Immigration Rising on Bush's To-Do List

LA Times ^ | July 24, 2005 | By Peter Wallsten and Nicole Gaouette

[SC33]

Immigration Rising on Bush's To-Do List The White House wants to build a coalition to court Latinos and marginalize hard-liners. By Peter Wallsten and Nicole Gaouette, Times Staff Writers WASHINGTON — Worried that the tone of the immigration debate is pushing Latinos away from the Republican Party, the White House is working with political strategists to create a broad coalition of business groups and immigrant advocates to back a plan President Bush could promote in Congress and to minority voters in the 2006 elections.

[1066AD]

It'd be nice if they at least occasionally drew the distinction between legal and illegal immigration !

[Americanexpat]

Just donate $50K to $250K and you can buy your own laws.

See, it's just like most of us have been saying all along, "all politicians are whores."

I don't want all Hispanics sent back to their home countries, just the ones here illegally.

I don't want a wall with gun turrets and minefields. However, I do want a border fence designed to keep out intruders and infiltrators, with enough people to patrol them to do the job.

Corporations and contractors are not hiring these people to fill jobs that Americans don't want. They are filling the jobs with people they can pay low wages to to increase their profit margin's. If they are going to hire them then the employers need to be responsible for all their medical, educational and other needs and not pass those costs onto the American taxpayers.

[SC33]

Exactly, We just need to be more active and let them know, if you don't represent us, then we are not going to support you or your ideas.

[raybbr]

Admission into the new coalition costs between $50,000 and $250,000. The proceeds are expected to pay for a political-style campaign for an approach to immigration that combines heightened border security with a guest-worker program of some sort, creating an environment that the White House believes will be more favorable for Bush to step back into the fray.

Cheap price for membership into the globalist co-op.

[NJ_gent]

"I forgot to mention the plan most popular at FR. Deport all the illegals and build a 25 foot high fence with mine fields and machine gun turrets every 50 yards. There are also some freepers in this group that think anyone with a hispanic name should be deported even if thay are citizens or attorney general. These mexicans are not needed in the US under any condition."

Now see, you were perfectly reasonable right up until you hit the part about deporting everyone with a Hispanic sounding name. I'm all for deporting illegals. After all, it's the law. I'm also all for building a large security wall on our border. It's our right to do so, and we're in the middle of a war which will, at some point, include suicide bombers hitting US targets. Those who are here legally are more than welcome so far as I'm concerned. They've gone through the process, we've ensured they're not criminals or carrying dangerous disease, and they're here to contribute to our society in a productive and legal way.

Those who do not follow the process of legal immigration are criminals. That's simply a fact by definition. They've violated Federal law, to say nothing of the sovereign borders of the United States. They're a drain on the economy, they're a drain on local services, they're a drain on hospitals, and they're a drain on the tax base. Those smuggling them into this country represent a severe threat to the national security of this country. They're smuggling in more than just field hands from Mexico; now they're bringing in people from all over the world. The USBP has already located several people who are African Muslims and Middle Easterners who've attempted to cross the border. The Millennium bomber also attempted to cross the border. Those who are against real border security are suicidal.

So what's the problem with the fence? Don't like Israel's? Their fence is working great so far. Suicide bombers are busily working on trying to tunnel under it or sneak around it instead of blowing people up. They've greatly reduced attacks against their citizens, and they seem overall very happy with their wall. So what are we waiting for? How many night clubs, bars, buses, and schools have to be blown up before you too will support a wall like Israel's? How many nuclear attacks justify securing our own borders in wartime? How many billions of dollars lost in state and local economies before building a wall becomes justified?

And why are criminals who violate the sovereignty of the United States and aggravate a major national security threat being defended by anyone on here?

[jammer]

There are also some freepers in this group that think anyone with a hispanic name should be deported even if thay are citizens or attorney general.

That is an outrageous, ridiculous statement. You should be ashamed.

[NJ_gent]

It'll never get that far. Today, American citizens are taking to the streets to assist the USBP in identifying illegal immigrants crossing the border. If things continue on this path, it's only a matter of time before masses upon masses of armed citizen militias take to the streets and attack anything moving across the border. Hopefully, the drones in Washington will enforce the law and secure our borders before people are driven to such an extreme.

[primeval patriot]

And why are criminals who violate the sovereignty of the United States and aggravate a major national security threat being defended by anyone on here?

Because they worship money.

[NJ_gent]

"Because they worship money."

Apparently they do a poor job of doing so. It's estimate that illegals cost the California economy $8 - $9 Billion a year alone. They flood areas and obliterate social services.

[Reagan Man]

>>>>And why are criminals who violate the sovereignty of the United States and aggravate a major national security threat being defended by anyone on here?

Some people support continued open borders and amnesty to secure more votes on election day. Some people support continued open borders and amnesty to assure there is an uninterrupted flow of cheap labor into the US.

In both cases, national security isn't even on their radar screen.

