"Ted, your "Terrorist, Disease, and Felon Importation Act of 2007" rocks. Death to America."
Military badges discarded at border, after enemy paid off Chertoff and Kennedy for 'Amnesty'.
Posted on 06/27/2007 2:39:42 PM PDT by Baladas
WASHINGTON - The Senate defeated attempts Wednesday to make the immigration bill tougher on people who are in the U.S. unlawfully, including a Republican bid to bar illegal immigrants from getting green cards.
Senators voted 56-41 to set aside the amendment by Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., which would have destroyed a central element of the bill granting millions of illegal immigrants an eventual path to citizenship.
Earlier, the Senate killed, by a 53-45 vote, a proposal by Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, to require that all adult illegal immigrants go home within two years to get permanent lawful status. The current bill requires only heads of household seeking permanent legal residency to return home to apply for green cards.
A Democratic amendment restricting legal status to those who have been in the United States for four years also failed. The existing measure would make all those in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2007, eligible for legalization.
The vote to kill that proposal, by Democratic Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., was 79-18.
All the amendments were designed to respond to conservatives who decry President Bush's immigration bill as a form of amnesty for illegal immigrants.
The Senate was also turning to Democratic amendments that would give family members of citizens and legal permanent residents more chances to immigrate.
Without her return-home amendment, Hutchison said, "the amnesty tag that has been put on this bill will remain. It is the key issue in the bill for the American people."
Webb said his proposal would raise the public's comfort level with granting lawful status to illegal immigrants.
"People in this country who traditionally would be supporting fair immigration policies, but who are worried about the legalization process in this bill, would come forward and support this," Webb said.
The revived immigration measure, which also would toughen border security and institute a new system for weeding out illegal immigrants from workplaces, is facing steep challenges from the right and left.
Conservatives call the measure too lenient toward unlawful immigrants, while liberals say it could rip apart families and doom guest workers to exploitation at the hands of unscrupulous employers.
Votes on key amendments were continuing Wednesday afternoon under a complex and carefully orchestrated procedure designed to overcome stalling tactics by conservative foes. It will allow votes only on a limited list of 26 amendments before a critical test-vote on the bill Thursday.
"It's going to be a rough ride," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., an architect of the bill. "We're in trench warfare."
Republican framers of the bill were proposing their own, less burdensome return-home requirement for illegal immigrants. It would apply only to heads of household and would give them three years to meet the requirement.
Conservatives, irate at a process that has essentially stymied their ability to filibuster, said Senate leaders were trying to rush through a bad bill.
"The process has not been a pretty one," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
___
Hoping enough senators are going to be so disgusted that their pet amendment goes down in flames, they'll switch their votes.
Is she kidding? THE key issue? I think it is granting legal status to millions of people immediately, not some return-home deal.
The Liberal ones will pass, the conservative ones will be voted down. A horrible bill will get even worse.
Shut up and donate to the re-election campaign.
The United States Senate isn't interested in what you think.
Wonder if any attempt has been made to correct the sickening list of outrageous holes that riddle this monstrous shamnesty horror?
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has been a stalwart proponent of curbing illegal immigration and reforming the legal immigration apparatus in a truly meaningful manner. To that end, on June 4, in the middle of the first round of floor debate on the so-called “grand bargain” listing egregious loopholes in the proposal, including “flaws effecting border security, chain-migration and assimilation policies.”
In prefacing the list, Sen. Sessions indicated that he is “deeply concerned about the numerous loopholes found in this legislation,” which he sees as “more than technical errors, but rather symptoms of a fundamentally flawed piece of legislation that stands no chance of actually fixing our broken immigration system.”
Furthermore, Sen. Sessions said, “Many of the loopholes are indicative of a desire not to have the system work.”
Sen. Sessions pointed to perhaps the biggest flaw by noting that the “ ‘enforcement trigger’ fails to require the U.S. VISIT system – the biometric border check-in/check-out system established by Congress in 1996, but never implemented – to be fully functioning before new worker or amnesty programs begin. Without the system in place, the U.S. has no method of ensuring that workers and their families do not overstay their visas.”
While most Americans tell pollsters they want less immigration, this bill dramatically increases overall immigration.
It TRIPLES chain migration through the year 2016 – all the while sanctioning a mass importation of low-skill foreign workers and, by extension, a mass importation of poverty into this country.
Illegal aliens get “legal status before enforcement” begins.
The “triggers” require “no more agents, beds, or fencing than current law” mandates.b
The completion of background checks, including checks against criminal and terrorist databases, is “not required for” the granting of amnesty (in this bill, it is referred to as “probationary status”).
Criminals of all kinds –[covering “more than 636,000 fugitives”]) including gang members, some child molesters, and absconders (i.e., “aliens who have already had their day in court [and who are now] subject to…removal” are eligible for the bill’s mass amnesty
“Illegal aliens with terrorism connections are not barred from getting amnesty. An illegal alien seeking most immigration benefits must merely show ‘good moral character.’”
Illegal aliens granted amnesty or guestworkers imported via the new “Y” “temporary worker” program can claim the Earned Income Tax Credit, which “will cost taxpayers billions in just 10 years.”
“Affidavits from friends” are acceptable as evidence of satisfying requirements for amnesty, thus “invit[ing] fraud and more illegal immigration.”
“In-state tuition and other higher education benefits…will be made available to current illegal aliens that are granted [amnesty], even if the same in-state tuition rates are not offered to all U.S. citizens,” a violation of current Federal law, which “mandates that educational institutions give citizens the same postsecondary education benefits they offer to illegal aliens.”
