BUSH'S IMMIGRATION PET PHRASES

michellemalkin.com ^ | 12/20/2004 | Michelle Malkin

[nanak]

After the White House news conference this morning, Bill Kristol on Fox News praised President Bush's remarks about "immigration reform" as "eloquent." Beg to differ. The president's open-borders statements were empty, garish platitudes strung together sloppily like cheap Christmas lights:

Illegal aliens "do the job Americans won't do." President Bush used that dog-tired phrase about a half-dozen times during today's press conference as he defended his impending illegal alien amnesty plan. Mark Krikorian effectively puts this mindless rhetoric to rest here.

"Family values don't stop at the Rio Grande." Uh huh. Well, terrorists and gang members and drunken murderers and cop-killers don't stop there either. And based on past and recent experience, granting amnesty to 13 million law-breakers will only result in more illegal immigration, not less.

We need immigration reform that "recognizes reality." Rank-and-file immigration enforcement officials give a real reality check on the amnesty debacle here, here, and here.

As immigration enforcement veteran/former U.S. prosecutor Peter Nunez put it:

[W]e need to stop the talk of a coming amnesty, or of a guest worker program, both of which, by themselves, serve to encourage additional illegal immigration. What kind of message are we sending when we dangle that possibility before people desperate enough to put their lives at risk? Doesn’t this kind of talk also indicate that we really don’t care much about law breaking, that we don’t really care that much about the rule of law, that these immigration laws exist only as a token objection to the violation of our sovereignty? Now, that is eloquent.

[Publius6961]

There is no "will" on the part of the American people to send 8 million people back across the border to Mexico.

Big of you, delusional, but big, to make that decision on my behalf and the other 280,000,000 who are not even aware that you exist!

[AmericanInTokyo]

Yes, but, not all 8 mm illegal aliens are from Mexico. Many also from Hondy, Nicky, Salvy, Costy, Guaty, not to mention China, Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, Germany, France, Middle East. How can this be any more sustainable...not to mention patently unfair to legal immigrants...and in accordance with our own unananimous intent for national borders of integrity in this age of homeland security?

[11th_VA]

"guest worker program"

To be followed by a guest voter program ...

[todd1]

What race card did I play? First off I do not know what race you are. Second, I am white.

The reason most illegals do not come legally is because they can't afford to go through the process. The middle class and wealthy Mexicans could care less about coming to the united states.

Ok, your point on the medical care only reinforces my support for Bushes stance on immigration. If everyone becomes documented then the workers will pay taxes, we will know who is in our country, and employers will be able to hire cheap labor without fear of prosecution.. Also, the ones with records will end up going back to their home country because they will not be able to pass the background checks.

[dagnabbit]

What is WRONG with that man!?

He's simplistic and he's obsessed with Mexico. Not a good combination.

[NJ_gent]

"I don't think he has had anyone pursuade him to do anytinhg about the border, yet..."

I don't think anyone has persuaded him not to bang his head into the wall either, but some things are just plain common sense - aren't they?

[11th_VA]

What race card did I play?

I regret posting that. So often when one is against illegal immigration, one gets labeled a racist. Again, my apologies.

[EEDUDE]

"What is WRONG with that man!?"

Nothing. In theory!

Ask the people of California, and most recently Arizona, when they overwhelmingly voted to do just that.

The radical courts said, in effect, we don't care that you voted for this. We're not going to let you do it.

[Ajnin]

I agree with the pres on this one... There are a bunch of illegals that go to my church and they seem like good people who are just looking for a better life. The truth of the matter is that I would do the same thing if I was them. They aren't hurting anyone for the most part.

This is the problem. You don't see the crime associated with illegal immigration at least not on the magnititude that those of us living on the border do. You don't see the welfare fraud. You don't see illegals getting preferential treatment over Americans at colleges and universities. There is a very good reason why those of us that live with the problems of illegal immigration oppose Bush's GWP and it has nothing to do with racism. Unfortunately, you along with others on FR are probably going to have to experience it first hand to believe it.

[sinkspur]

Do you prefer a berserk citizenry out for blood because we have a mass deportation? Or because we don't?

The only people "out for blood" over illegal immigration are certain denizens of Free Republic and the goofballs at American Patrol.

I live in Texas, and illegal immigration is never mentioned as a major issue here unless someone in the press puts it on a poll.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

The anti-nation of laws crowd cheers the President, greed (conservative "free traders") and ideology (New Democrat Third Way progressives) trump American heritage.

Neither greed nor ideology cares about making the migrants citizens. The President is absolutely truthful about "no amnesty" shortcuts to citizenship.

They've always been "guest workers" to greed and ideology. Things are out of hand, though.

Time for a "guest worker law" which serves but one purpose. To wit, greed and ideology can look the public in the eye and say, STFU!

[untrained skeptic]

Here we go yet again on this subject.

"After the White House news conference this morning, Bill Kristol on Fox News praised President Bush's remarks about "immigration reform" as "eloquent." Beg to differ. The president's open-borders statements were empty, garish platitudes strung together sloppily like cheap Christmas lights:"

A guest worker program that matches workers to employers only after those employers have made every reasonable attempt to find an American employee first is no an open-borders policy. When an author starts her article by purposely misrepresenting the subject of his article in the first paragraph, the rest should be treated with the proper amount of skepticism.

