Posted on 11/10/2004 12:51:19 PM PST by VU4G10
(Washington, DC—November 10, 2004) It wasn't quite "Read my lips," but in the last presidential debate in Arizona, George W. Bush clearly stated that he would not support amnesty for illegal aliens. One week after being narrowly returned to office, the president has reneged on that pledge. Bush has dispatched Secretary of State Colin Powell to Mexico City to open discussions with the Mexican government about the size and scope of amnesty for illegal immigrants and for a massive new guest worker program.
"President Bush and Karl Rove have seemingly missed the message of their own, and the Republican Party's, success at the polls last week," said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). "In spite of a poor record on jobs, further erosion of the middle class, and staggering budget deficits, the people returned the GOP to office because they believed that the Republican Party was more in tune with them on values and respect for the law. One of those gut issues that led voters to ignore the administration's poor record in other areas was the belief that Bush and the Republicans would enforce laws against illegal immigration, not reward illegal immigrants and auction off every job in America to the lowest bidder."
The immigration plan being dusted off in Washington and Mexico City is essentially the same one the administration introduced last January, which proved to be so wildly unpopular among voters that they were forced to shelve it. "Who is the president seeking to reward by reintroducing his amnesty/guest worker proposal?" asked Stein. "Not middle class workers who made it very clear that they are feeling squeezed. Not the millions of families who have lost their health insurance benefits because their employers no longer feel that it is necessary to offer such benefits to attract American workers. Not Hispanic voters, whom polls indicate do not consider this to be high priority and who voted in significant numbers in favor of an Arizona ballot measure that bars illegal aliens from receiving most public benefits.
"The only interest group, besides the estimated 10 to 12 million illegal aliens and their families who could be in line for legal U.S. residency, are cheap labor employers who have come to believe that it is their right to have workers who will work at whatever wages they wish to pay," Stein said.
The latest White House announcement will touch off yet another surge in illegal immigration and further compromise homeland security, predicted FAIR. Last January, when the president first proposed this plan, the U.S. Border Patrol reported a marked increase in the number of people attempting to enter the U.S. illegally in order to benefit from the proposed amnesty. "Aside from betraying the interests of millions of people who voted for him because they believed the president shared their core values, this irresponsible renewal of talk of amnesty will betray those who voted for him because they believed the Republicans were the party that could be entrusted to protect homeland security. You cannot have homeland security and chaos at the border. You cannot have homeland security while granting amnesty to millions of people with only minimal background checks. And you certainly cannot have amnesty and unlimited guest workers, and preserve a solid middle class," asserted Stein.
That sure did a lot of good.
I want Bush to say that he's going to lock down the border and mean it. I want Bush to say that he's going to offer a guest worker plan that says that if you're caught in the country illegally after a certain date, that you will be deported and NEVER be eligible for guest worker status. I want him to say that those who do wish to participate in the guest worker program will apply - in person - at the embassy or American consulate in their nation of origin.
The way he's saying it is giving a green light to all who want to break and enter our country in hopes that they'll get rewarded.
Of all of these things the only things he has control over is the first one - securing the border - and what he says. He can control what he says and how he says it. He must understand that his or his administration's words have consequences and that the illegals truly think he's going to give away the farm to them. And from what he's saying, I can understand why they think that.
He has to give a strong incentive for them to stay out and for those here to leave on the next bus. He's got to back that up with real border security and then an improved system for limiting entry and tracking them once they've entered.
Domestic servant
Farm worker (picker)
Some janitorial jobs (office cleaning, etc.)
Bussing and dish washing in cheap eateries
Amen!
Or President-elect John Kerry (if the unthinkable had happened.)
No, your recollection is wrong.
I have been one who quotes what Bush ACTUALLY says as opposed to the wild accusations in these hysterical "illegal amnesty" threads.
The 1986 amnesty under President Reagan did just that.
At least with amnesty, there would be the hope that once they are fully Americans they could assimilate.
The more that come, the less they are willing to assimilate. Secondly, the German guestworker program was not successful. Think about if the economy should slow way down and we don't need "guestworkers." Do you honestly think they will go home? Ask the Germans. The guestworkers, once they get to Germany, do not leave. The German government has even paid them to leave. They take the money, get on a train, then jump off at the next station and stay. You are crazy and so is Bush for thinking a guestworker program will work. We don't need them anyhow. Just get rid of the welfare system and make our own bums work for a change - we don't need Mexico's peasants here sucking off our system.
If Clinton had proposed what George W. Bush has proposed, I'd be doing exactly what I'm doing; finding the facts and waiting to see what BILL he puts forth, if he ever does. Then I'd voice whatever concerns I have to the people who will be VOTING on it.
And, of course, Clinton never MENTIONED illegal immigration, so your accusation is bogus.
The post I replied to said that they were getting a benefit of citizenship in the form of schooling - it is not.
As an aside, illegals should not have ANY government paid for benefits excepting emergency medical and the right to call their consulate.
I am aware of that.
I don't believe you
Harvesting pine straw. Working in the ferneries. Two local examples of jobs that simply cannot get local workers and have to rely on Mexicans. They're both basically "stoop labor" jobs, and Americans are no longer willing to do that kind of work.
He was very plain in what he said: he's not in favor of blanket amnesty, but he wants SOME kind of plan.
You are familiar with how this works, aren't you? He says something and then other representatives say something and then they put a bill forth after they ALL discuss it.
I'm not against a guest worker plan either. It just has to be done in the right order and in the right way. And the first elements must be securing the border and providing for real interior enforcement.
Then would it be too much to ask that we wait to see what he actually DOES, rather than what the MSM says he's going to do?
Spiff, Bush isn't going to say that.
Kerry wouldn't have said that.
Now what?
"Are either of you aware of the fact that thousands of Mexican citizens cross the border to attend US schools daily? "
Yep - don't know why... shouldn't happen...
"wouldn't such a company pay other workers off the books as well "
Yes, in some cases they would. Some do already. But the penalties in paying citizens off the books are severe if the IRS catches you.
What are the EMPLOYER penalties for hiring illegals. Are thay as severe as skirting the tax laws with US citizens?
The latest trend, as told to me by a good friend who is a contractor, is to have a general contractor or architect subcontract to all his employees, via a 1099.
But those subcontractors must still file federal income tax forms. And the contracotrs also file and itemize their 1099's as expenses.
An illegal working off the books does not file an income tax form, has no need to, as he is illegal to begin with. He has no need to itemize his deductions, as his largest expense is health care which is provided free by the local hospitals.
In some cases, employers will provide some sort of minimal housing arrangement for their 'employees'.
I hope it can be revised through putting pressure on Congress but even if it can't, other issues were still more important to me.
Fact? From you? Hardly.
I wouldn't have had a coronary if Clinton had proposed this, because I am one who doesn't believe that illegals are going to be rounded up and deported, so it's my opinion that since something needs to be done, registering them so we know exactly WHO they are and WHERE they are is a good first step.
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