2004 Republican Party Platform - Illegal Immigration

2004 Republican National Convention Website ^ | August 26, 2004 | Platform Committee (Melissa Hart & Eric Tanenblatt, Subcommittee Chairs)

[k2blader]

Re-typed verbatim from the 2004 Republican Party Platform (pages 80 and 81):

Supporting Humane and Legal Immigration

The Republican Party supports reforming the immigration system to ensure that it is legal, safe, orderly and humane. It also supports measures to ensure that the immigration system is structured to address the needs of national security. America is a stronger and better nation because of the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit of immigrants, and the Republican Party honors them. A growing economy requires a growing number of workers, and President Bush has proposed a new temporary worker program that applies when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs. This new program would allow workers who currently hold jobs to come out of the shadows and to participate legally in America’s economy. It would allow men and women who enter the program to apply for citizenship in the same manner as those who apply from outside the United States. There must be strong workplace enforcement with tough penalties against employees and employers who violate immigration laws. We oppose amnesty because it would have the effect of encouraging illegal immigration and would give an unfair advantage to those who have broken our laws.

To better ensure that immigrants enter the United States only through legal means that allow for verification of their identity, reconnaissance cameras, border patrol agents, and unmanned aerial flights have all been increased at the border. In addition, Border Patrol agents now have sweeping new powers to deport illegal aliens without having first to go through the cumbersome process of allowing the illegal alien to have a hearing before an immigration judge. We support these efforts to enforce the law while welcoming immigrants who enter America through legal avenues.

[1_Inch_Group]

With mounted calvary against tanks no less.

Sounds like an ally that we should be proud to have.

Balls the size of grapefruit.

[Penner]

This new program would allow workers who currently hold jobs to come out of the shadows and to participate legally in America’s economy.

Sounds like amnesty to me.

[sixmil]

A growing economy requires a growing number of workers

When was this ever established as fact?

[k2blader]

Lowering the minimum wage is a good idea. Can we just get rid of it altogether?

And regarding the reduction of taxes, absolutely no argument here.

[al_possum39]

from the Constitution Party platform

And, in a perfect world, I would be voting for them. However, in this imperfect world, I would be helping John Kerry win and I can't do that.

The CP needs to run for congressional and state offices in the foreseeable future.

[ThePythonicCow]

If businesses don't have to pay their employee's benefits, who does that leave to pay those benefits?

The U.S. Taxpayers, that's who!

Not what I had in mind. I meant - don't mandate, don't provide, the benefit.

For example, mandate that jobs paying over $6/hour must also pay $x into a private retirement fund, but jobs paying less don't pay, and you don't get the retirement benefit either.

For medical benefits, it's not as easy, as you realize. There's always the emergency room. There what I'm saying is first reduce the substantial advantage that illegal immigrants currently have for low paying (below minimum) jobs, then the enforcement that everyone else on this thread is advocating will have a decent chance.

As we learned during prohibition, enforcement doesn't work if it is swimming upstream against a strong capitalist current.

The current laws make a legal employee cost a minimum of perhaps $8 or $10 dollars per hour, compared to perhaps $2 or $3 for an illegal. This is way too strong a capitalist stream to swim against.

Get that difference down to something reasonable, and then a sensible level of enforcement can actually close the gap, so that reasonable self interested employees are left saying "sure, I could hire an illegal for a dollar or two less, but by the time I account for the risk of being caught, the illegal actually costs me more."

[k2blader]

Agh! I agree with you on Alan Keyes, unspun, but here we must disagree.

These aren't "temporary workers"--they are criminals who illegally crossed our border. Their first actions in our nation were to break the law. Why should that be rewarded?

[k2blader]

I'm a Christian conservative who will be voting (R) in 2004. After that, who knows. It depends on what the GOP does with itself during the following four years (yes, I think President Bush will win reelection) and who they run in 2008.

[fish hawk]

This is a waste of time. You either vote Republican, Democrat, or Nader. The platform means very little at this point. I'm sure there are lots of Democrats that are not happy with everything in their platform, hell, they probably don't even like their candidate but what choice do they have now. IMHO

[Jennikins]

Doc, that is a great post. I agree with every word you said. Too bad the message doesn't ever get to the top guys. They are just determined to make us into a third world, and make ALL of us equally poor.

I'll be voting Constition party if they are allowed on the ballot.

