Republican Lawmakers Won’t Back Bush on Immigration

CNSNews.com ^ | 1/26/2004 | Susan Jones

[yoe]

Republican lawmakers who generally back President Bush are not backing him on immigration. In fact, they want their leaders to know they have "serious concerns" about President Bush's proposed immigration policy.

In a letter addressed to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) and several other members of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus said they won't go along with the president's plan because it "does not address the problem appropriately."

"In fact, in our view, it will further exacerbate the problem and create discontent amongst the Republican Party," the letter said.

Jones, in a press release, said he and other lawmakers would consider alternative guest-worker legislation, as long as it does not reward lawbreakers with amnesty.

Although President Bush insists his proposal does not include amnesty, Jones said he thinks it does - because it would make illegal aliens who work in the U.S. for a number of years eligible for legal status and citizenship. That is de facto amnesty, Jones and the other lawmakers said in their letter.

"Since the President's speech, our offices have been inundated with calls from dismayed constituents expressing vehement opposition to the Administration's proposal," the "Dear Mr. Speaker" letter said.

"If we do not listen to our constituents on this matter, our influence and effectiveness in Congress could be jeopardized. Simply put, we cannot continue to allow our immigration laws to be violated and ignored -- and illegal aliens are by definition criminals."

According to the letter, President Bush's immigration proposal has left many conservatives "dismayed, angry and confused."

"Mr. Speaker, it is our hope that you will recognize the problems the Administration's proposal has created for our constituents," the letter says.

It notes that "respect for the rule of law is a core conservative value," and it urges the Republican leadership in the House to find a solution to America's immigration problem "that is more in line with the principles of our Party and our national traditions."

Earlier this month, President Bush proposed a new "temporary worker program" that would offer temporary legal status to millions of undocumented workers who have jobs in the U.S.

Bush said his program would "match willing foreign workers with willing American employers when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs."

Temporary workers would be expected to return permanently to their countries after their work stint in the United States has expired. Temporary workers wishing to seek American citizenship would be allowed to apply in the normal way, according to the president's plan.

"They will not be given unfair advantage over people who have followed legal procedures from the start. I oppose amnesty, placing undocumented workers on the automatic path to citizenship," Bush said.

"America is a welcoming country, but citizenship must not be the automatic reward for violating the laws of America," Bush added.

Bush's proposal drew immediate criticism from conservatives, who see it as a threat to national security and an affront to the rule of law.

[FairOpinion]

Finally the voice of reason!

You are right, of course.

But so many here and elsewhere want to play the "gotcha" game with Bush and refuse to see, that all they are doing is helping Kerry or Dean get elected, who will destroy the country -- people also ignore the critical times we are living in, just because Bush has been incredibly successful at foiling terrorist attacks.

[truthkeeper]

"Since the President's speech, our offices have been inundated with calls from dismayed constituents expressing vehement opposition to the Administration's proposal," the "Dear Mr. Speaker" letter said.
"If we do not listen to our constituents on this matter, our influence and effectiveness in Congress could be jeopardized...."

That's it in a nutshell. Keep the cards and letters coming, folks. Common Sense BUMP back to the top!

[Sabertooth]

It's not clear whether 6 years on a "guest worker visa" will satisfy the physical presence test for citizenship.

True. It's not even clear that the requirement wouldn't be a single three year stint for an Illegal legalized as a "temporary worker."

That would still be twice the 18 months of temporary status the Reagan Amnesty required.

In any case, legalized-Illegals would be eligible for green cards at some point, and citizenship beyond that, under the Bush Amnesty.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Thank God. Now please, GW, show some integrity and admit that you screwed up. The answer to illegal immigration is NOT to just throw your hands up, "admit" that nothing can be done, and legalize it outright in hopes that the resulting problems will just go away.

[Lady Eileen]

bump

[Map Kernow]

Yes, Florida is very much against illegal aliens and amnesty for criminals.Lets not even talk about further depressing wages for citizens. Florida is very much in play (political players terminology)and this time President Bush overplayed his hand.

I am shocked he did so, but nobody is perfect!

