Posted on 04/11/2006 4:43:58 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
GOP Chiefs Don't Want Immigrants Charged
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent 29 minutes ago
The two top Republicans in Congress, confronted with internal party divisions as well as large public demonstrations, said Tuesday they intend to pass immigration legislation that does not subject illegal aliens to prosecution as felons.
A written statement by Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, did not say whether they would seek legislation subjecting illegal immigrants to misdemeanor prosecution or possibly a civil penalty such as a fine.
"It remains our intent to produce a strong border security bill that will not make unlawful presence in the United States a felony," the two men said. An estimated 11 million men, women and children are in the United States illegally.
The Republican-controlled House passed legislation late last year that is generally limited to border security measures. It makes illegal immigrants subject to felony prosecution.
Senate efforts to write a broader bill — covering border security, a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for many of the 11 million in the country illegally — are gridlocked with lawmakers on a two-week vacation.
Frist has said he intends to bring the issue back to the Senate floor, although he stopped short of a flat commitment and the prospects for passage of an election-year immigration bill are uncertain.
The late-afternoon statement by the top GOP leaders in both houses came after days of large street demonstrations by protestors opposed to criminal penalties for illegal immigrants.
Additionally, in a Washington Post-ABC News poll published during the day, only 20 percent of those questioned said they favored declaring illegal immigrants to be felons
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
no, I work for a living.
what question would you like me to answer? just give it to me not wrapped around anything else.
Well, the beauty part of living in what's still left of this country is that you can have your opinion, and I can have mine. Since mine is shared by numerous others whose opinion I respect, I will continue believing what I believe.
If Mexico's birth rate were to fall 10%, problem would be solved in one generation
Won't be MY generation, though.
I'm not really interested in any "solution" that is based on the notion that MY generation is a write-off -- espcially when the problem can be solved quite easily in a matter of months, for a piddly amount of money - IF "our leaders" would only WANT to solve the problem, instead of cashing-in on it.
again Ill ask you...so you think that Mexico will have a population of only 6m in 2010???
I don't know and I don't give two sh!+s, OK? As long as they stay on THEIR side of the border, they can have a population of fifty, or fifty billion. I just don't care.
youre the one how made the ridiculous comment that 100m would be coming here in 5 years
I asked it, and you apparantly answered it, unless of course you think you parsed your answer in some wonderously clintonian "it's not what you THINK I said" phrasing.
So, unless you feel the need to add anything to your answer for clarification's sake, I will mark you down as a "No."
This is only a twist by the media to make the Republicans look like the bad guys and to make it look like they have to cave in because 'so many Americans' want illegal aliens to have rights.
It's all BS meant to make us think we are in the minority on the immigration issue and question our own stance. It's also another subtle push to make Republicans fight against each other. The media and the liberals are thoroughly enjoying seeing us take punches at each other.
The original bill would still be okay without the felony stipulation. It's a damn sight better than the amnesty crud that McCain and Kennedy want to shove down our throats.
Well, I don't know how old you are, but I'll be 60 in a few short years, my health permitting.
Unlike apparently a lot of my contemporaries, I've been in real fights "back in the day". I've been close to death. I know my mortality, and I'm reminded of it each time I visit my surgeon.
Perhaps that's why I am reluctant to go tilting at windmills -- windmills that are armed to the hilt, and ready, willing, and able to cut to shreds anyone who gets within range.
There are doubtless people "in governemnt" who would dearly love for someone to attempt what you are advocating. It would give the perfect excuse to wrap up this nasty business of "the Bill of Rights" once and for all.
If you are not familiar with the term "Agent Provocateur", I would advise you to look it up. You don't want to see your screen name next to the definition.
Thus the reason we all need to bite the loss, which we will incur anyways from the millions of conservatives that don't visit this site, and either sit this election out or go and vote Constitution Party. Then, the GOP will wake back up to its base again in time for the 2008 elections. If we don't now, then we will condone more of this behavior from the GOP and we will all be screwed anyways. I won't vote for a liberal no matter what party he belongs to.
