Posted on 05/18/2007 4:25:52 AM PDT by kellynla
WASHINGTON The Senate is poised to begin debate on the most sweeping immigration overhaul in decades after a bipartisan group of lawmakers announced they have agreed on a deal. Their draft would provide a way for millions of undocumented immigrants to come forward and live and work legally in the United Sates.
"Politics is the art of the possible, and the agreement we just reached is the best possible chance we will have in years to secure our borders, bring millions of people out of the shadows and into the sunshine of America,'' Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said Thursay. Kennedy, flanked by two other Democrats, seven Republicans and two Bush cabinet secretaries, outlined a plan that has created a most unlikely political coalition.
The bill would allow the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants who have been in the United States since Jan. 1 of this year to pay $5,000 in fines, pass criminal background checks, learn English and document their work history to stay and work legally. But these workers would only get put on a path to get their green cards once some enforcement triggers are met
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
In his testimony before Congress a few months back, Chertoff referred to illegal aliens as "undocumented workers," standing language on its head with this PC Newspeak. Chertoff is not a victim caught in the middle, he is an enabler and an incompetent one at that.
I’m calling this the BOHICA bill.
I’m furious about this betrayal of the United States of America by these politicians. All of them.
Is there a single Senator who can stop this freight train?
Can someone put a hold on it?
Is there the will to filibuster it?
the description in the post looked accurate, except for this one. It is my understanding that there are additional restrictions to this step of the 4-year renewable z-visa, specifically that they holder would have to demonstrate that they had english proficiency, paid their taxes, and held a job for 90% of the time they had been here.
The 90% provision could be a serious kicker, as over half the existing illegals don't meet that criteria. The idea I think is to kick these people into the "guest worker" status, where they can for example as agricultural workers do a 10-month/2-month rotation, and only come back if they are needed, and NOT be in line for a green card.
I know many here will hate the program even if it is written as well as this writeup suggests, but there are good things here, and political reality needs to be considered. I'm personally opposing this at the moment, and writing and calling my congresspeople because I think that's a better strategy than "going along", but in the end if it turns out exactly like what they say in the talking points and here, it won't be a deal-breaker for me (I'm pushing for more severe restrictions, higher fines, and other changes).
Thank you for posting this.
That’s my biggest fear as well. I’m not on board completely with the talking points, but my BIGGER fears are that first the bill won’t really match the points, and second that even if the bill DOES we won’t be able to enforce the parts that we like, but amnesty will still happen for everybody.
I am pretty certain that the list you posted is NOT from the INS/FBI, they have no such report, and that it is a made-up list circulating on the web.
"What do you mean 'we', Kimosabe?"
I say that because we’ve discussed it before. One big tip-off: There is no INS, and there hasn’t been for years. So there’s no way an official government report for 2006 would be from the “INS”. It’s “ICE” now.
The GOP smoked us. Working with Kennedy to actively enlist 20M to 100M new Rat voters. They’ve got to know RNC money will absolutely dry up. They’ve calculated this in. They’ve sold themselves as servant to the Dems, and sold us out as open checkbooks to an invasion of 100M welfare recepients.
Thanks for the links/thread. Representative and Senators already contacted. BTTT!
bipartisan means secret meetings closed to the public especially journalists.
Why? That’s missing in this argument. Why would any rational GOP politician support a bill that guarantees he will lose his job, and that the party he opposes will have a permanent majority?
Either you have to believe that all the people we elected are all actually democrats and waiting to switch parties, or that they are all too stupid to see they are signing their own death warrant, despite millions of calls and letters telling them that.
I oppose the bill right now having not seen it, but I am holding out the possibility that the republicans who support this, one of whom is a pretty conservative guy, might actually know what they are doing. I’m not saying they do, just I’m not ready to immediately assume they are all idiots.
You’re probably right.
THAT’s my question....what happens in SANCTUARY CITIES?
I do NOT understand how we can add another bunch of bureaucrats to run these NEW programs, because that is, it seems what we are talking about. Social Security, Medicare, etc....are such stellar examples of what gov’t bureaucracies can do, after all /sarc
Which is why he now supports making them legal. And I heard him with my own ears refer to them as "undocumented workers" this year during Senate hearings.
need to check his wallet - it’s probably really fat by now.
I’m sick to death of the crap in Washington. Why can’t they just be honest?
I am very anxious to have a link for this information- would you please post it? I’m stunned by the figures and want to be certain of them...
Thanks!
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