Bipartisan Effort to Draft Immigration Bill

NY Times ^ | 12/26/2006 | By RACHEL L. SWARNS

[Chesner]

WASHINGTON, Dec. 25 — Counting on the support of the new Democratic majority in Congress, Democratic lawmakers and their Republican allies are working on measures that could place millions of illegal immigrants on a more direct path to citizenship than would a bill that the Senate passed in the spring.

The lawmakers are considering abandoning a requirement in the Senate bill that would compel several million illegal immigrants to leave the United States before becoming eligible to apply for citizenship.

The lawmakers are also considering denying financing for 700 miles of fencing along the border with Mexico, a law championed by Republicans that passed with significant Democratic support.

[traditional1]

I have no idea where the Alabama governor is on any issue. However, if he supports amnesty, he must be beholdin' to the construction/meat-packing/agricultural interests, who are the biggest supporters of keeping the cheap-wage illegals in their payrolls to protect their bottom line.

The whole issue of amnesty boils down to the contributions of the businesses that use illegal labor, both in contributions to Dem's and Rep's alike. The taxpayer foots the bill, in all cases for the freebies and drain on infrastructure that the illegals and the anchor babies cause.

[oldbill]

Your comments were: I don't think is a death wish, it is with full awareness that they and their families will be fine no matter what, and in fact, they may be 'fatter' by actually doing what they are doing: selling out the US that so many died for. We need to grasp the concept that the ideals most (I hope) of us believe in are not shared by people in power, be politics, business, or religion: they all dance to a totally different sheet of music.

You are so right on the money. The elites will have their lifestyle no matter what. In all honesty, few of them care about the rest of you, in fact, they can make their own lives more luxurious if more of you are pushed down toward the indentured status.

The elites in Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador, Equador, Bolivia, Nigeria, and whatever other hellhole exists don't care about their type of government or their citizens rights and welfare because it doesn't bother them. American elites act the same way. Why do you think they so readily export your jobs overseas, send our technology and manufacturing capacity to slave wage dictatorships, and extort the illegal labor they let into this country.

Los Angeles has become a proto-Lima. But the elites there at the LA Times and the movies and the outsourced tech businesses still live in Palos Verdes or Brentwood or Malibu. Think they care about meatpackers in Iowa or carpenters in LA?

[Arizona Carolyn]

I know they do, it's costing each and every one of us and I am not in a mood for more of my tax money to act as a medical HMO for Mexico beause Mexico cannot or willnot create an economy to keep their people home and working. I'd be thrilled to see more raids on Swift and other companies, including the luxury boat manufacturers here locally using illegals instead of the educated workforce they used to hire who actually paid taxes and contributed to the community...

We have houses here with ten or more families per home and realtors buying up housing to rent out to these illegals. Thank God our City Council is looking to pass a Hazelton-style ordinance.

[Wormwood]

Your post is the wisest I've seen on FR all year.

Thank you for pointing out the elephant in the room.

[oldbill]

' ' ' If the House Dems pass amnesty, they will be out of power in 08.

Not when it's a Republican President leading the charge and RINOs like McCain and Flake writing the legislation.

The Democrats won't face any censure for this and will harvest millions of new voters that will make the difference in those 50-50 states like Wisconsin and New Mexico and Iowa and soon Arizona and Colorado.

[traditional1]

"Thank God our City Council is looking to pass a Hazelton-style ordinance."

Well, your hotel space will soon be filled up with ACLU Lawyers, then, claiming "civil rights" violations for the ILLEGALS, as they have all over the country.

It still defies reason that an illegal has Constitutional protection or rights of any kind, but the Activist Courts, appointees of BOTH parties, agree with the money folks and don't want to cut off the flow of cheap labor. It's disgusting and blatant.

[elpinta]

"...The elites will have their lifestyle no matter what..."

I think we understand how it works.

Many years ago, visiting a Communist country on business, I was (as a young and duh person) surprised to see the elite shop at malls with ALL the same goods available at most NY 5th Ave. shops.
It was an eye opener, but it helped me further understand how government works, Communist or not: not much difference, but what I can discern is that when the sheeple have enough to eat and play, they ignore the abuses of their leaders, and is only when things get REALLY tight that they start griping.

Like it was said centuries ago in ancient Rome, just give the people bread and circus (it seems to work, just look at the sports and day-time channels!).

[traditional1]

"millions of new voters that will make the difference in those 50-50 states like Wisconsin and New Mexico and Iowa and soon Arizona and Colorado."

That's right...that's why ballots are printed in English AND Spanish!