"Illegal aliens "do the job Americans won't do." President Bush used that dog-tired phrase about a half-dozen times during today's press conference as he defended his impending illegal alien amnesty plan. Mark Krikorian effectively puts this mindless rhetoric to rest here."

Read the article. It would be correct except for one point. The US economy isn't a closed system in and of itself. It's part of a world market.

If you remove the immigrant workers, then wages rise to the point that available workers are willing to work at that particular job, or to the point where it becomes economically feasible to create automated systems to make up for the lack of workers.

That much is completely reasonable.

The problem that Mark Krikorian ignores is that in order to pay those workers more or develop new technology the companies have to significantly raise prices. You don't have the flexibility to raise prices significantly in a competitive market, and our markets are increasingly seeing greater competition from foreign sources.

When the companies labor costs get to high, they can't just charge more in such a market, they simply go out of business, and all the employees at that company lose their jobs.

""Family values don't stop at the Rio Grande." Uh huh. Well, terrorists and gang members and drunken murderers and cop-killers don't stop there either. And based on past and recent experience, granting amnesty to 13 million law-breakers will only result in more illegal immigration, not less."

Maybe Michelle Malkin should try actually reading Bush's plan. It doesn't grant Amnesty to 13 million illegal immigrants.

It requires people who want to stay in the US to apply for the guest worker program. They'll go through background checks and have to be matched with a job or they will be deported. After the plan gets up and running, immigrants would have to apply for the program from outside the US. Only those that apply when the program begins can apply from within the US which does grant those a form of amnesty for their violation of immigration laws.

I won't disagree that sitting around and talking about starting this program in the near future does encourage illegal immigration to some extent.

However, the limited amnesty part of the program does provide an advantage in that it encourages immigrants currently in the US to apply and become legal rather than continuing to work illegally. It helps reduce to huge problem of dealing with the number of illegal immigrants we need to find and deport.

Bush's plan does have it's problems. It's biggest problem is that it's concentrating too much on reforming legal immigration (which I don't see as a bad thing) and far to little on enforcement of the immigration laws.

It does have provisions that will help with enforcement, but with the small amounts of detail given in the plan they definitely appear far too weak to address the problem.

I think the vast majority of people in the US recognize that illegal immigrants are a huge problem in the US right now. I just wish that people would quit accusing Bush of doing things he's not. We need to concentrate on pushing for better enforcement of immigration laws, however squabbling about things that bush isn't suggesting doesn't help move things forward. It just leads to more years of stagnation on immigration reform which we really can't afford.

[NJ_gent]

"The leverage you have is not with President Bush but with the coming 2006 election and with the GOP."

Going to vote Dem? Or Tossing your vote into a third party? Honestly, I hate to seem defeatist, but what options do we realistically have to force this issue? If there's a group out there ready to run TV ads, I'll join it. If they have good ads ready to go, but need money, I'll contribute. What is there realistically that we can do in the mean time to make this a prime-time Average Joe issue? If we could get something going like the Swift Boat Vets, but for immigration, I think we'd be equally successful.

[skeeter]

I live in Texas, and illegal immigration is never mentioned as a major issue here unless someone in the press puts it on a poll.

And how do those polls usually turn out?

[untrained skeptic]

"#1 - ALL illiegal immigrants leave the country.
#2 - the federal/state/county/municiple govts make a real and concerted effort to find and deport any illegal immigrants that DON'T leave the USA. The border guards and customs officers have lists of those deported and DON'T let them back in.
#3 - Only those aliens with PROOF of an employer be let back into the USA.

THEN, I support the President's guest worker policy."

I wouldn't oppose your version, but I do see benefits in allowing those within the country to apply for the guest worker program at the start.

I also see problems with it. Do the benefits outweigh the problems? I really don't know.

However, I'm not going to make a big issue of that part either way if the other parts get implemented.

[dagnabbit]

They'll go through background checks and have to be matched with a job or they will be deported.

ROTFLOL!!!

Thanks..great laugh. Always enjoy a humorous post.

[rarenmrepublican]

Do you live in a border town? I do and I have experienced first-hand how rampant illegal immigration is wrecking our economy and the social fabric of our culture. Our hosptials are closing down becuase they cannot afford the emergency indigent care that illegals are entitled to and we can't afford the free schooling, not to mention the breakfasts and lunches, that their children take advantage of. Additionally they refuse to assimilate because they are not leaving their country because they are persecuted and see America as an opportunity for the fulfillment of their dream to be free, but rather as a teat to exhaust before running back to their home country.

[skeeter]

Read the article. It would be correct except for one point. The US economy isn't a closed system in and of itself. It's part of a world market. If you remove the immigrant workers, then wages rise to the point that available workers are willing to work at that particular job, or to the point where it becomes economically feasible to create automated systems to make up for the lack of workers. That much is completely reasonable.

Do you think the chinese out to be able to sell pirated DVDs of music, movies in the US? I'm sure they'd be cheaper.

[usadave]

Yawn. Just another "Bush is a traitor because he won't kick all the Mexicans out of the U.S. so I can get a job" thread.

Yawn. Just more drivel from La Raza's representative to Free Republic.