Kerry Speaks Amnesty

1380 KTKZ Hogue Blog ^ | October 31, 2004 | Eric Hogue

[Eric Hogue 1380 KTKZ]

"We need a legalization program for those who have been here for a long time, haven't had problems, they have been employed, have paid their taxes and their children are US citizens we want to help them to become legal immigrants."

[eagle11]

I thought Kerry had California in the bag. Maybe he's in trouble in Florida. Or New Jersey.

[MegaSilver]

I think the FCC should revoke Univision's license.

[Aetius]

If the framers of that Amendment could have ever imagined what would happen then I'm sure they would have taken care of it then.

Again, this is another reform that would be popular with most Americans. Sure, you'd have to get through the demagoguery and bogus charges of xenophobia and racism, but at the end of the day it would come down to the question of whether illegal aliens should be rewarded by giving birth to anchor babies. I'm confident the answer would be NO.

[eagle11]

KERRY: We need a legalization program for those who have been here for a long time, haven't had problems, they have been employed, have paid their taxes and their children are US citizens we want to help them to become legal immigrants. Since when has employment been a requirement for benefits offered by Dems?

[PhillyGal]

Both parties are pathetic.

BUT, the fact is, we've had one Amnesty for Illegal Aliens, and that was in 1986, under President Reagan.

[RVN Airplane Driver]

As a Texan, I can relate to the Presidents proposal...it makes sense. Here in the Dallas area not a square inch of concrete would be poured tomorrow without the folks who hail south of the border. That also goes for a number of other tasks, the most notorious being landscaping. For the most part they are hard working folks, family oriented and do not take hand outs from the Government. They stand in vivid contrast to many African Americans, whom the Government (Democrats) have destroyed the family unit and consequently they are awash in drugs and despair. Bill Cosby is a great American and is calling the situation correctly in my humble estimation. I'm sure that many here on FR will disagree with me, but I know these people and they are not bad, just want to improve their lives. What's wrong with that???

[eagle11]

"Kerry also agrees that automatic citizenship be given to immigrants who serve in the Armed forces."

This already the law. Does automatic mean as they enroll in boot camp? This makes me nervous because Kerry had indicated he would employ the National Guard in our Homeland Security operations (guarding Americans, not guarding the borders).

[Aetius]

No doubt about that, and it should tarnish Reagan's legacy.

Though in his defense, I think he did expect the employer sanctions to actually be enforced, and I seem to remember him saying that his greatest regret as President was signing that Amnesty into law. He regarded it as his biggest mistake.

[CWOJackson]

Amazing how a thread with the words "amnesty" and "President Bush" in it gets hammered with posts, and a thread with "amnesty" and "Kerry" is all but ignored.

Makes you wonder about some people's motivations.

[Mike Darancette]

"We need a legalization program for those who have been here for a long time, haven't had problems, they have been employed, have paid their taxes and their children are US citizens we want to help them to become legal immigrants."

Questions: How long is long?
Is breaking the law trouble?
What do we tell the people that are waiting to immigrate legally?

[Aetius]

For starters, even if what you say is true, generally speaking, about Hispanics and blacks, the fact is that Hispanics still vote by significant margins for the Democrats. This is so even in Texas, where the high-water mark is said to be Bush's 49% of the latino vote in his 1998 reelection landslide. Other exit surveys disputed that, and the fact that the outcome was a foregone conclusion acted to dampen Dem turnout. Just two yrs later, Bush lost to Gore in Texas among Hispanics by something like ten points. I think Perry lost among them by even more. Luckily for Bush and Perry, they got over 70% of the white vote.

Hispanic preference for Democrats is fairly widespread. Jeb Bush in 2002 is the only conservative Republican I'm aware of that has won the non-Cuban Hispanic vote in a significant state-wide race. Pataki of NY is a social liberal, and Bloomberg of NYC isn't even worth commenting on.

As to Bush's plan, it seems to me that, hypothetically, any employer could simply offer a job at the lowest wage possible knowing that it won't attract natives, then once no natives apply he is free to offer it to any one of hundreds of millions of foreigners who would be grateful for it. That seems to set the bar too far out of balance in favor of employers over labor in market power.

Otherwise, there is nothing wrong with people wanting to come here and improve their lives. But at the same time they have no right to come here. The United States is not obligated to admit anyone. Its literally a gift, and our legal immigration laws are already the most generous in the world. If we admitted everyone who wanted to come here and work hard, and who is not a criminal or terrorist threat, then instead of a million legal immigrants per year we'd have to increase that by...well who knows, but it'd be by a factor of many times. And most Americans want less immigration, not more.

[Aetius]

Its because we expect the worst from liberals and Democrats like Kerry. We expect them to thumb their nose at the mainstream American sentiment on the subject. Its no surprise when they do this, as they do it not only with immigration, but also gay marriage/civil unions, racial preferences/aff action, the Second Amendment, abortion, etc.

When Bush does it, it stings more because we hope for more from him and the GOP.

[bayourod]

"And how is it different from BUSH ?? "

Only two more days for the Buchanan/Tancredo gaggle to try to undermine the support for President Bush.

[arthurus]

KERRY APPEALS TO ILLEGAL ALIEN VOTE!

[usadave]

Only two more days for the Buchanan/Tancredo gaggle to try to undermine the support for President Bush.

And only two more days (hopefully) of having to listen to you ramble on and on and on about this point in thread after thread after thread.

[CWOJackson]

Strange how the issue is only important when it deals with President Bush, who hasn't proposed amnesty...but gets a pass when it comes from Kerry. Nope, I don't think the issue is that important for so many of it's defenders...making noise seems to be their issue.

[B4Ranch]

Now imagine if you will what would happen if somebody on the Republican side had done this. It could be somebody running for school board in the middle of Montana. Immediately the mainstream media would pick it up, and the outrage would snowball. As it stands now, other than a mention here or there, the Democrats are getting a huge pass.

It would appear they're going to get away with insulting people with disabilities.

Remember...there are two sets of rules. One for Democrats, who can say anything they want without scrutiny from the media, and one for Republicans who can't say, "Protect America" without being ridiculed.

[CWOJackson]

That is disgusting...and predictable. Unfortunately we hear pretty much the same thing from so many of our own in-house so-called "true" conservatives.

If you read the latest public comments by Chris Heinze, about Jew influence and coke abuse, you'd have a hard time differentiating him from some of those same "true" conservatives.

[the invisib1e hand]

he tries to parrot what the president says with a little twist. this guy is completely clueless.

I'm beginning to think that he's the butt of some very elaborate practical joke played by the democratic party.

[speekinout]

Here in the Dallas area not a square inch of concrete would be poured tomorrow without the folks who hail south of the border. That also goes for a number of other tasks, the most notorious being landscaping.

The same thing is true in my area. I'm old enough to remember true "guest worker" programs, and I think we need one again. Landscaping, agricultural work, jobs in tourist areas, etc. are primarily low paying seasonal jobs. Americans don't want to do this work.
I'd like to see the Mexicans and other aliens (Jamaicans, Haitians and people from Barbados used to participate) be able to do this work. But track them, register them, and make sure they go back home when they aren't working.

In a second administration, Bush might be able to get a sensible guest worker program, which would be to all of our benefit. It would certainly cut down on illegal immigration.