Posted on 06/12/2006 6:06:41 AM PDT by conservativecorner
EL PASO, Texas -- The immigration bill passed by the Senate last month could mean security for many residents of Juarez, Mexico, who cross the border with laser visas meant for shoppers and work illegally in El Paso.
The bill would allow border crossing workers, such as those from Juarez, to apply for unlimited enrollment in the guest worker program. Most other guest workers would be limited to working in the United States for a total of six years before having to return home.
"I think El Paso would be able to take advantage of it very easily with workers who reside in Juarez," said Tom Fullerton, an economist at the University of Texas at El Paso who was quoted in Sunday editions of the El Paso Times.
Some employers applauded a long-term program on the border.
Ricardo De La O, a general contractor in Las Cruces, N.M., said lately his subcontractors disappear with each rumor of an immigration raid. De La O said he favors a permanent solution.
"If it is a temporary thing, I don't see a benefit. You'd have to retrain the new workers," he said.
Each day, bridge inspectors seize laser visas from border crossers "who intend to use them improperly," Customs and Border Protection spokesman Roger Maier said.
The guest-worker program is separate from legalization for millions of undocumented immigrants already living and working in the United States.
To become law, the Senate bill has to be reconciled with a House immigration measure that was passed in 2005 and contains no guest-worker provision.
The bill has received resistance from some members of Congress, such as Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Cornyn will sit on the conference committee expected to reconcile the House and Senate bills this month.
The Senate bill has support from President Bush and a bipartisan coalition in the Senate.
Maybe we need to revive that wonderful piece of legislation from the 1986 Amnesty Bill, the Special Agricultural Worker or SAW. You might remember this being how two of the terrorists from the first WTC bombing got to stay...or how twice as many people as normally work in agriculture got amnesty under the time frame the plan offered, one year.
During fiscal years 1999 to 2003, the Department of State issued 6.4 million Mexican BCCs. Because the majority of Canadian and Mexican BCC visits do not require Form I-94, the system based on this form cannot follow them—that is, cannot track them. No data indicate how many overstay. Overstay tracking should be possible for almost all other legal temporary visitors, including visitors from visa waiver countries, because they are required to fill out the form.
The voters are gonna get these guys in the Senate. We are sick and tired of the government not seeing that our laws are faithfully executed!
Do Your Job!
The decision on immigration is too important to leave to the politicians who have enormous pressures on them.
The decision belongs to the people.
The people MUST vote on this.
IMO Bush should halt all immigration and all citizenship, and call for a nation wide vote.
The trouble is that no one quite sees that the very best thing we could do for Mexico is to send their now well trained citizens home.
Suddenly Mexico would have a skilled workforce who knew something about how a world class country worked.
Think these folk would propel a great leap forward for Mexico?
I do.
Basically the ruling class in Mexico will not change of its own volition. But it can be forced to change.
The Mexicans in the USA have had the picture of what a well run country looks like tatooed on the back of their eyeballs. And they'll have an idea of how to get there. Send them back to Mexico and they'll get a revolution in Mexico that'll do that country some good.
The shock troops for that would be the 12 million repatriated Mexican citizens. Having seen what a well run country looks like they would not want to be stuffed back in the old wineskin.
There's something more.
I follow water desalination research pretty closely. While water desalination costs have dropped to about a third of what they were 15 years ago--the rate at which prices will drop over the next seven years will accelerate considerably. imo in even the next five years we will see desalination costs drop to 1/10th of today's costs.
Basically, the foundations are being laid today to make it economically feasable to to turn all the world's deserts green. (The proper way to look at this is to recall that cars, tv's and computers were at first rich men's toys but when prices came down they changed the world. Desalinised water is still relatively speaking -- a rich man's toy. But when the price drops sufficiently--desalinised water will change the world--because most deserts are right beside the ocean.)
imho cheap desalinised water will do for the republicans (if they can get this on their agenda) what the great dam building projects & the tva of the 1930's &40's did for democrats because 1/3 of the US is deserts. We would increase the habitable size of the USA by 1/3.
Dirt cheap desalinised water will also do things like make it possible to double the habitable size of Mexico.
And desalinated water in tandem with repatriation of now skilled Mexican citizens would propel Mexico into being a world class country.
IMO, unless Hastert calls for a majority of majority and refuses the Senate Bill into the House, in the end, a 'no amnesty, amnesty' type compromise, deemed 'temporary legalization without citizenship', will be given to ALL 12 to 40 million who are already here illegally. Big Business will be granted full amnesty and they will benefit from no disruption in their 'illegal' legal' workforce (including no returns home to 'touch base') and all potential RICO prosecutions void.
Of course, once the 'illegals' are deemed to be here 'legally', as guest workers, temp. guest workers, green card holders, or whatever other 'legal' name they choose to give them, they will not be prevented from applying for naturalization and will be permitted to do so without any of the penalties that are part of 2611 now.
The borders will remain 'virtually' (un)secured and illegals will continue to pour into the country because D.C. and Big Business will continue to say that someone must do the jobs that Americans won't.
And the "BIG LIE" will continue!
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