Key Questions on Immigration - The single most powerful issue in the United States today

NEWSMAX ^ | June 1, 2005 | John LeBoutillier

[Happy2BMe]

The single most powerful – and upsetting – issue in the United States today is immigration – both illegal and legal. Americans from the Left, Center and Right are all ticked off at the present situation.

How many of us understand the process, the law - and who makes the key decisions?

I was an elected Member of the U.S. House of Representatives and I was – and remain today – woefully ignorant about this issue.

As American citizens we are all equal members of the most exclusive and attractive club in the world. We – alone – have the right to decide who gets in or does not get in.

Here are some of the questions we need to have answered in order to analyze this whole immigration mess.

On legal immigration:

1. Who sets the quotas by which immigrants are allowed entry into our country? Are the Congress and the president involved in these decisions? Who decides whether a Polish doctor gets in while a Chilean housewife does not?

2. I had heard about twenty years ago that Teddy Kennedy and other liberals 'altered' the quotas so as to allow fewer Eastern Europeans in – and increased the quota for Africans and Central and South Americans. The reason for this – according to what I heard – was that the Eastern Europeans were voting Republican when they became voting-eligible citizens while the Africans and Central and South Americans were joining the Democrats. Is any of this true?

3. Are the day-to-day decision on legal immigration made by anonymous bureaucrats buried somewhere inside Washington, D.C.? Who are they? Who appointed them? Are they Bush appointees or civil servants who are leftovers from a previous administration?

4. Who makes the crucial 'political' decision(s) over which people get into the country? Who 'values' one nationality more than another? Is race a factor? Is religion a factor? Is ethnicity a factor? Is there 'racial profiling' at work here?

5. Do we need a complete makeover of the immigration issue? Perhaps we need a Cabinet-level Department of Immigration to elevate this issue to the level of importance it deserves.

On illegal immigration:

1. How many illegals are actually in this country today? I have heard as many as 11 million.

2. By dint of the fact that they are 'illegals,' there probably is not an accurate head count. What is the best guestimate?

3. How many border cops/agents do we have stationed on our southern border?

4. How many miles of our southern border are fenced? Not fenced? Patrolled? Unpatrolled?

5. On our northern border, how many border cops and agents?

6. How many cops/agents would it take – and at what cost – to seal up both borders?

7. A fence across the southern border: How long would it have to be and how much would it cost?

8. Could we prevent illegal crossing of our southern border if we really wanted to?

9. Could we revoke previous laws – posse commitatus – and use the U.S. Army for this task? Reserves?

10. How many 'illegals' are arrested annually? How many are deported?

11. How much does illegal immigration cost our nation in social programs expended on non-Americans – health care, education and Social Security?

12. How much is this offset by taxes paid by illegals?

These are some of the basic questions we need to have answered and made part of the public discussion as the nation decides what to do on this vital issue.

We should be discussing this as a country and devoting at least as much national energy to this as to Social Security reform.

[Happy2BMe]

And illegal immigration will also be the single-most powerful and upsetting campaign issue of 2006 and 2008.

[Happy2BMe]

The single most powerful – and upsetting – issue in the United States today is immigration – both illegal and legal. Americans from the Left, Center and Right are all ticked off at the present situation.

[Happy2BMe]

In years past, immigration into the United States was treated as a privilege, not a right to be granted automatically just by being able to make it to America's shoreline or borders. Today, however, the entire process of immigration has been drastically politicized by both major parties in Washington, D.C.; one party sees votes – the other, cheap labor. This is investigative journalist Jon Dougherty’s probing look into how this indiscriminate immigration is tearing at the fabric of our culture and society. Interviewing Border Patrol agents, local residents, citizen-enforcement groups and even the immigrants themselves, Dougherty examines the implicit dangers of our reckless attitude toward admittance, showing how all American citizens, native-born and otherwise, are consequently threatened by welfare fraud, drug lords, and terrorism. This is the untold, unnerving true story about the social and political turmoil on the U.S.-Mexico border

[SMARTY]

When will lawmakers and public officials figure this out?

Immigration and enforcement of laws will be the next most 'surprising' reason behind a political upset since the 'character counts' bombshell in American politics.