[k2blader]

It's not a waste of time.

If the platform "means very little at this point", why even publish it? It would be more honest for the (R)'s to do a press release saying something like, "We're better than the Democrats--just trust us."

Words mean something. Conservatives need to educate themselves on what their party stands for and take appropriate action where necessary.

[4Freedom]

There is no way a $2 to $3 an hour job should even exist. Who or what could even subsist on that?

That's not a job. That's slave labor.

These slave laborers then go to the emergency room for their medical care, at U.S. Taxpayer's expense, where it just so happens it will cost us $300 plus everytime they walk through the door? This is a solution? I think not.

This is the year 2004. What in the world kind of work are we talking about?

I've got the enforcement end of this scenario covered. How's this sound?

Anybody caught hiring an illegal alien or anybody else for $3.00 an hour ought to be put up against a wall and shot. Several times.

How's that for an incentive for these tightwads to swim their sorry Scrooge a$$es up that stream against that strong capitalist current?

LOL!

[JustPiper]

The Republican Party supports reforming the immigration system to ensure that it is legal, safe, orderly and humane.

Puke! The main issue that has changed my conservatism!

[azhenfud]

I will cast my vote against any "Republican" endorsing this plank of the campaign. Period.

[NewRomeTacitus]

You didn't change - they picked the "big tent" up around you, moved it to left field and now you're standing with the rest of the right-wingers wondering where that cold draft is coming from.

[Proud Legions]

If you really are a Christian conservative, then you would realize the MOST important thing happening in the next 4 years is 2, 3, or possibly 4 Supreme Court justices retiring and being replaced.

For all the theoretical conversation about the Constitutional Party, the only real question is do you want John Kerry (and Ted Kennedy, etc) picking those new Justices---who they readily admit will be loose constructionist (inrelation to their interpretation of the US Constitution) or George Bush, who will clearly nominate much more strict constructionist. All other discussion is interesting for this election, but unimportant. That is unless you want to toss your vote to make yourself "feel" better, but then watch as our Constitution is finished off in the courts.

One man's opinion anyway....

[risk]

I live in So. California and the illegal mexicans call their immigration the silent war.

What's so ironic is that if you took the average liberal from MA or NC and gave him a tour of neighborhoods near the orange groves that used to be middle class, they'd jump right on our program of stopping immigration for a couple of generations.

But since the MSM never reports how close to a third world nation California has become, NE liberals think they've got it just fine. Nothing to worry about. Those racist nuts who want to stop immigration would just make their lettuce more expensive, nothing better!

One generation left to save California...

[EvilRightWingRepublican]

In my opinion, and I am someone who has been researching the illegal imigration issues for years(and has lived in SoCal as well as FL and Raleigh-all hispanic hypergrowth areas), we are doomed as a nation. Bush is all for open borders no matter what Karl Rove wants to call it and he takes the neocon wall street journal stance on this issue. If we cannot get someone like Tancredo into office in 08 our culture is pretty much over as we know it.

Your shocked by radical liberalism's advance the past 10 years? Just wait until we have open borders, our country will look like a hispanic third world mix of blade runner and france. The demoncats push communism and the neocons push socialism lite. I want neither! I am sick and tired of watching what is happening to this great country and I feel helpless to stop it. It sickens me that we have good men dying in Iraq fighting for their country and meanwhile Bush wont protect the damn borders from terrorist attack, nevermind all the illegal aliens. Homeland security? What a joke.

Check out this article about Bush's nephew(little puke):
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/mm20040825.shtml

[fish hawk]

So let's say you belive in most of the platform but you hate the Abortion part. You go vote for Kerry then? No, you are still going to vote for Bush...right? So my case is not folly.

[AmericanInTokyo]

As a fun test, you should have first posted the Constitution Party language on Immigration, here on FR, without saying which party it was! Just say "Here's the Party platorm on Immigration!". Watch a bunch of people say "Hey, that's great!", or, "See Conservatives, you should get behind the Party!". Then tune in around FR thread post number 100 and break the news that it was not the GOP, but was from the Constitution Party platform.

CP certainly is much better in their wording than the RNC is, that's for sure, on this vital issue. Our hope is to try to torpedoe any cockamami immigration proposals during a Second Bush Administration, through the Congress, our voice on this issue. Even THAT, is a pipe dream I admit.