Hey, I'm glad Florida went for Bush last time---you all have a saner electorate than we do here on the Left Coast!

But Bush has got to wake up and repudiate this amnesty plan---not simply shelve it so that it can rise up vampire-like after his second oath of office. All that money those corporate fat cats gave him for his re-election campaign is going to be wasted if he can't persuade his base to turn out and vote for him, 'cause we don't vote on the basis of slicky produced, expensive campaign ads.

[MJY1288]

Very true, This is a huge problem that isn't going to be solved easily or cheaply, I'm for holding Mexico and the other countries of origin responsible. Bill them for the cost, that will force those countries to police their borders

[Sabertooth]

Now Now Tooth, there you go again, I said blanket amnesty

You said "blanket Amnesty," and I told you that was a red herring of the President's.

It was always a meaningless promise; the Reagan Amnesty wasn't even a blanket Amnesty. You understood Amnesty would necessarily be blanket, and that has proven, as predicted, not to be true.

don't put words in my mouth, I was not in favor of this plan

Never said you did.

I said it would never make it out of Congress. I also said it was just a vague proposal, NOT A BILL introduced to Congress

It probably will be defeated in Congress, though there's no room for complacency.

However, the "vague proposal" harbor is no more safe than the "he opposes blanket Amnesty" refuge.

I may be in the minority on this, but I don't think this proposal of the President's to legalize millions of Illegals is merely politics. Sure, it's a calculation in his timing, but I believe that President Bush fundamentally believes it's the right thing to do. He's tried Amnesty before, in 2002, is trying again now, and will try again in the future.

He just needs to be reelected and watched like a hawk on this issue.

[angkor]

The INS does not exist

I'm about as familiar with the INS as any civilian can possibly be, and I call it the INS because I don't even want to know what they're calling it these days.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

["Although President Bush insists his proposal does not include amnesty, Jones said he thinks it does - because it would make illegal aliens who work in the U.S. for a number of years eligible for legal status and citizenship. That is de facto amnesty,"]

President Bush has kissed his credibility goodbye, where Illegal Aliens are concerned.

Rush had some interesting comments recently regarding the Republican Party and the "youth (under 30) vote". In his premise, he stated that no Democrat has one an election in many (i forget the number) years without the youth vote. He then said that recent polling has revealed a substantial shift (of the youth vote) to the Republican Party following GW's election.

Field interviews determined that the main reason for their attraction to GW was his (paraphrasing) "saying what he thinks is right, and doing what he says".

Rush commented that, if the Republicans didn't screw it up, this infant attraction of the youth to the Republican Party could become a trend rather than an aberration.

IMO if the GW admin loses credibility by playing too much "election year politics", this surprising gain could be short-lived.

[Map Kernow]

Finally the voice of reason!

You are right, of course.

Can I arrange a room for you two?

I'll get one with Fox News...O'Reilly's on right now with a segment about the 80,000 illegal immigrant felons on the loose in the US. I'll make sure the facility has good security, too.

[RightWinger]

Maybe our angry letters to our lawmakers have something to do with it, I hope so.

[MJY1288]

I hear all the time that all it will take is to enforce the laws on the books. That sounds good, but it's not like all the Chief of Border Control has to say is "Ok Fella, today we start enforcing the laws on the books". The problem is much bigger than that.

IMHO the blame lays squarely at the feet of Congress, they have not done their job. They have been getting letters from their constituants for years about this and they've ignored them.

[Sabertooth]

Great info, thanks for posting it.

I'll be cribbing from it.

[RepublicanHippy]

"Republican lawmakers who generally back President Bush are not backing him on immigration. In fact, they want their leaders to know they have "serious concerns" about President Bush's proposed immigration policy."

Good - maybe they are starting to listen to their Republican base! Bush is not getting my vote if any type of amnesty bill gets passed.

[RepublicanHippy]

"America has no stomach to deport 10 million illegals"

I am an American, and I have a stomach for it.

[Pubbie]

Oh and Spencer Bachus, Henry Hyde, John Carter, Mike Pence, and J Randy Forbes, who ALL sit on the Judiciary Committee are ALL members of (Guess what)..............

*** Tancredo's Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus ***