Posted on 05/19/2007 8:38:38 AM PDT by Dubya
MONTERREY, MEXICO — Congress' new immigration plan was bad news for tens of thousands of poor Mexicans who depend on a U.S. guestworker program for temporary jobs in agriculture and other seasonal work, such as landscaping and construction.
Millions of would-be migrants have been holding tight to President Bush's promise that they could one day apply for temporary visas to get a glimpse of the American dream.
At the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey, which hands out more temporary visas than any other consulate or embassy in the world, Edmundo Bermudez, a 36-year-old from the northern city of Durango, said the plan rewards those who have already entered the United States illegally, while shutting out those who stayed home hoping to gain legal passage.
He was especially offended by the plan to give preference to migrants with degrees and skills.
"The United States already has enough people with college degrees. Who is going to cut their tobacco?" asked Bermudez, who has been working intermittently in the U.S. for the past eight years. In Mexico, he makes about $10 a day, while in the U.S. he earns almost that — $8 — in an hour.
The proposal, unveiled Thursday in Washington, is devoid of Bush's original plan to grant three-year visas to migrants living in their native countries. Instead, it focuses on securing the border and giving illegal residents a path toward legal residency, while gradually giving preference for new visas to those with advanced degrees and highly specialized skills.
Many in Mexico — and U.S. employers who say they need workers for low-skilled jobs — had hoped Congress would expand the guestworker program and allow more to cross legally, work a few months and then return home with their savings to build homes and businesses.
Gilberto Escalante, a 41-year-old fisherman from Sinaloa state, said the current temporary visa program is better than the congressional plan because it gives Mexicans the option to freely enter and leave the U.S. while maintaining their lives in Mexico — instead of forcing them to choose between the two countries.
"We don't want the house or the latest car in the U.S. We want to go and work so that our families can have a good life in Mexico," said Escalante, who is seeking a visa to work on fish and shrimp boats off the coast of Mississippi.
Yet the congressional plan came as welcome news to the millions of Mexicans who depend on the $23 billion sent home each year by Mexicans living in the U.S., many illegally.
The proposal would allow illegal immigrants to obtain a "Z visa" and, after paying fees and a $5,000 fine, ultimately get on track for permanent residency, which could take between eight and 13 years. Heads of households would have to return to their home countries first.
It is also good news for the Mexican government, which has spent years lobbying the U.S. for a comprehensive immigration reform that allows more people to work legally in the U.S.
Victor Aviles, a spokesman for Mexico's Foreign Relations Department, cautiously welcomed the initiative.
"The Mexican government hopes that the different actors involved in the debate and eventual approval of this initiative take advantage of the opportunity it presents," he said in a statement.
Well, now I have my first tagline...
I don’t get it. If a boarder jumper immediately gets a “Z Visa,” which allows him to work and stay in the US for an unspecified amount of time, what’s the incentive to pay the $5000 and jump through all those hoops to become a US citizen.
And I predict that, once those “Z Visas” are issued, there will be a clamor from the left saying “well, they’re legally here and paying taxes now, so we should let them vote.”
In a word, this is nothing short of shameful. I will repost my rant from earlier. That pretty well sums up my utter disgust.
“Told the brain surgeon answering the phone at my Stalinist Congress Creature’s local office that, as an immigrant, I object strenuously to amnesty, which is exactly what this bill is and attempting to cast it as anything other than amnesty is dishonest, and an insult to my and the rest of America’s intelligence.
Citizenship is a privilege to be earned, not a right to be expected. And residency is a privilege conferred by the US and is not a privilege to be stolen.
The US owes me nothing. It grants me, as an immigrant, through it’s Constitution, the privilege of living here and allowing me to pursue the American dream. And should I earn the privilege, to become a US citizenship. And this right cannot be usurped, or demanded or expected. And it sure as hell cannot be stolen.
One of the proudest days of my life was when I stood at the citizenship ceremony, placed my hand over my heart and recited the Pledge of Allegiance as an American. I’m an American, and I fly my flag with pride and it is nothing short of despicable for someone, in this country illegally, to march in protest in MY country, demanding rights to which they are NOT entitled, all the while waving a Mexican, or an Honduran, or a South African, Ethiopian or any other flag.
They have no commitment or love for this, MY, country. This country is more than a meal ticket. It is the “shining city on the hill” that Ronald Reagan described. It is NOT the shining soup kitchen on the hill.
“And so, my fellow Americans ... ask not what your country can do for you ... ask what you can do for your country.”
39 posted on 05/18/2007 6:17:19 PM PDT by sofaman
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1836074/posts?page=39#39
Sorry...posted on wrong thread!
good point
Maybe college or high school kids who would otherwise get the jobs if your nasty backside weren't here depressing the labor market.
Now GTFOOMC.
L
>INSERT STRING OF CURSES HERE<
Predictable. We need leadership which cares about us first, since the world will never have anything else but its own interests at heart.
You have got a clear picture of the future. Congratulations. Now you can kiss America Goodbye.
No country needs additional unskilled, illiterate immigrants. They only need them if what you want is a country ruled by oligarchs and populated by serfs.
We must be the only country in the world who has a national policy the preference for unskilled immigrants..what have we come to?
Oh, man! Doncha hate when that happens?
I want to know who is going to issue the 12-20 million “Z” visas. This will be a full employment act for whoever gets this task.
Tax these wire transfers at 30%. Paid to state coffers for immigration costs.
Nothing much is going to please these chronic complainers.
Therefore, do the right thing immediately, and build a 2,000-mile fence along the US-Mexican border, with adequately manned and controlled designated crossing points. This extends to ports on the West Coast and along the Gulf Coast as well.
Right now, the best workers and brightest minds that Mexico has to offer are being sucked northward, in search of a better future for themselves and their relatives. At the same time, some of the worst dregs of Mexican society are also slipping in, with lawlessness and criminal activity as their prime objective. Mexico has been tolerating the loss of its best, as it is also getting rid of its worst as well.
The problem is, us gringos cannot tell the difference between the best and brightest, and the real criminal class among them. So the best and brightest end up getting the short end of the stick, when they are rounded up, right along with the criminals, who, in the scheme of things, are much more able to play the system once they are released (because there simply are not enough detention facilities in this country).
Yes we are a terrible country, so stay home and don’t come here./s
Why don’t we attack Mexico, raise the Ol’ Red, White, and Blue, and declare that America has extended it’s borders. Then start drilling for oil putting Chaves out of business, reaping the tax revenue from Cancun tourists and other popular would be American tourist destinations.
In addition to that, all male captured former Mexican nationals, including those already in the U.S., would be immediately enrolled in our armed forces and sent to Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other would be aggressors. 6 years of duty (all why assimilating into the American culture) would be enough to earn their freedom from capture and allow them to apply for citizenship or be dropped off at the shores of the country of their choosing. Their family members would soon meet up with them after providing the labor needed to restructure a proper free market business climate south of the Rio Grande.
Just trying to look for other solutions.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.