Here's a start, Jorge.
Posted on 10/17/2005 5:26:52 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
WASHINGTON -- White House proposals for overhauling immigration laws are expected to be unveiled Tuesday when two Cabinet secretaries appear before a committee considering legislation to reform the system.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao are scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
They will discuss proposals to bolster border security and create a guest-worker program.
Despite a legislative agenda dominated by hurricane relief and the Iraq war, the White House said immigration reform remains a priority for President Bush.
"We need to continue to take steps to strengthen our border and improve the interior enforcement of our immigration laws," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
"And we plan to move forward on a temporary worker program," McClellan said.
The president's call for a guest worker program has received little support from conservative Republicans in Congress, who call it an amnesty program for those who have entered the country illegally.
However, the Judiciary Committee is considering two bills that would create guest worker programs, which have bipartisan support and the blessing of business interests.
Bush wants Congress to strengthen border enforcement before it tackles a guest worker program, but the administration has offered few details about what it wants in an immigration reform bill.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said last week it was unlikely the Senate could juggle the crowded legislative calendar and pass before the end of the year an immigration bill that includes a guest worker provision.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, suggested it would be next year before a complete reform bill is taken up by the Senate.
Nonetheless, the Judiciary Committee is moving ahead with its proposals to add manpower to the Southwest border, improve equipment and build more detention beds.
That approach is favored by House Republican leaders, like Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, who have asked the Bush administration to forego its push for a guest worker program until the federal government can fully protect the borders.
The split among Republicans over immigration has put that party at a crossroads, analysts said Monday.
A poll Monday showed that 78 percent of 800 likely GOP voters support earned legalization for undocumented immigrants over an enforcement only approach.
"Republican voters strongly favor a comprehensive immigration reform plan that combines the stick of tighter borders and tougher enforcement with the carrot of a path to citizenship through an earned legalization process," said Ed Goeas with the Tarrance Group, a GOP polling firm.
The Republican Party is at a turning point on immigration, said Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
Jacoby said the poll "shows that Republican voters see the hardliners' tough talk for the posturing it is and side with the reformers."
"Republican voters understand that enforcement alone will not fix the broken status quo, and they are demanding that the party step up to the plate with a solution worthy of the name," she said.
Cornyn and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., have proposed an overhaul of immigration laws that would add 10,000 new Border Patrol agents and 1,000 customs inspectors over the next 10 years.
The bill also includes a guest worker provision, but would require undocumented immigrants to return to their country of origin to apply for the program - a requirement that has been criticized as unworkable.
Another bill by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., would allow undocumented workers in this country to participate in a guest worker program after paying fines for illegal entry. Guest workers could also apply for permanent citizenship.
The McCain-Kennedy bill has received bipartisan support and an endorsement of minority rights groups urging Congress to streamline immigration laws to better accommodate economic immigrants.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
gmartin@express-news.net
Anybody get polled by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research?
Damn, I just thought I read this morning or yesterday an article asserting that the President's "guest worker" program had been shelved.
They will propose everything BUT FIXING THE PROBLEM. Politically-driven band aids which will not solve anything.
Actually that was a poll done by Ed Goeas. He also does the respected bipartisan Battleground poll.
Actually that was some liberal San Antonio reporters conjecture, but it got the job done, it played the far right like a violin to bash Bush.
heh. If he thought there was a backlash with miers, just wait until shamnesty is unveiled.
The sound of falling poll numbers
In the end, no one is going back and there will be no fines collected.
It's almost as if he is purposely trying to create the ideal conditions for Hillary 2008.
"800 likely GOP voters"
Yeah, that's amazing polling right there.
Don't get the GOP voters. Just ask if they're likely to vote for the GOP.
Sheesh...couldn't they nail it down to people who have actually voted for the party in the past?
Oops.
Gee....two pro-immigration groups pay for a poll and get pro-immigration results.
I AM SHOCKED!
Ping!
Push poll alert!
The Tarrance Group and Lake Snell Perry Mermin recently released a national poll that indicates strong support for bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
The poll, of 800 American “likely voters,” was conducted March 20-22. It was commissioned by the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the National Immigration Forum.
For more information about this poll, click here for a short summary or here for overview charts.
Guest Worker Ping!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.
It is about time the White House addressed immigration but I think Jacoby is wrong. Someday a candidate will step forward that will embody leadership in the strongest sense of the word and the typical politicians will have no where to run and will be slaughtered. The world has been too long without an Alexander and with the leadership vacuume of the modern world it will not be long before one arises let us pray that the leader that arises is not more like Genghis Khan.
"with the carrot of a path to citizenship"
I thought Bush said he didn't support a path to citizenship for illegal aliens. Did he go back on that?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.