Posted on 04/02/2006 7:55:32 PM PDT by RWR8189
MIDLAND, Texas — Cecilia Ochoa Levine was a Mexican trying to make it in America. But when she hit upon a promising business opportunity, to make knapsacks south of the border to sell in the United States, she could not get the trade permits she needed.
And so Levine asked for help from a longtime friend in Texas, where she had been a legal resident for many years.
The friend was George W. Bush.
Within a week, Levine was on a plane to Washington for a meeting with trade officials. And soon after, she had the papers to expand her business, creating dozens of jobs at plants in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Not everyone would have been willing to use his influence to help a Mexican citizen start a company, particularly one creating jobs in Mexico as well as in the U.S. But Bush's actions of 21 years ago help explain why today, as president, he is striking an unusually nuanced tone on the emotional question of immigration policy — a stance that has placed him at odds with the conservative Republicans who have long formed the base of his political support.
"Here was this single mother, Mexican, no money, starting a tiny little business," recalled Levine. She phoned Bush because his father was then vice president and "he was willing to use his connections in Washington to help me out. He understood it would mean jobs for poor people."
Long before the immigration fight that is rattling the nation, Bush developed a picture of immigration from his life in Midland, where he knew Levine and other Mexican immigrants personally and came to see both sides of the border as part of the same universe.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Why do you expect low cost labor to have a high IQ. We don't want immigrants to be taking the best jobs. Our labor shortage is in unskilled work. I know, we don't have a labor shortage, we have millions of Americans who would love to be picking fruit.
I think it is clear what is right. We need to stop illegal immigration through enforcement. Those poor immigrants who become citizens legally end up having their wages deflated competing for jobs with people who often work off the books or make up social security numbers. There is no excuse for not complying with labor laws and companies that knowingly hire illegals should be punished.
I also think the demonstations we've seen on tv illustrate why we need to enforce the law, we have a growing population that not only is illegal but also doesn't identify with America and that is a huge problem. We also have a mythology about how there aren't any Americans to do the jobs which is just a lie. I think that immigration law should be streamlined but the truth is that the majority of those crossing the border would not be allowed to immigrate legally even if they did apply. A huge number of illegals are imprisoned and many more are simply let go while citizens are detained for similiar offenses. The one thing that is clear leniency is not the answer to this problem unless we want a permanently growing underclass to subvert our lives and our government.
The friend was George W. Bush.
Within a week, Levine was on a plane to Washington for a meeting with trade officials. And soon after, she had the papers to expand her business, creating dozens of jobs at plants in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Bush spirit; Come on crowd let's hear it; Stand up and scream; Go Bushie Team.
Where is the source to back that up?
Apparently your Richard Lynn is into Eugenics
You come across as a bigot. They may not be the most highly educated, but immigrants aren't morons.
I just figured Bush has a buttload of them working at his ranch in Crawford.
"Our labor shortage is in unskilled work. I know, we don't have a labor shortage, we have millions of Americans who would love to be picking fruit."
Ah, the farm argument. But that's what this isn't about. Illegal immigration is being encouraged to debase wage market power in a variety of new industries like carpentry, food processing, etc.
Follow Decon's link and then go to the home page
In other words, Richard Lynn is a ghoul.
Bingo
Boo-freaking-hoo.
Rah Rah Sisboombah!!
Isn't picking fruit, 'food processing'? Since when in capentry a 'new industry'? Maybe in some areas they are taking down wages, but in 90 percent of the country it just is not happening.
Give me a
B-B-B, with a U
U-U-U, with an S
S-S-S with an H,
H-H-H with a
B-U-S-H.
Bush goooooooooo Bush.
We CAN secure our borders, anyone who says differently is either an ILLEGAL, a wannabe ILLEGAL, a relative of an ILLEGAL(s), a business owner that hires ILLEGALS or just an idiot. Pick your category. Failure to control our borders will ruin our country, the days of allowing any and all to come here freely are gone because there are people who want to take the southwest for some country called aztlan, there are muslim terrorist who just want to take the whole country and kill as many infidels as possible in the process, not to mention the ones who come here to work are killing us with expenses we can't afford. Add in MS-13 and you have a deadly mixture of criminals and terrorists that are pouring in daily.
I guess you don't read much or you would know that the desert doesn't stop hardly any of them and if they are so f**king poor how can they afford to pay a coyote $5000 to come here? 5 grand in mexico will buy a lot of food and pay a lot of rent.
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