[jpsb]

"And illegal immigration will also be the single-most powerful and upsetting campaign issue of 2006 and 2008."

Unelect EVERYONE until this issue is addressed correctly.

[Travis McGee]

Bienvenidos a Amexica.

[jpsb]

Our ruling class is trying to flood the country with millons of third worlders that will do there bidding and kill of the American middle class.

[Dane]

I pretty much dismiss leboutellier.

He is a big mccainac.

[Sybeck1]

Everyone one of us should email the president, our senators, our representatives those very questions.

[mr_hammer]

John, till you find the answers to those question, how about just securing the border with our National Gaurd. That is what they were put in place for?

Do you have to know how the boat got a hole in it, or fix the leak fist before you sink?

[A. Pole]

one party sees votes – the other, cheap labor

Bump!

[varon]

We should be discussing this as a country and devoting at least as much national energy to this as to Social Security reform.

And at least as much as Iraq and Afghanistan!!!

[livefreeCA]

The way I see it, if the federal government will not fulfill its Constitutional mandate, it is up to the Governor of the several states to do so. This means that we must compel Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, along with the AZ, NM, and TX Governors to "BUILD THAT FENCE" that Travis has been showing us photos of. People, it is "we the people" who have the power in our form of government. Now we must use it. Our elected representatives are our "SERVANTS" not our "LORDS" and we must show them this.

I am by no means a Constitutional authority, but the way I read it the States do have the duty and responsibility to pick up the slack left by our federal government's inaction.

[GarySpFc]

Almost all Americans hate illegal immigration, but there are major flaws in the immigration process for legals too. Business interests and ethnic political groups push the limits up for professionals and relatives of Green Card holders. Guess who gets left with just a very few slots for their relatives? If you guess citizens you would be right. Adult sons and daughters of citizens and brothers and sisters of citizens take anywhere from 5 to 22 years to obtain a visa to enter the US. While they are waiting OUR government does not even allow them to visit. My 26 year old stepdaughter is treated worse than an illegal immigrant. Thank you President Bush and Congress.</p>

[Capt. Tom]

Our ruling class is trying to flood the country with millons of third worlders that will do there bidding and kill of the American middle class.

You and I would probably agree.

The Republicans and the Bushies like illegal immigration because it undermines the labor unions and the working class. People don't start a business to provide jobs, they do it to make money, and the less they pay in wages and health care, the more money they make.

On the other side of the aisle the Socialists (dems) like illegal immigration because it makes more people dependent on Government, and therefore will cause taxes to be raised, causing more people to depend on Government.

So neither the Bushies or Socialists or Republicans are going to take on this issue. - tom

[varon]

Key Questions on Immigration - The single most powerful issue in the United States today

Like a tsunami building up momentum. The '06 election will either help abate or accelerate it but in either case it will strike and no one knows what devastation it will cause.

I just hope the UN doesn't appoint Clinton again as the administrator of remedies.

[MARK4]

So neither the Bushies or Socialists or Republicans are going to take on this issue

This is the most toxic issue the United States has faced since slavery. The fact that neither party will face it head on tells me that we are in for some very dangerous times ahead.

Here in Southern California we have emergency rooms, and in some cases entire hospitals, closing. Our schools are also overloaded, our highways are jammed and our social services agencies are falling apart. All because NO ONE is addressing the issue of illegal immigration.

I'm not saying it will happen tomorrow, or next year, but the proverbial match is getting close to the figurative stick of dynamite and a crisis is coming soon -- and NO ONE has the guts to do ANYTHING about it.

[mr_hammer]

Well people are starting to say what I have been thinking.
The only diference between the Left side of the isle and the Right is the path that they choose. The destination is the same. More government, more taxes, less personal freedom's and the blurring of our borders. I don't like it!

[HiJinx]

The discussions in Congress have already started, it's up to us to let our Representatives know what we believe to be the proper priorities.

Remember, you have to seal the dike before you can drain the swamp.

[atlaw]

"In years past, immigration into the United States was treated as a privilege, not a right to be granted automatically just by being able to make it to America's shoreline or borders."

Of course, those "years past" don't include naturalization from about 1790 to about 1940, but I guess you're making a larger point of some kind.