[cripplecreek]

Listen to the legal voting citizens.

[raybbr]

But to prevent disaster among Latino voters, it must accompany the fence with a more liberal policy on guest workers and criminalization.

In other words.....

We are now one of the largest Spanish-speaking nations in the world. We're a major source of Latin music, journalism and culture.

Just go to Miami, or San Antonio, Los Angeles, Chicago or West New York, New Jersey ... and close your eyes and listen. You could just as easily be in Santo Domingo or Santiago, or San Miguel de Allende.

For years our nation has debated this change -- some have praised it and others have resented it. By nominating me, my party has made a choice to welcome the new America.

As I speak, we are celebrating the success of democracy in Mexico.

George Bush from a campaign speech in Miami, August 2000.

You can read the speech here.

Here is an excerpt of a good critique of that speech:

In equating our intimate historic bonds to our mother country and to Canada with our ties to Mexico, W. shows a staggering ignorance of the civilizational facts of life. The reason we are so close to Britain and Canada is that we share with them a common historical culture, language, literature, and legal system, as well as similar standards of behavior, expectations of public officials, and so on. My Bush Epiphany By Lawrence Auster

[peyton randolph]

Yes to the fence, yes to guest workers and no to greater criminalization

---

Yes to the fence

No to guest workers

Yes to greater criminalization

[Caveman Lawyer]

Ah. He wants us to "triangulate" our sovereignty.

[WhiteGuy]

Sure, politics before the safety and security of Americans.


The genie cannot go back in the bottle, we have seen the true nature of this bunch in Washington.

[Shermy]

"The immigration bill pending in Congress poses as crucial a test for GOP efforts to reach out to Hispanic voters as the 1964 Civil Rights Act did in determining the future partisan preferences of America's African-Americans."

He may believe it, it may be sold as that, but that is not what it is. And the comparison to 1964 is absurd.


"But to prevent disaster among Latino voters, it must accompany the fence with a more liberal policy on guest workers and criminalization."

No, the way to gain more is to promote conservative values and tougher illegal immigration enforcement without being labeled as racist, which Bush and the big money are set out to prove.


I doubt Dickie ever talked to a "Latino" voter.

[Popman]

The GOP base wants a fence. It is vital to the entire concept of whether or not we can control our borders.

A true and correct statement

This is what we will get in the long run after it gets watered down, filtered, pureed and massaged by the Congress

[Ben Ficklin]

If, as the author suggests, the US were to create a liberal guest worker program, there would be no demand for illegals. If there were no demand for illegals, illegals would not be entering the US. If illegals are not entering the US, there is no need for a fence.

[Shuttle Shucker]

Can you believe how racist MEXICO's immigration laws still are against us gringos? For a comparison:

http://www.directory.com.mx/immigration

Why doesn't the media cover this issue yet?

[Smogger]

Hispanics, let's remember, were the swing voter group in 2004. Having voted for Al Gore by 30 points in 2000, they sufficiently trusted Bush to back Sen. John Kerry by only an eight-point margin. If the Republican Party now turns its back on these newly swing Latino voters, it may permanently lose its ability to win America's fastest-growing voter group, perhaps dooming the party altogether.

I hate to say it, but I agree with every word. I know everyone is angry about illegal immigration, but if you don't live in California you don't know the half of it. Everyone suffers from illegal immigration, but Pete Wilson's support of Prop 187 doomed California to a decade of dominance by the Democrats, which is 10 times worse.

[SeaBiscuit]

How about FIRST protecting AMERICAN CITIZENS!

[kerryusama04]

This might be the first time Morris is close to being right on something.

I bought "Off with their Heads". In the first chapter he tears the NYT apart, but the last paragraph he says he still buys it and reads it. That bottomed out my respect-o-meter. I never finished the book either.

[dalereed]

Why would anyone pay attention to the clinton but boy toe sucker.

Yes for a complete fence, Pacific to Brownsville.

NO GUEST WORKERS!

Throw every employer of illegals, including homeowners, in the slammer!

[Ludicrous]

Questions:

How does the enforcement of this guest worker deal work?
I mean, where is the employer's motivation to ensure their workers are g.w.?
Who makes sure they comply?
Won't the employers still hire the illegals "off the books"? Thereby making the whole thing a farce

We could never enforce the laws against employing illegals, so how can we believe we could enforce g.w. regulations?

And even if we could enforce, won't we see inflation on goods and services as the businesses pass their cost increases onto the consumer?

[Reagan 76]

Simply put, the fence must have a gate that swings open for immigrants we want and need Want and need? For what? To clean pools? To provide maids for people too lazy to clean their own homes or mow their own grass. And why does Mexico get a jump in front of every other nation on earth?

[layman]

All efforts to beef up manpower on the border have failed to stem the daily flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico. A fence is the only way to do it.

Bullship! Virtually NO effort has been made to beef up manpower on the border and no effort has been made to discourage employers from knowingly hiring illegals.

[Dead Dog]

as the 1964 Civil Rights Act did in determining the future partisan preferences of America's African-Americans

Great example, the 1964 Civil Rights act was a GOP cause. Blacks vote almost 90% Democrat.

[edcoil]

65% of legal latino's in CA voted for Prop 187 to stop funind illegals. Latino-American here are fully aware that mexico is dumping its underclass and criminals here and want it stopped.

[inquest]

Beefing up the Border Patrol will NOT alienate Hispanic voters (at least not the ones who don't regularly vote Dem anyway). Anyone claiming otherwise is selling pure snake oil.

[Reagan Man]

First, secure the borders and enforce employer sanctions.

Kerry got 56% of the Hispanic vote in the last Prez election. A guest worker-amnesty program would only enlarge that majority for the Dems.

After things have calmed down from enforcement of border security and employer sanctions, then and only then, have the Congress come back at some future date with a legitimate temporary foreign worker program. But do not tie HR 4437 in with any Senate proposal for guest worker-amnesty.