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.
Bush won't enforce current law - I certainly don't expect him to change his spots.
I don't understand why it's taken on faith that anyone would be sent back under this proposal, since we've been practicing catch and release with illegal aliens for years.
Thanks - I now have a better idea of where you're coming from. For me, I can only go by what President Bush has said - and in this regard it's those with jobs and specific time constraints. I can certainly understand folks hoping in something, even if it's a false hope, but we need to set the record straight.
Gee, you have to start somewhere, Willie.
Or we could just do nothing and let you all continue to carp; if he didn't do anything, you'd be carping, too.
He can't win.
How about illegally copying and posting copyrighted material from newspapers to Free Republic? That's a crime too. Should all who have done that be locked up in jail? Where do you draw the line? Should we shoot speeders? What should we do about jaywalking -- life inprisonment?
I heard on Sean Hannity's radio program today, that Colin Powell met with Fox and told him the bad news: that Americans are not going to agree to any open border plan with Mexico. That ANY immigration plan would be extremely controversial (meaning, not likely to pass).
Be nice. they might not be hypocrites. They could just be stupid.
Have you ever heard of deportation?
Economic incentives. You get nothing from any government program -- no driver's license, nothing. You are shut out of many businesses. Can't open a checking account, etc.
What would be the purpose of setting up a whole new system and not holding people to their promises?
To me, it seems to give more force to a program; smoke them out and then watch them. If they want to earn their way here, fine; if not, let them go back with the rest of them.
Of course, two things have to happen: tighten the borders and set the deadline: after a certain date, no more registration; they have to come through legal channels. Then, when you catch people who aren't registered, it won't be that hard to tell who is still coming over the border and back they go.
What do you undertand the objectives of this amnesty to be (part a) and how in the world do we avoid it happening again in the future (part b) - will you support effective and significant measures to secure our borders and ports for the safety of Americans and America?
BTW, have you seen this information? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1276545/posts
You bet. I stuck with my pricipals, I didn't vote for this guy. I knew the big fraud was coming.
Yeah, and I've heard of the lottery, too. We're not gonna "win" either one of those.
The trouble is they continue to slither daily over our borders, and we can't possibly keep up with it. I suggest we put all military in that area on the border. If we can watch Afgan, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, etc borders all over this planet, we can darn well care for our own. Anything less is unacceptable.
Right ON!! BTTT
Now, JA, why'd you want to come on here and ruin all these Freepers' fun? :-)
Rounding up 30 million people and deporting them is not going to happen. Bush is not Stalin.
Nixon (R) sent Kissinger to Communist red china...and now they're manufacturing more automobiles than us.
When are people going to get this. Maybe reading the proposal would be beneficial ..??
I've read it. How do you define amnesty, and name an amnesty that fits your definition?
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