Posted on 04/06/2006 8:33:43 AM PDT by STARWISE
WASHINGTON - In a last stab at compromise, Senate Republicans and Democrats reported progress Thursday toward agreement on legislation opening the way to legal status and eventual citizenship for many of the 11 million immigrants now in the U.S. illegally.
"There's been tremendous progress overnight," said Sen. Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) of Nevada, the Democratic leader, while Majority Leader Bill Frist also expressed optimism that a long-sought compromise might be at hand.
There was no immediate reaction from President Bush, who has made immigration legislation a key priority.
The developments occurred after Frist unveiled a new bill late Wednesday night on the subject as the Senate headed into a test vote on the most sweeping immigration bill in two decades.
In general, the legislation would provide for enhanced border security, regulate the flow of future immigrants into the United States and settle the legal fate of the estimated 11 million men, women and children already in the country.
It was the fate of the illegal immigrant population that proved hardest to legislate, and it has left the Senate on the verge of gridlock for days.
(snip)
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., as well as other key senators met before the vote to review terms of a proposed compromise.
In general, it would require illegal immigrants who have been in the United States between two years and five years to return to their home country briefly, then re-enter as temporary workers. They could then begin a process of seeking citizenship.
Illegal immigrants here longer than five years would not be required to return home; those in the country less than two years would be required to leave without assurances of returning, and take their place in line with others seeking entry papers.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
And there is nothing "Chicken Little" about these warnings.
The Republican Party is heading for a reckoning.
Even if it wasn't intent upon forcing this amnesty monstrosity down our collective throat it would have faced an uphill battle, but now its defeat is virtually assured.
>>derogary<<
DEROGATORY
Can't read all the comments yet...
Since illegals are from many different nations, they would be difficult to identify wouldn't they? Some think you could walk into a community today and locate a thousand of them. That's absurd. You know it and I know it.
Heh...yeah...
At least they would be a much smaller drain on social services. It would also stop the "dumping" of labor that Mexico is engaging in.
If the Chinese were dumping cheap cars on the country everyone would be up in arms, but mexico can dump labor here and we don't even enact a tarriff.
But the senate was supposed to BLOCK this deal, so they could vote for an enforcement-only bill Frist said he'd have as the real bill, so we COULD get our borders secured THIS year.
Doing nothing is unacceptable. If the republicans think the democrats will get blamed for not sealing the borders, they are mistaken.
BTW, I see that you've finally decided to reply to my comments.
I suppose the latest sellout by your feckless Republican "leaders" has emboldened you.
Good job.
I hope you know Spanish, because pretty soon it's going to be the official language of this country.
You are correct.
The poster did know his stance on illegal immigration. Attempting to claim they were "misled" is no different then Dems claiming they were "misled" over Iraq.
Folks voted for this President for valid reasons desite disagreements in other areas. Judges & WOT chief among them. Those reasons are still valid and I stand by my vote. I'm proud of that vote.
Attempting to construct a "misled" platform isn't going to gain traction with people that covet credibility.
However, it's beside the point. Past history. The question now is whether Congress deserves to be rewarded with re-election. While illegal immigration was A issue in 2004, imo, it should be made THE issue in 2006 by those that feel passionately about it. The calculation by Congress is that this can be swept away by November. Surprise them by keeping it front page.
You say you made that graphic for a bumper sticker?
Got a link where I could buy a couple of dozen?
There aren't that many illegal Koreans or Chinese here. If we could get the illegal Mexican numbers down to 1/100th of the number of illegal chinese then everyone would be happy.
""Rush will change sides within the next week or so. The Whitehouse will strongly suggest that he reconsider and the next day he will come out with a "Bush is taking an issue away from Democrats" explanation.""
Good one!
Maybe they'll threaten to withhold the chummy calls with Rove.
President Bush praised the lawmakers' efforts, noting the details were unfinished, and encouraged them "to work hard and get the bill done." Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he had been assured the president supports the emerging measure.
Thanks Nic for enlarging on the number and types of diseases. I had forgotten all of them. It's not just CA that is having a problem with hospitals. At last count, I believe 27 community hospitals had closed on the border of TX/MX. Several only stayed open due to Uncle Sam bailing them out with federal tax dollars, so this is not just a state problem. Also---half of all babies born in Texas are now born to Illegals--and paid for by the state of Texas. UNBELIVEABLE, but true.
Yeah while English becomes the world language, speaking of head cases.
Why don't you contact your representative and tell them of your concern. Mine is very amenable to phone calls and emails. Tell your rep of your concerns about the party. All I see on these threads is alot of flame throwing, whining, moaning and threats of coming Apocalypse. It's boring.
You can always count on Hewitt to spin things in favor of GOP leadership.
You don't know what you're talking about.
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