Posted on 03/27/2006 4:08:50 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee approved election-year immigration legislation Monday that clears the way for millions of undocumented workers to seek U.S. citizenship without having to first leave the country.
After days of street demonstrations that stretched from California to the gounds of the U.S. Capitol, the committee also voted to strip out proposed criminal penalties for residents found to be in this country illegally.
The panel's vote cleared the way for the full Senate to begin debate Tuesday on the emotional immigration issue.
"All Americans wanted fairness and they got it this evening," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), the Massachusetts Democrat who played a pivotal role in drafting the legislation, approved 12-6.
Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., voted for the bill but signaled that some of the provisions could well be changed by the full Senate.
In general, the bill is designed to strengtehn border patrol, create new opportunities for so-called guest workers and determine the legal future of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally.
At several critical popints, committee Democrats were united while Republicans splintered. In general, GOP Sens. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mike DeWine of Ohio, who is seeking re-election this fall, sided with Democrats.
That gave Democrats a majority that allowed them to shape the bill to their liking.
There are so many special interest groups fighting on this issue that we will never see something practical and simple like a good fence and worker visa levels that truely address the needs. The one side wants to pretend we don't need any foreign workers. The other side wants to pretend that we don't need to guard the boarder.
Through into the mix twenty five million illegals already in the country and the millions of people that were illegals that are now citizens and the writting on the wall is clear "Learn Spanish" . There is no way the politicians wil deport twenty five million people.
I can't tell you how much I agree. At this point, I am livid and considering become a hermit in the hills of West Virginia (WV seems to not have been invaded by illegals - yet).
"I can't tell you how much I agree. At this point, I am livid and considering become a hermit in the hills of West Virginia (WV seems to not have been invaded by illegals - yet)."
Give it five years. North Carolina was mostly free of illegals a decade ago. Now they are everywhere. You can't walk outside without tripping over them.
Oust the incumbents who voted for this piece of rubbish!!
"Kiss your nation good-bye folks. It was nice while it lasted."
If the legal citizens of this country came together to protest in the same manner as the illegals, we might have some sway. Only we wouldn't need to use hypocritical signage to make our point.
The simplest form of protest that I can think of is bumper stickers with a profound message.
The way to get rid of the ones here now is through first securing the border; second employer sanctions that have real teeth and are actively pursued; third take away the social services (WIC, Food Stamps, Medical, free preschool, free college education).
I think cracking down on those who employ illegal labor will have the biggest effect. No jobs, no illegal imigrants. Enforcement has always been the answer. Lack of enforcement (government's fault) and greedy employers (business' fault) has caused the migration we see today.
We do have laws on the books, they could start enforcing them today.
Take away the incentives to come here and it will make securing the border easier.
Just my humble opinion.
Can you believe this comparison of Mexican and U.S. immigration laws?
http://www.directory.com.mx/immigration
Talk about a racist legal system...
You're neither principled or conservative.
I believe you are correct, but I don't think it will happen unless we get a president that cares about taking those actions.
I left a few years ago. Re-registered "decline to state". I don't need to wear an "R" to vote for Conservatives, and as long as the RNC is so tone-deaf, I refuse to sully my good name by associating it with them. Every time they call asking for money, I give the caller the "Not until..." litany. I've never had a single one of them disagree with me, and they haven't called, now, in several months.
Hear, Hear !!
Bttt
I toyed with it, but haven't made the move yet. I'm more conservative than anything, but have always been a registered pubbie. I feel kind of like Senator Zell Miller in respect to the party that I knew leaving me.
"Rubbish"? You never did answer why you think Holy Communion to illegal aliens should be criminalized.
What specific part of the Senate compromise drove you and your friends out of the GOP?
Yeah, but we leave the arena to the 'rats.....
There's no political equivalent to the idea of Purgatory; no reasonable foundation for a vote to "go through Hell to get to Heaven".
That's NOT saying that a vote to move in a positive direction will not have painful implications; as bad as things are, they cannot be fixed without sometimes considerable pain. Ask anyone who's been a patient in a hospital burn unit. What I AM saying is that a positive change is not reasonably achieved by voting to move in a negative direction.
In that regard, the RNC has left the rails.
As I state on my Profile page, with the RNC matching the leftward march of the DNC step-for-step, I'm not leaving them; they're leaving me. They're decreasingly reliable as purveyors of solutions because they're increasingly populated by individuals who are carriers of the very political ailments that drag us leftward. Bluntly, "Republican" is, now more than ever, tantamount to "Moderate"; the most bland and undesirable of all possible political persuasions owing to its very LACK of any actual persuasion.
FWIW: here's the biblical commentary on being a moderate:
15 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
Revelation 3:15 & 16 NASB
No specifics though - just the proverbial "last straw"? I'm in California too, and I can even articulate my disagreements with the House version.
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