New visas are created for individuals who are prone to overstaying their period of authorized admission – namely, the new “parent” visa, which allows parents of citizens, and the spouses and children of new temporary workers, to visit a worker in the United States. Not only is this term “a misnomer, but also an invitation for high rates of visa overstays” because it “specifically allows the spouse and children of new temporary workers who intend to abandon their residence in a foreign country, to qualify to come to the U.S. to ‘visit.’”
To obtain the visa, one must only post a $1,000 bond, “which will be forfeited when, not if, family members of new temporary workers decide to overstay their 30 day visit. Workers should travel to their home countries to visit their families, not the other way around.”
To be granted amnesty, illegal aliens need not pay back all income taxes.
Social Security credits for work done while in the United States illegally will be granted to “[a]liens who came to the U.S. on legal visas, but overstayed their visas and have been working in the U.S. for years, as well as illegal aliens who apply for Z visa status but do not qualify.”
“The criminal fines an illegal alien is required to pay to receive amnesty are less than the bill’s criminal fines for paperwork violations committed by U.S. citizens, and can be paid by installment,” which means that “the fine for illegally entering, using false documents to work, [is] one-tenth the fine for a paperwork violation committed by a government official.”
I agree, I think this bill is totally flawed.
Throw out this baby and the bath water. Jimbo’s amendment was shot down fast, hope he switches...
B U M P
“It’s going to be a rough ride,” said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., an architect of the bill. “We’re in trench warfare.”
Yeah, Senator, trench warfare against the will of the American people.
41 is a magic number. Let it be the number that votes “No” on Cloture.
ping
Why do so many people pretend they don’t understand why this bill is amnesty ?
The illegals here are in violation of existing laws. The existing laws REQUIRE deportation as a minimum penalty.
Any new law that attempts to retroactively change or remove the penalty for the law already violated is AMNESTY.
Any criminal should be held accountable to the letter of the laws as they existed at the time they violated those laws, they don’t get to pick and choose a time when their crime had/has/might-have a more lenient penalty.
It seems simple, but people like Bush and even O’Reilly pretend that as long as there is any penalty at all, even a token fine involved, that somehow it isn’t amnesty. Even though the penalties in place at the time the crime was committed are ignored.
"Ted, your "Terrorist, Disease, and Felon Importation Act of 2007" rocks. Death to America."
Military badges discarded at border, after enemy paid off Chertoff and Kennedy for 'Amnesty'.
First off, screw you, Specter. You wanted this trench war.
Hey Uncle, check out NR’s corner....
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
For the Democrats, I would strongly suggest taking a pro-union/anti-illegal alien stance (i.e. “they are taking our jobs”) rather than using the conservative national security angle.
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Chief of Staff
tim_becker@bennelson.senate.gov
Legislative Director
christiana_gallagher@bennelson.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
david_dimartino@bennelson.senate.gov
Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Chief of Staff
bob_russell@pryor.senate.gov
Legislative Director
andy_york@pryor.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
michael_teague@pryor.senate.gov
lisa_ackerman@pryor.senate.gov
Senator Jim Webb (D-VA)
Chief of Staff
paul_reagan@webb.senate.gov
Legislative Director
mike_sozan@webb.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
jessica_smith@webb.senate.gov
Senator Kit Bond (R-MO)
Chief of Staff
brian_klippenstein@bond.senate.gov
Legislative Director
kara_smith@bond.senate.gov
Communications Director
shana_marchio@bond.senate.gov
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Chief of Staff
glen_chambers@brownback.senate.gov
Domestic Policy Advisor
brian_robertson@brownback.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
john_rankin@brownback.senate.gov
brian_hart@brownback.senate.gov
Senator Richard Burr (R-NC)
Chief of Staff
alicia_peterson-clark@burr.senate.gov
alicia_peterson-petersonclark@burr.senate.gov
Legislative Director
natasha_hickman@burr.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
laura_caudell@burr.senate.gov
mark_williams@burr.senate.gov
Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Chief of Staff
jennifer_lowe@coleman.senate.gov
Deputy Chief of Staff
lucia_lebens@coleman.senate.gov
Legislative Director
lorianne_moss@coleman.senate.gov
Communications Director
tom_steward@coleman.senate.gov
tom_stewart@coleman.senate.gov
Press Secretary
leroy_coleman@coleman.senate.gov
Senator John Ensign (R-NV)
Chief of Staff
john_lopez@ensign.senate.gov
Legislative Director
pam_thiessen@ensign.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
tory_mazzola@ensign.senate.gov
jack_finn@ensign.senate.gov
don_tatro@ensign.senate.gov
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Created: Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at 17:22:11 EDT
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Don’t throw Senator Inhofe into that category — he is up for relection and been fighting to defeat this bill. Here is his comment about the cloture vote:
For Immediate Release:
June 26, 2007
INHOFE STATEMENT ON IMMIGRATION VOTE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) made the following statement in response to today’s vote to invoke cloture on the 2007 Immigration Reform Bill which passed 64-35:
“I am very disappointed in the outcome of today’s vote. A vote for this motion to invoke cloture is just one step closer to a vote for amnesty. Thirty hours of debate and a limited amount of amendments will not change the underlying nature of this bill. I have long said that I will not support any measure that allows illegal immigrants to shortcut the current path to citizenship and I will continue to fight to expose the flaws in this bill, helping to defeat this egregious gift of amnesty to 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants.
“It’s time for the Senate to listen to their constituents. The American public does not want this so-called immigration fix. What they want and what they deserve is for the federal government to secure the borders and enforce the rule of law – both of which can be achieved without an additional 800 pages of new legislation.”
###
You're right. Inhofe and Coburn both have been on the right side of this thing since it started (unlike my two when the kitchen got too warm and then they decided they were against amnesty).
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