Some day we may all pay the price for this political liberalism.

[TheeOhioInfidel]

That article told me everything I need to know about Bush's turncoat position. It's amazing that if the Democrats put up a candidate who was tough on illegal immigration, a military hawk toward the Islamo facists, and a supporter of the constitution, he'd win hands down. The only thing that kept Bush in office for two terms is the stupidity of the Democrats and their incompetent candidates.

[Heartland Mom]

I say your listing of elected officials to contact - I know that I have contacted my senators and the White House without luck on this issue repeatedly in the past. Should be try contacting our local republican office instead - or come up with our own coalition to address this??

[WhiteGuy]

"That article told me everything I need to know about Bush's turncoat position."

I don't think that is quite fair.

Our president has never claimed to have any interest in protecting Americans on American soil. He has always been quite upfront with regard to his desire to ignore our laws and to encourage foreign invaders come right in.

There has been nothing of a "turncoat" nature by our president at all.



"The only thing that kept Bush in office for two terms is the stupidity of the Democrats and their incompetent candidates."

I disagree, it was the stupidity of the voters who put party before principle...............

[primeval patriot]

Apparently they do a poor job of doing so

Don't you want to get rich or are you a racist?

That's their argument.

They'll raise hell about unions and democrats and at the same time they support importing core members of those constituencies.

I've grown weary of listening to their lies.

[arnoldpalmerfan]

Illegal aliens should voluntary return to their home country or be deported. Illegal aliens should not be given legal status.

[Ben Ficklin]

In predicting which reform bill will or will not pass, you have to look at both houses seperately.

For the Senate, you have to look at AgJobs which was a compromise bill just like McCain Kennedy. Lets revue that.

The House had added Real ID to the defense supplemental spending bill. This action allowed the Senate to offer and vote on ammendments also. Because of the chaos, only three amendments were allowed and to prevent more chaos, the threshold for passage was set at 60 votes to prevent any filibuster. One of the amendments was to allow for an increase in the quota on the Non-ag worker H2B visa. This amendment is irrelevant to the issue of reform. The second amendment voted on was AG-Jobs as composed by the unions, growers, Larry Craig, and Ted Kennedy. This amendment recieved 52 votes, a majority, but less than the 60 required. AgJobs is/was a surrogate to McCain-Kennedy because it contained the same language on permenant visas-greencards-path to citizens that is found in McCain-Kennedy. In fact, Kennedy and McCain had delayed introducing their bill, waiting to see how the straw vote on AgJobs went. Because it passed, they went forward with their bill. The AgJobs amendment recieved 44 dem votes and 9 pub votes.

The third and last amendment offered was AgJobs with all the language of permenant visas-green cards-path to citizenship removed. This amendment was considered the surrogate to Cornyn-Kyl-Bush because of the absense of that language. This amendment recived only 22 votes, all republicans. It is important to note that the two senators from OK and LA, who support Tancredo, voted nay.

Based on these votes, Cornyn-Kyl cannot pass the Senate, but Kennedy-McCain will.

Now lets look at the House.

There are 232 republicans and 203 democrats(202 dems plus 1 independent). There are 72 members of the immigration caucus plus there some house members who are not members of the caucus but will vote with the caucus. The total number is 100-125. The total number is not important because it only takes 15 voting against Cornyn-Kyl.

You can massage the numbers all you want. Cornyn-Kyl will have to get a significant number of immigration caucus and/or democrat votes to pass. It will take X number of democrats defecting from Kennedy-McCain plus X number of Immigration Caucus votes defecting from Tancredo's bill.

On the other hand, it will take only a few republicans defecting to the democrats to pass Kennedy-McCain.

[SC33]

In many cases, contacting your local officials does very little. When contacting leaders from states in which you do not live in, either don't say what state you live in, or just say that you wanted to conatct such and such because it is a very important issue. For example, when contacting DeLay, just say that you wanted to let him know that the issue is very important to the American people, and he has the power to influence good reform.

Never e-mail, always phone or fax. I like to call occasionally, but I like to flood their offices with faxes. You can usually be pretty sure that the faxes will end up on their desks. You can fax for free at www.fairus.org. Usually it is better to compose your own message because you can say exactly what it is you believe.

[SC33]

The McCain/Kennedy Bill will never get to a vote. The final version of whatever bill comes out of committee will be some sort of compromise. If I had to guess, I would say that we will end up with a temporary guest worker program(Kyl/Cornyn) along with an increase in legal immigration(McCain/Kennedy), as well as serious border enforcement. Plus, don't forget, the entrance of deLay into this debate is a very important sign. He seems to be on the side of a "temporary" worker program, so that leads many to believe that he reflects the position of the Administration.

[raybbr]

How about us white folk?

You are being taken for granted.

[judgeandjury]

There are also some freepers in this group that think anyone with a hispanic name should be deported even if thay are citizens or attorney general. These mexicans are not needed in the US under any condition.

You sound pretty silly when you make stuff up like this.