Posted on 03/27/2006 8:50:39 AM PST by Reagan Man
President Bush said Monday that overhauling the nation's immigration laws "is not going to be easy" and warned critics against stoking anti-immigrant feelings by calling them a threat to the nation's identity or a burden to the economy.
"The immigration debate should be conducted in a civil and dignified way," the president said as the Senate prepared to tackle the hot- button election issue of what to do with the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants this week.
Bush used a naturalization ceremony for swearing in 30 new citizens from 20 countries and five continents to press his call for a "guest worker" program. The Senate Judiciary Committee, meanwhile, faced a midnight deadline for completing a bill.
"No one should play on people's fears or try to pit neighbors against each other," Bush said. "No one should pretend that immigrants are threats to America's identity because immigrants have shaped America's identity.
"No one should claim that immigrants are a burden on our economy because the work and enterprise of immigrants helps sustain our economy," the president said. "We should not give in to pessimism. If we work together I am confident we can meet our duty to fix our immigration system and deliver a bill that protects our people, upholds our laws and makes our people proud."
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, calls for tougher border security have dominated debate over the knotty problem of controlling immigration.
But a tough immigration-enforcement bill passed by the House last year has galvanized forces that want worker programs for illegal immigrants already in the country.
"We will not accept enforcement-only approaches," said Cecilia Munoz, vice president of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group.
Immigration reform advocates scheduled a rally Monday at the U.S. Capitol, where dozens of members of the clergy planned to wear handcuffs to protest what they said is the House bill's criminalization of their aid programs for poor immigrants.
More than 500,000 people rallied in Los Angeles on Saturday, demanding that Congress abandon the House-passed measures that would make being an undocumented immigrant a felony and erect a 700-mile fence along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. Similar but smaller protests were held in Dallas, Phoenix, Milwaukee and Columbus, Ohio, among other cities.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, said Monday it would be unrealistic to round up and deport the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. Instead, he told CBS' "The Early Show," the United States should create a "path toward legalization" based on whether the immigrants are law abiding, pay takes, are learning English or demonstrate other "positive behavior."
Senators up for re-election this year are being forced by the debate to juggle the demand from voters for tighter borders to keep out terrorists and businesses who look to the tide of immigrants to help fill jobs.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Sunday his panel will get a bill to the full Senate before Tuesday, even if it has to work "very, very late into the night."
Senate aides met into the evening Sunday in advance of a Judiciary Committee meeting to debate legislation, but there was no evidence of a breakthrough on the issue most in dispute. Lawmakers have been divided on whether illegal immigrants should be required to return to their home country before they become eligible for U.S. citizenship.
Whether or not the committee produces a bill, Majority Leader Bill Frist plans to open two weeks of Senate debate on the issue Tuesday. Frist, R-Tenn., has offered a measure that would punish employers who hire illegal immigrants and provide more visas. It sidesteps the issue of whether to let illegal immigrants already here stay.
Employers and immigration advocates prefer a bill drafted by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., that would allow illegal immigrants to become eligible for permanent residency after working for six years. Both McCain and Frist are likely candidates for the Republican presidential nomination next year.
Another approach offered by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Jon Kyl, R- Ariz., would let illegal immigrants get temporary work permits for up to five years. They would have to leave the United States but could then apply for legal re-entry.
Aides to Specter, Cornyn, Kyl, Kennedy and McCain spent much of the congressional recess last week trying to find a compromise that would stave off Frist's bill.
You know civil unions between man are not far off among the civil illigal immigrants.
The only way to have a civil debate on this issue is to first get control of the problem of the unrestricted flow of illegals into our country.
Then and only then can we decide as a country who and how many to let in.
The President has blown all his remaining credibility on this issue. This plea for civility suggests to me that his latest numbers are even lower, and despite his bravado about not worrying about polls, he's worried.
If he persists in pursuing in all of this, the GOP is going to go right down the toilet in the next couple of election cycles. It will deserve it. And I for one will be happy to help in pulling the "Flush" lever.
Yeah, like when you called ME and my conservative friends "vigilantes" in an attempt to sow fear and confusion about the mission and behavior of the Minuteman Project volunteers. Instead of debating us on the issue or even just politely disagreeing with us and our tactics, you called us a very emotionally charged, derogatory name, dishonestly portraying us as violent lawbreakers. You lied for political gain and slandered good people to further your misguided political agenda.
Then, in this very speech where you call for "civil" debate on the issue, you again portray those who are for border security, protection of our sovereignty, and the enforcement of our laws as "anti-immigrant". Again, you're implying radicalism and possibly racism with such distortions of language and namecalling. If anyone needs a lecture on engaging in "civil" debate on the issue, it is YOU, Mr. President.
I am more than happy to engage in civil debate on this issue. I invite and welcome the President to travel to Cochise County, Arizona to see firsthand the problems that illegal aliens are causing and just how porous our national borders are. Further, I would love to take that opportunity to have the civil debate between the President and border security advocates. We won't call you names even if you continue to sling them at us. We just want to talk and show you what your failure to protect our borders has caused.
So, either you want "civil" debate on the subject, or you're just engaging in further dishonesty and distortion to further your open borders, globalist agenda. I suspect the latter. I'd love it if you, Mr. President, could back up your words with real actions (ie. a real and "civil" debate on issue) and prove me wrong.
Oops. My mistake. I apparently stumbled onto a DU emote-fest on this thread.
Blood has been drawn already. It has happened a few times in L.A. as the criminal invaders and their accomplices have beaten pro-border security advocates and trampled their U.S. flags on at least two occasions within the last 6 years. It happened again this weekend in Indiana.
It is only through great restraint that the pro-border security advocates have not fought back. We remain peaceful while the side that President Bush is scrambling to appease is growing more and more brazen and violent. And I find this situation absolutely intolerable.
You mean like an "I hate Bush" fest, right?
Oh puh-lease. He was not addressing his comments at the new legal immigrants. He was addressing those who are engaging in political warfare on the border and immigration issue. Stop trying to excuse the President's misbehavior.
"We have an aging white America ... They are dying ...We have got to eliminate the gringo, and what I mean by that is if the worst comes to the worst, we have got to kill him."
Jose Angel Gutierrez, professor, University of Texas,
Arlington and founder of the La Raza Unida political party
"This President is running rogue and it is time to either reel him in or toss him out."
I'm sure if President Bush could read your words he'd really be trembling in his shoes right now.
Hey Celcila!
Stick it where the sun don't shine!
Someone care to step up and *&^%$slap this wench?
I'm correcting George's statement for the sake of clarity.
Clearly concerned about riots. And for good reason.
That's politics for ya. Except at DU they support amnesty for illegals. If you look at the current FR poll question, you'll see FReepers oppose any amnesty. HR 4437 is a strict enforcement legislation only. No backdoor amnesty under the guise of a guest worker program.
Do you support or oppose H.R. 4437, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005?
Support 93.2%
Oppose 6.8%
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