Posted on 05/11/2006 11:27:54 AM PDT by Sharks
Senate leaders say they have reached a deal to revive a broad immigration bill that could provide millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become American citizens. The agreement doesn't involve provisions of the law, but it does end, for now, a lingering political standoff.
The agreement brokered by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., breaks a political stalemate that has lingered for weeks.
Key to the agreement is who will be negotiating a compromise with the House and its tough enforcement-only bill.
The House passed much more strict immigration legislation in December. It would subject the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States to felony charges as well as deportation.
Republican leader Bill Frist says the Senate will send 14 Republicans and 12 Democrats to the other side of the Capitol to negotiate a compromise. Seven of the Democrats will be hand-picked by Democratic leader Harry Reid.
Frist said a "considerable" number of amendments would be debated when the Senate begins debating the bill early next week.
Reid acknowledged on the Senate floor Thursday morning that he "didn't get everything that I wanted" in the agreement, but said Frist didn't either. Reaching the agreement is "not easy with the political atmosphere," Reid said.
Reid had been taking some criticism for refusing to move forward on the bill after complaining that Republicans were trying to undermine it with amendments and insisting that Democrats be allowed to have a say in who serves on the conference committee.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbs4denver.com ...
Cottage Cheese doesn't come in Milk cartons.. ;o)
Outlawing Illegal Immigration will surely stop the flood of thousands of Document-Challanged "US Voters".
I think you are mistaken, The KEY to the whole thing is ongoing and thorough employer sanctions. If there is no work for the illegal he will not come and the excess of them will go home.
We need to close the border because of drug dealers and terrorists.
Bend Over Here It Comes Again
"I hope you're right, but why aren't they talking about this? They always focus on their shamnesty agenda instead."
Well, they ARE, actually. I saw Frist on O'Reilly last night, talking about this legislation (and looking like a whipped puppy dog). HE was talking about border security: fences, motion detectors, thousands more border patrol agents. O'Reilly, of course, was goading him further, telling him that the National Guard should be down there too. Frist's focus was talking about border control.
Of course, the folks reporting this stuff, and the Democrats, and certain Republicans, are keen on amnesty/guest worker, so that's what is being reported.
The main thing I got from Frist's appearance was that he GETS it, and that the Republican Senators GET it, and that they see, clearly, that the GOP is going down if there is not concrete border control.
So that's what I expect to see on the table.
The "BorderBot" "Stand them up in front of an open grave" strategy is working. That's my assessment anyway. Of course we'll have to see.
The prize is a closed border. That's really the key. If we see that, then we should have enough to bring the Border Conservatives (I've adopted the pejorative term "BorderBots" for them but I use it affectionately) back firmly into the camp, and we'll keep Congress.
I'm sure they are getting pressure but I doubt they view this as some dire emergency they feel they have to fix or they are toast. It's just another issue and they have to sort through it and find a way to strike a deal.
There will be no publicly financed fence. You can forget that. That's because people will demagogue it to death "Mr. Bush - tear down this wall" etc etc So that will never happen. However, privately financed fences will go forward so there will be sections of walls across the border.
They will go after businesses, fund more border enforcement and figure out rules for what to do with the illegals already here. There will be no plan to round them all up and send them back. That will never happen. I expect they will cut some deal for a selective earned amnesty approach.
Say it ain't so, Joe......
Yeah, something like that..
First off, I don't want ANY "immigration reform" passed until our borders are secured..
Not just "legislation" but actual secured borders..
Second, the felony thing..
Give all illegal aliens notice when the fence-building starts..
Something like, " The border will be completely sealed off in one year.. You have that much time to return to Mexico and re-enter the U.S. legally... After the border is sealed, in one year, anyone caught within the borders of the U.S. will be charged with a felony, and will serve one year in federal prison camps doing hard labor for free.. Then, returned to Mexico and forever banned from entering the U.S. for any reason.."
They just don't get it, do they?
Agreed. Doing nothing is far better than another amnesty. And it looks like this next amnesty will dwarf 86 in terms of numbers.
"What it MEANS is that the Republican Senators have looked at the polls, listened to their constituents, and realize that they are going to LOSE CONGRESS if they don't get a Border Fence."
That is the optimistic view. Unfortunately it is not yet a done deal.
That gives our genius doctor and our immigrant pandering administration plenty of time to make a further mess of it.
Speaking as a SoCal native: We have a lot of experience with this ussue. Most other regions just got blessed since 1986.
With 11 million inside our borders, continued anchor baby rule, continued family reunification rule, little will change, regardless of what Congress passes.
Thanks, I'm a border-bot. I like that term.
"I think you are mistaken. The key to this whole thing is ongoing and thorough employer sanctions. If there is not reason to come, the illegal would be worker would not jump the border."
I disagree politically and tactically.
Politically, focusing on enforcement means unleashing police forces on lots of small businesses and individuals who have Mexicans cleaning their yards, etc. There is considerable sympathy for these workers in the country, and considerable use of them by a lot of people who usually vote Republican. Going after people for their nannies, yardworkers and the guy who's putting a wing on their house is a good way to piss off a lot of people and make them vote against you. Politically, a Border Fence is a big winner because it stops the flow there, it's visible and concrete, and it doesn't unleash law enforcement and inspectors on Americans within the USA.
Now, sure, seeing immigration lawbreakers arrested and punished has some satisfaction for some folks, but for every guy satisfied that way, there's a whole industry, family and neighborhood pissed off by the heavy-handed tactics of the government getting into people's business. Stopping people at the border is much less painful for Americans in general.
Tactically, I think that stopping the illegal flow at the border is the most important piece of the puzzle. There are perhaps 11 million illegals in the country now. A substantial number of those are here for economic reasons, and will go back to Mexico (or elsewhere) at some point. If you stop the new flow, then attrition of the existing pool will bring it into manageable size for a slow amnesty of some sort. I think stopping the influx of 2 million MORE every year is the key thing.
How is it progress that our federal government has willfully and intentionally allowed our country to be invaded by 20 million illegal aliens by ignoring existing laws only to turn around and make some new ones that they will also choose to ignore?
The Seanate Republicans once again sticking it to Conservatives. It happens so much that at this point I'm never surprised.
"I'm sure they are getting pressure but I doubt they view this as some dire emergency they feel they have to fix or they are toast. It's just another issue and they have to sort through it and find a way to strike a deal.
There will be no publicly financed fence. You can forget that. That's because people will demagogue it to death "Mr. Bush - tear down this wall" etc etc So that will never happen."
Then they are much decieved, because if there is no fence, the Democrats will win both houses of Congress in November, start impeachment hearings on Bush, raise taxes, and cut funding for Iraq...and that's just the beginning.
If the professional politicians are so out of touch that they see this is as just another issue, and not THE issue that is going to destroy the Republican majority THIS YEAR if there's no fence, well, then Mrs. Speaker Pelosi isn't far off.
"Remember: the KEY to the whole thing is getting the border closed. And that's almost certainly to come out of this bill."
Bush could close the border today without waiting for Congress by declaring a border emergency and deploying troops. The passage of an immigration bill shouldn't be a precondition for closing the border.
The key is to make sure there not ignored this time. Just because there was a failure in the past doesn't mean it has to be duplicated.
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