Now, let's see, if YOU were part of the entitlements' crowd, would you vote for handouts, freebies, and no taxes for yourself? These people aren't going to line up for "citizenship" when they are granted amnesty; they will NOT be required to produce photo ID at the voting booth is all that will happen with amnesty, and they will no longer be able to be deported (although that's a rarity now even WITHOUT amnesty).

[oldbill]

You are correct in your assessment. If you want to see what happens when a functioning prosperous democracy turns itself over to a corrupt nation ruled by a few or one just look at Venezuela. They have let their government be slowly taken over so that a true majority can no longer effect its will. Election counts are first turned around with corrupt elections, then a Chavez seizes power and uses the country's wealth to further entrench himself in office by buying loyalty, then finally rewrites the constitution to lock himself in power.

Even awash in oil dollars, for the average Venezuelan life is going downhill fast. Speak out against the Chavez government and you go to jail. Think it can't happen here?

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

I am sick and tired of conservatives being blamed for being disgusted with being sold out.

We voted for a conservative approach to government and the Republicans were in a foot race to sell us out as fast as they could.

[elpinta]

"...that's why ballots are printed in English AND Spanish..."

This is one of the dumbest things!!!
- It is the law that only citizens vote.
- It is the law that to become a citizen, one must have a basic understanding of the English language.

What am I missing here folks, is most of this country stupid and just the elite in DC knows what is going on??? Why doesn't DC just become its own country??? They sure don't care about the rest!!!

[freespirited]

What on earth is McCain thinking?

Kissing up to the Wall Street types who will fund his quest for the nomination?

[hosepipe]

The great Democrat replenishment bill..

Any that think these people will become republicans are smoking bull squeeze..

[BW2221]

Both Bush and Tony Snow stated right after the election that the new congress will make it easier to pass "comprehensive" immigration reform.

[BW2221]

I really believe their weren't that many FReepers who didn't vote.

Bush has been doing everything possible to alienate the Reagan Democrats for the past two years. Many of the Reagan Democrats either voted Democratic or stayed home in 2006.

[BW2221]

"Other considerations are Roman Catholic in nature... a lot of those "good" value illegals take their cue from the church... a church that is making a fortune on illegals... thus will be pushing a party that is doesn't support borders."

I'm not sure about that. Unlike abortion, immigration is not a matter of faith or morals, so GOP Catholics have no obligation to follow bishops.

[BW2221]

"Bush did not run in 06."

While Bush's name wasn't on the ballot, his unpopularity cost the GOP a number of close races. Bush and Rove made a number of dumb decisions (e.g. if they were going to dump Rumsfeld, they should have done so in August).

[italianquaker]

ok

[rabscuttle385]

Even more glaring difference: the new immigrants were left to fend for themselves and had to adapt and assimilate in order to survive. Today's new immigrants...get free health care, free welfare assistance, etc.

Plus, today's immigrants are fed a "victimhood" mentality. IMHO, the 'Rats needs some new blood to feed on.

[oldbill]

100 years ago this nation was swamped with illegal immigrants. Day after day ships full of Italians arrived on our shores.

You shouldn't opine when you don't know what you are talking about.

It was exactly 100 years ago last month that my father came over on the boat from Italy. Neither he or the rest of the people on that ship were "illegal". They were vetted before they could book passage and had to go through an elaborate process at Ellis Island that sometimes took days. Their identity was cross referenced to ship logs (still available today from Ellis Island records, now online) and they were required to show funds for onward travel and a destination sponsor. They were cleverly quizzed by immigration inspectors to see if the were anarchists or seditionists. They were give a physical and often were sent back on the next boat for illness we might consider trivial today, like conjunctivitis.

Your bigotted comment on the derivation of WOPS (without papers) is also off the mark. Wops is an anglicized corruption of an Italian word the Calabrian and Sicilian Italian commumity used itself back in Italy to refer to thugs and con men. It comes from "guappo", literally meaning "pretty boy", but applied to slick-haired enforcers and strongarm guys.

These Italians did not sneak across any borders. A century later you can track who they were from the day they arrived at a legal entry station. And they came here to be Americans. When they got on that boat they knew they would never see their homeland or their families again. Passing the Statue of Liberty meant something to them. My dad talked of how the ship became hushed and silent as these immigrants saw the first symbol of THEIR new land. Several years later, the ink on his naturalization certificate still wet, he would lose his right lung and seven ribs to a German shell in the Argonne Forest, his only trip out of his new country.

Like my father, they quickly learned English because they knew where their future lie. They weren't pandered to by politicians. They were on their own. The Little Italys where they first lived were but waystations on their way to the American dreams that produced Scalias and Iacoccas and Giamattis, not daylabor sites to grab some quick money to send home.

Learn your history before you start to talk about it.