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Bush has just repeated what he has been supporting for some time. Why do you agree with him this time?

There has been a lot of ambiguity up until now, with too many shifting positions, too much inaction, and this speech has required the President to state clearly that he is against amnesty, and that our borders have to be brought under control.

Yes, talk is cheap and the proof will be in how this speech is translated from words into deeds, and how quickly that takes place.

The idea of providing a means of legalizing illegal immigrants that have been here for years and have not been a source of trouble or criminal activity is not a bad thing. The alternative is to arrest them, seize their property, confiscate what money they have, and put them on trains bound for Mexico. That might make us feel good, but those who would be shipped out in such an operation may very well be the sort of citizen-candidates that we might want to be part of our society. The illegal immigrants who are working in criminal enterprises, causing all sorts of chaos, death and mayhem are the ones we want to deport and the President gave every signal that is exactly what he wants to do too.

IF (and I agree that is a big 'if'), immigrants who are brought into the system are issued valid credentials and ID to enable them to work, that will go a long way to stem the flood of 20 billion dollars +/- that leave the U.S. for Mexico, because if immigrants are paying taxes, having social security deducted, etc., that reduces their net income which means they'll be keeping more of it in their pocket for their own expenses. As it is right now, they work illegally, get paid under the table, a lot of the cash gets wired via Western Union to Mexico within hours.

Ideally, the border SHOULD be fortified to keep out any and all trespassers, and I'm all for mines, barbed wire, mad dogs, rattlesnakes, whatever it takes to make the border impossible to cross except at authorized border entry points.

I'll give the President the benefit of the doubt for now. Not a blank check by any means but I will wait and see what develops in the days and weeks ahead.

For the record, I'm no BushBot.