this forum an online garbage scowl. You have no solutions, no action plan ... just anecdote after anecdote of personal grievence. You folks are a disgrace.
That's the last comment I'll ever make on this forum regarding immigration. The entire thing makes me ill.
If I were to move to Mexico, Mexicans would expect me to learn to read and speak Spanish instead of having me demand that everything be translated into English for my benefit. Hey wait, that means that Mexicans are racist!
Let's see. Mexican citizens who are illegally in the U.S. should leave. Mexican citizens who are legally in the U.S. are welcome to stay. Yeah, that's racism alright.
Your pathetic race mongering makes me ill.
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