There ought to be a temporary worker card that allows a willing worker and a willing employer to mate up... the card it'll have a period of time attached to it.
Now President Bush wants to give a permanent Green Card and a pathway to citizenship to 12 million lawbreakers. When he was trying to get our vote he stressed temporary, now it is permanent.
Sounds like a change in tune to me.
There is a difference between the two programs. There is a temporary work program that will be ongoing. FOr instance for those after the proposed bill is enacted. Another one allows people here now that meets the qualifications to remain temporary workers but if they desire and meet all the requirements start down this citzenship path.
That what he is alluding to here
" temporary-worker program will help protect our homeland, allowing border patrol and law enforcement to focus on true threats to our national security. I oppose amnesty, because it would encourage further illegal immigration and unfairly reward those who break our laws. My temporary-worker program will preserve the citizenship path for those who respect the law, while bringing millions of hardworking men and women out from the shadows of American life."
I think the problem is that the press never engaged and clarifyed what Bush was talking about at times in these debates. It seems from looking over his viewpoints he seems to have always envisioned a a program that had seperate categories for those here and those who will want to come here in the future just to work. Thats how I read it.
If these people have lived among us for years and their only crime was to sneak into the country, then I am able to give them the benefit of the doubt and give them a path to citizenship.
We already grant good behavior time-off for criminals, we grant homestead privileges to homeowners, we grant right of redemption to homeowners, we grant amnesty to citizens through the Statutue of Limitations, etc.
I'm sure you broke the law while driving at one time or another. Should you ever be allowed to drive once you have been given a speeding ticket? That's about the equivalent punishment for crossing the border illegally. A free meal and a bus ride home.
Now if you want to make the case that crossing that border is on the same par as murder, rape, and armed robbery then perhaps you are right and all illegals should be rounded up like Elian Gonzales at gunpoint. But don't forget that under our Constitution, each and every one of the 12 million will need a court date to plead their case. So if we can dispense justice at one minute per case it will only take about 96 years to clear the backlog. Good luck with that.