Posted on 04/05/2006 7:51:05 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans unveiled revised immigration legislation Wednesday night that would clear the way for legal status and eventual citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million men, women and children living in the United States unlawfully.
Majority Leader Bill Frist outlined the proposal after efforts at a bipartisan compromise faltered earlier in the day and the Senate teetered between accomplishment and gridlock on the most sweeping immigration bill in two decades.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid pledged to review the GOP proposal overnight to see whether "it could be something we could all support." The prospects appeared uncertain, however, since the provisions appeared similar to what he and other Democrats had earlier spurned.
The fate of the 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally hinged on the outcome of election-year maneuvering on an issue that Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., said had generated an unusual amount of emotion.
Three thousand miles distant from the Capitol, Cardinal Roger Mahony asked Catholics to pray the Senate passes legislation allowing illegal immigrants to gain citizenship. The Los Angeles-based prelate said the debate marked "one of the most critical weeks in the history of our country."
Republican officials said the GOP plan would divide illegal immigrants into three categories:
• Those who had been in the country the longest, more than five years, would not be required to return to their home country before gaining legal status. They would be subject to several tests, including the payment of fines and back taxes, and be required to submit to a background check, according to these officials.
• Illegal immigrants in the United States less than five years but more than two would be required to go to a border point of entry, briefly leave and then be readmitted to the United States. As with the longer-term illegal, other steps would be required, these officials said.
• Illegal immigrants in the United States less than two years would be required to leave the country and join any other foreign residents seeking legal entry.
The officials who described the proposal did so on condition of anonymity, saying the had not been authorized to pre-empt senators.
Basically, both parties are supporting indentured servitude. Right now they are quibbling over the time frame. This is only one step above slavery.
Did you hear that?....that was the sound of GWs and the Repubs zipper dropping right behind you...
The Bush bots have once and for all been silenced...as they are first in line to get 'porked'...
Enjoy it...
An investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), the agency within the Department of Homeland Security in charge of adjudicating immigration benefits such as citizenship and permanent residency, is rife with fraud. The report has not been released, but a draft of the report obtained by the Washington Times says, “Adjudicators we spoke with said that management’s focused attention on reducing the backlog placed additional pressure on them to process applications faster, thereby increasing the risk of making incorrect decisions, including approval of potentially fraudulent applications.” The GAO report says that fraud in some categories of visas is as high as 30 percent.
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who has seen the report, told his colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 2: “Let’s be realistic. Our government bureaucrats simply cannot implement a program for 11 million illegal aliens. You’d all be shocked if you learned about the internal fraud and abuse at the Citizenship and Immigration Service. I have been investigating the internal problems at CIS as well as their backlog of national security cases. The bureau doesn’t have an effective practice for reviewing these cases. Officials are being bribed. Visas are being given away. Green cards are being sold. CIS is giving out interim benefits, which is a precursor for additional privileges.... And we want this agency to handle the program in an effective manner? That’s unrealistic.”
http://www.thenewamerican.com/artman/publish/article_3670.shtml
Everyone needs to remember that all of their promises of future enforcement are empty.
Republicans show their true colors.
All these people become citizens. Great.
Do all the people waiting in line for citizenship legally leave now and come back in to become a citizen faster?
It would seem that our whole economy is now based on a false pretense because of all these illegal workers, and our Repubs know that.
If we don't have the leadership to enforce the law now what makes us think they will make hard decisions later.
A recipe for failure. An inept organization tasked with implementing an inept policy.
The Palm Beach Post published a whole page of profiles of local illegals. Read what they do and how they live and weep. They don't have real jobs. They live crammed together. No families. If we continue to permit this our whole way of life is at risk, including our respect for law and order.
What part of NO amnesty and NO guestworkers don't these SOBs understand?
Because Repub politicians are too stupid & cowardly to do something like hammering away at the DimWits hypocrisy. Dims go on flame wars all the time against Repubs... when is the last time (like never) that you ever saw 2 or more Repub politicians lined up at the microphones spouting rhetoric & accusations against the DimWits? The DimWits do this on a daily basis with their left-wing allies, the MSM media eagerly showing the "feigned" outrage from Dims.
LOL...that's pretty descriptive
Since they are here illegally and noone knows when they came -- how can it be determined how many years they'be been here.
My guess is everyone will claim that they've been here for more than 5 years
Where is the spark & the marching by us? We are to blame just as much as these corrupted pols.
Senate Republicans unveiled revised immigration legislation Wednesday night that would clear the way for legal status and eventual citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million men, women and children living in the United States unlawfully.
Sure got that right. Where's the call for him to be on Mt. Rushmore. Maybe that went out with his no vetoes or his fiasco Sr citizems prescription drug handout or his brilliant selection of Harriet Miers. But be assured that there will be No true conservative Sup Ct when he leaves. The elites will not ever let that happen. But the Bush bots will justify it as they always do.
I just send Frist a message via Congress.org. Here's the text of what I sent:
Dear Sir,
I wholeheartedly disagree with your "new plan" for dealing with illegal immigration.
The crux of the issue is in the name of the issue itself : "illegal".
You are rewarding those who have broken the laws of this country and invaded our schools, healthcare, jobs and jails the longest.
While I agree that America is a melting pot, we are a melting pot of laws. Your actions have shown that you have no respect for those laws and are willing to allow others to break them for the sake of votes.
The inaction of the republicans regarding this issue and the continuing push for compromises will not gain you votes, sir. This will not only help further the descent into 3rd world status for much of the US, it will also generate millions of new illegal immigrants and cost republicans the
house, senate and presidency, not to mention the billions in social programs designed for people who shouldn't be here to begin with.
It is an absolute shame that I'm having to write this and express these opinions to a senator who is supposed to look out for and push the will of the people, instead of doing the exact opposite and at the same time help millions of people who have broken our laws remain here untouched.
Yay, they're getting fined and charged back taxes. How exactly do you propose to track people who, according to our records, don't even exist? You can't.
Keep it up, sir.
A real conservative,
...TheZMan...
Neither CBP, CIS or ICE has the infrastructure to handle the 20+ million illegals that will apply.
Fraud will be rampant and all will claim to have been here 5 years. No agency will have the manpower to check the 20+ million claims.
And too top it off, we will still be getting a million or more illegals crossing the border each year.
KEEP THE PHONE CALLS COMING! CALL ALL OF YOUR SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN NOW!
Also, these websites are petitions sent to your reps immediately and they are free.
http://capwiz.com/sicminc/issues/alert/?alertid=8486336&type=CO
http://www.numbersusa.com
Spot on! My husband wonders where is the outcry on this. Don't you find it amazing that we're told that the government tells us that they can't find all of the illegals but they have no problem finding us when it's tax time? This is so corrupt.
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