(2005) - "I'm against amnesty," Bush said. "I think amnesty would be a mistake."
===========================
From a not so distant past . .
"This is disturbing, because, like you, I am against illegal immigration.
Posted on 08/08/2005 1:50:35 AM PDT by Happy2BMe
Immigration reform seen as a tough sell for Bush
Web Posted: 08/08/2005 12:00 AM CDT
CRAWFORD — Despite the momentum from recent legislative victories, President Bush faces an uphill battle in his push to move immigration reform and a guest-worker provision through Congress when lawmakers return this fall, political experts say.
Republican opposition in the House to a temporary-worker program is mounting, forcing the president and GOP proponents to shift their focus to less controversial measures like border enforcement.
But the president signaled this past week he is not backing off his call for a guest-worker program as part of sweeping reform to revamp a system that all parties agree is broken.
"We've got to do something about our immigration laws," Bush told a convention of conservative state lawmakers near Dallas.
The president drew loud applause from the American Legislative Exchange Council when he said the nation must secure its borders. But the response turned audibly tepid when he said a guest-worker program was needed to provide "a way to let somebody come and do jobs Americans won't do, on a temporary basis."
The division among conservatives at the convention underscores the hard sell Bush faces in Congress and among members of his own Republican Party.
But despite the steep hurdles, some experts say Bush could be influential in a legislative fight, citing his recent victories on long-awaited energy legislation, a popular transportation bill and the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
"He recognizes that nothing comes easy in Washington, even when your own party controls Congress," said Stephen Hess, who teaches government and politics at George Washington University.
But Bush clearly cares about immigration reform and will push his party to pass a bill, even if it means compromise or arm-twisting to achieve some success, Hess said
"I have learned never to count this man out. Never," Hess said.
Bush first proposed a guest-worker program in 2001, but the 9-11 terrorist attacks that year shelved the proposal as Americans and the administration grappled with the fact that the terrorists were in this country illegally.
The president again laid out immigration reform and a temporary-worker program in 2004. Bush called it a high priority but never offered specifics.
The ambiguity was by design, said Gunther Peck, a Duke University professor specializing in immigration and labor issues, who critiqued the proposal in 2004.
Peck said Bush was walking a "tightrope" between a divided Republican base, some of whom are vocally anti-immigrant and others who have business interests seeking a source of cheap, available labor.
Ambiguity in the Bush proposals remains today. The president has laid out broad principles without offering specifics.
Last month, two Cabinet members, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, withdrew from the first Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the issue, drawing a rebuke from the chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
"I want to hear what their program is," Specter said. "I want to know what the president would like to accomplish."
The lack of commitment may be intentional.
"Our first step was to find out exactly what was on the minds of the bill sponsors," Bush told the San Antonio Express-News and other Texas newspapers last week.
"We've got our own opinions on a variety of subjects, and we'll try to work it out this fall with members of the Senate."
The Bush administration has yet to endorse one of two Senate proposals under consideration by the committee.
The two bills take divergent paths at creating a temporary-work program and addressing the estimated 11 million immigrants in this country illegally.
A guest-worker bill by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., would allow undocumented workers to pay a fine, back taxes and enter the work force through a temporary-work program.
It has drawn bipartisan support in the House and the Senate.
Another proposal by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., calls for a heavy increase in border enforcement spending and a guest-worker program that would allow immigrants to work in the United States for three two-year intervals.
It would offer no avenue to citizenship or guest-worker eligibility for the millions in this country illegally.
Immigration advocates favor the McCain bill, while groups who seek more restrictions reluctantly are backing the Cornyn bill as a lesser of two evils.
Bush has adopted a more nuanced approach in selling immigration reform, nodding at the Cornyn proposal and its heavy emphasis on border enforcement and security.
"It's important that the first thing that comes out of Congress' mouths are that we will enforce our border," Bush explained in the interview.