I'm 54 and can tough out my next 20 years...The love of my life nephew is only 4. I fear greatly for him.
Kudos! A nice gold star for you for Reading Comprehension!
Sadly, a red slash for grammar strikes agaisnt it ("youre the one how made"???) Oh, well, no one's perfect!
Anyway, I will reciprocate by pointing out that you're the one who made the ridiculous comment that there are NOT going to be 100 million here in the next five years. (Note the subtle "courtesy correction" to your screed -- you spun what I said into a claim that there'd be 100 million addtional Mexicans here, whereas I merely asserted that there'd be a TOTAL amount in that range. You can thank me later, I understand you must be a busy person.)
Sadly, a red slash for grammar strikes agaisnt it
there isnt going to be 100m illegals here in 5 years...and I am good at math.
just use your pea sized brain..where would 100m hispanic imigrants come from??? Mexico is 106m, Central American countries are all around 4-6 million. Youre suggesting that the countries from the Rio Grande to the Panama canal will be literally empty. It also shows your total ignorance in basic economics...if 100m did manage to some how come here, wages in the US would fall and wages would rise in Mexico, so much so that the flow would reverse.
There are a total of 35m hispanics here today..most are LEGAL, and their birth rate is barely above replacement at 2.2
...or the evil of the two lessers...
The solution is to deny all benefits to illegals. No job, no school, no in-state tuition, no emergency room. Nothing for you here. Move along back home.
When the pols have the spine to deny jobs to illegals, the problem will take care of itself.
Gutless cowards. The whole lot of them. The freaken criminals are laughing their asses off right now and the flood over the border will increase exponentially from here on. A sad, sad day for America.
We don't have to fight and die to solve this problem. We simply have to make up our minds we're willing to do what's necessary . The only question is: how badly do we want to solve it?
All the proposals I've read so far are approaching the problem completely backwards. Every one relies on illegals to "self identify" themselves and meekly pay thousands in fines and back taxes. What a joke...ain't gonna happen. Anyone who proposes such a Rube Golberg scheme is not at all serious about actually solving the problem. Nor are the ones who demand round-ups and employer crackdowns (more on this later).
The first step in any plan has to be securing the border. There is no alternative to that.
Then, rather than identify the illegals, we could cull them out by default---by identifying the legals. Yes, I'm talking about a national biometric I.D card. I know, I know. We conservatives hate that. But I'm starting to warm to the idea based on two great concerns: illegal immigration and vote fraud. If WE self-identify---as opposed to waiting for them to do it---we can take back control of our own destiny. Only citizens and legal aliens would get the cards. Again, by default, the illegals would be left card-less.
As for employment, there would have to be a database where employers could check the validity of documents. Right now illegals can easily obtain forged documents and there's nothing the employer can do...there's no place to verify them. A biometric card would fix this flaw and allow us to penalize employers who go around the system. (I would tie the I.D.'s into the payroll tax system. No valid nat'l I.D., no payroll taxes get posted. Then we could get the employer on not just illegal employment, but failure to file p/roll taxes.)
The initial reaction to this proposal is always about the roadblocks/your-papers-please scenario. To that I say "Tell me how YOU would identify the illegals". Have you thought up some way to cull them out without asking US for OUR identification? I've yet to hear a proposal for that.
So. These are our choices. We can sit back and watch congress pass bills which they don't intend to work. Or we submit to national ID cards and force the illegals to go home when they find themselves shut out of the system. THEN we can also demand that national ID's be used in federal elections...but that's for another day.
I don't want to provide citizenship to millions of illegals. I want US to choose who comes in. I'm tired of all the ranting and fuming. I want to DO something. Of all the proposals I've read, the only one that will actually work is the national biometric ID. All the others are merely wheel-spinning. They won't work...they aren't meant to.
Hmm....
Y'know that stuff about "NO personal attacks"?
No, I guess you don't.
Frankly, I'm getting tired of the anklebiting. Please leave me alone, OK?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.