I agree- Tancredo and Sensenbrenner are doing great. So are a few others that voted for HR4437.
What frustrates me in this debate is watching all of those people in the House who banned together, listened to their constituents and supported HR4437- get clobbered by conservatives. Conservatives right here on FR, and even in this thread are threatening to bail on these guys and that irritates me.
I am willing to bet that if HR4437(or some version close to it) can get thru the Senate, the President will sign it. The President can say whatever he would like to about immigration reform, but he cannot write the laws. Only our legislators can write these laws. Unfortunately, those Republican leaders that are for amnesty, are not running for re-election during this cycle.
I promise you this- I will not forget John McCain and his amnesty for all- when he is running in the Presidential primary. Unless, McCain does an about face on most of his policies, he stands no chance of ever getting my vote for anything.
My point about George Bush is that at least he is willing to deal with illegal immigration. The same was true when Reagan was President. At least they are willing to let the heated debate take place, even if people get mad at them. Instead, all of the other Presidents and candidates for President, like Bush 1, Clinton, Gore, Carter and Dole refused to even talk about the issue.
We can never fixed the problem if we are not willing to discuss the problem.
The President can say whatever he would like to about immigration reform, but he cannot write the laws. What laws does he need? In 2004 the Homeland Security Act approved 10,000 new BP agents over five years time. 2,000 per year. We could have 4,000 new BP agents now but the President, who is the one now invested with the authority to implement that Act, has only approved of 150 new agents.
It is already against the law to hire illegal foreign nationals and the fine can be as much as $10,000 per employee. Where has the will been to enforce the law? It does, after all, lie with the executive branch.
I notice that there are no columns for "deportations, fines levied or convictions." Not that it would matter with this pathetic effort.