But despite tactical moves to better sell immigration reform, Bush remains the object of criticism from the right.
Dan Stein with the Federation of American Immigration Reform said the nation overwhelmingly wants laws on illegal immigration enforced and reasonable limits on legal immigration.
"Instead of true reform, the administration is simply attempting to repackage the demands of a handful of special interests that benefit economically and politically from open borders," Stein said.
And Republicans in the House have accused Bush of seeking an amnesty for undocumented immigrants — a perception he was forced to correct during his speech to conservative lawmakers near Dallas last week.
"I'm against amnesty," Bush said. "I think amnesty would be a mistake.
"But I do think it's good to make sure our employers who are looking for workers are able to find people who are willing to do the jobs they have in a legal way," Bush said
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Despite the momentum from recent legislative victories, President Bush faces an uphill battle in his push to moveimmigration reform and a guest-worker provision through Congress when lawmakers return this fall, political experts say.Republican opposition in the House to a temporary-worker program is mounting, forcing the president and GOP proponents to shift their focus to less controversial measures like border enforcement.
(2005) - "I'm against amnesty," Bush said. "I think amnesty would be a mistake."
===========================
From a not so distant past . .
"This is disturbing, because, like you, I am against illegal immigration.
So he is still repeating the "it's not an amnesty" garbage?
"We've got to do something about our immigration laws," Bush told a convention of conservative state lawmakers near Dallas....brilliant!...now do something like... protect Americans like you are supposed to do as stated in the Constitution....Close the damn borders Mr. Bush!...HELLO?
It's a mystery, isn't it?
This president and his idiot republican congress and senate had better take up the cause of immigration reform or risk losing the majority they have worked so hard for.
1st they blow the judiciary opportunity and for a long time they have really blown the illegal immigration deal.
Guest worker program - ..My ass!!
I would be less firmly opposed to Bush (et alia) dallying with reviving Rome's disastrous Laeti policy if some stern measure were taken to ensure some acceptable minimum standard of assimilation or decorum.
A "2 Strike" policy would do:
Strike One: convicted of any felony, the foreigner is deported and advised never to return to the US under penalty of death.
Strike Two: if ever caught within the US subsequent to this, the foreigner is summarily executed.
Some form of iron-clad biometric identification system would be a necessary concommitant, but that is doable.
Bush doesn't get it. First you have to rid yourself of the illegals you have before you can have an immigration policy. Right now we don't have one. As a Texan maybe he is so used to seeing Mexicans being educated, burdening the welfare system, packing the jails and generally busting state budgets.
Mexican border issues and illegal immigration should be a non-issue. Enforce the border, provide a legal mechanism to control the number and quality of immigrants. This is simply a civic obligation of the US government to its citizens and neighbors. To treat the issue in any other way is to somehow place Mexicans in a subordinant position relative to others that have legally established citizenship-in other words it is racist. It is denying qualified Mexicans the opportunity to become Americans, and provides an ongoing source of pseudo-slave labor.
Amnesty for ILLEGALS is a slap in the face to the USBP!
... Bush first proposed a guest-worker program in 2001, but the 9-11 terrorist attacks that year shelved the proposal as Americans and the administration grappled with the fact that the terrorists were in this country illegally....
So the sellout of America is way behind schedule.
Bush's masters in the Council must be getting antsy.
They want their borderless Community by 2010.
But the tin foil replies are right on schedule.
Fine, no more oil, coffee, bananas, etc.etc. That is what a truly closed border entails, but you already know that but still use the knee jerk "close the borders" spiel to gin up anger.
Thank God we have a President who is working with good conservatives such as Kyl and Cornyn to solve a problem, and doesn't bow at the knee jerkers, such as tancredo.
You should know, you are the self proclaimed expert on FR about garbage.
Bush should have realized that when he couldn't get his 245(i) amnesty through. People have had enough of pandering to illegal aliens as well as massive immigration that is disrupting our communities and costing us billions.
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