Posted on 11/28/2005 8:20:45 PM PST by Graybeard58
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- President Bush said Monday he wants to crack down on those who enter the country illegally but also give out more visas to foreigners with jobs, a dual plan he hopes will appease the social conservatives and business leaders who are his core supporters.
"The American people should not have to choose between a welcoming society and a lawful society," Bush said from the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base about an hour from the Mexican border. "We can have both at the same time."
The touchy issue of immigration has divided lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he will bring up the issue early next year. The House hopes to tackle some border security measures before adjourning for the year, but little time remains and it has other issues on its plate.
Bush also pitches his plan in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday. Texas and Arizona are home to GOP senators who have been vocal on the need to change immigration laws but who aren't entirely sold on Bush's vision.
The idea for temporary worker visas has been especially divisive and is stalled in Congress. Bush said he does not support amnesty for illegal immigrants, but he does want to give workers a way to earn an honest living doing jobs that other Americans are unwilling to do and issue more green cards.
"Listen, there's a lot of opinions on this proposal," Bush said. "I understand that, but people in this debate must recognize that we will not be able to effectively enforce our immigration laws until we create a temporary worker program."
Also Monday in Phoenix, Bush sought to counter calls by some in Congress for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces. "We will stay until the job is done, not a day longer. We will get the job done in Iraq," Bush told 1,300 people at a fund-raiser that was expected to bring in $1.4 million for Republican Sen. Jon Kyl's re-election campaign.
The president also promoted his plans to make tax cuts permanent, praised his Supreme Court picks - new Chief Justice John Roberts and associate justice nominee Samuel Alito - and pitched his immigration and border security proposals.
Earlier in Tucson, Bush spoke to a supportive audience that included border patrol agents and military troops. He was flanked by two black Customs and Border Protection helicopters and giant green and yellow signs that said "Protecting America's Borders."
He said he is providing border agents with cutting-edge technology like overhead surveillance drones and infrared cameras, while at the same time constructing simple physical barriers to entry.
The president's push on border security and immigration comes a month after Bush signed a $32 billion homeland security bill for 2006 that contains large increases for border protection, including 1,000 additional Border Patrol agents.
Bush has been urging Congress to act on a guest worker program for more than a year. Under his plan, undocumented immigrants would be allowed to get three-year work visas. They could extend that for an additional three years, but would then have to return to their home countries for a year to apply for a new work permit.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., along with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., has proposed providing illegal immigrants in the United States visas for up to six years. After that, they must either leave the United States or be in the pipeline for a green card, which indicates lawful permanent residency.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Kyl support an alternative proposal that would require illegal immigrants to return to their home country to apply for a temporary worker program.
McCain and Kyl appeared with Bush, while Kennedy issued a statement criticizing the president for talking about immigration reform without acting after nearly five years in office. And it wasn't just Democrats saying that - Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said Americans "are tired of talk and ready for action."
And, she added, "We have no business discussing guest worker programs until we can actually prevent illegal entry."
Actually, as a matter of fact it is!
hehe
Actually, I guessed that it was. hehehehehehehe
Have no fear though, most of the kids ignore the professor anyhow, so I won't pollute their minds with my anachronistic ideas.
I just wish that you knew and taught them FACTUAL history. *sigh*
I must be wearing "blinkers" as you say, I had no idea we had a huge African problem! Now, it's people from Africa again? (/sarcasm)
And China and other nations too. Gee, you left out the Islamonazies too, I see.
Ok, I believe I speak for most people when I say I'm not against immigration, legal immigration. My boyfriend's step-dad, Enrique, was born in America, and his parents immigrated here legally years before. He's furious about the illegal immigration problem, and I'd bet most "man on the street" Hispanics don't like the illegal problem either.
You are correct.
El Rino
Every talk show host in the country is ridiculing the amnesty hoax.
Fair point regarding the legal status of your reference.
It won't exist in 2010. This invasion will change the face of America in just 5 more years. Bush is behind it, and will do nothing. We need 20,000 minutemen.
Withhold a flat 25% of their income, IMO.
Chinese nationals, Pakistanis, Islamonazis have all been smuggled over the Mexican border. By the thousands. It's all been here on FR. You should check out the dozens of articles about "OTM's". BTW, [Border Patrol] Agents nationwide were assaulted 687 times, with all but one occurring on the border with Mexico.
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