National ID plan may have killed immigration bill

CNET (News.com) ^ | Published: June 28, 2007, 12:18 PM PDT | Declan McCullagh

[gondramB]

The U.S. Senate definitively rejected President George Bush's immigration bill on Thursday, just hours after senators expressed deep misgivings with portions that would have expanded the use of a national ID card.

Because the procedural vote was 46 to 53, with 60 votes needed to advance the immigration legislation, the proposal is likely to remain dead for the rest of the year.

Privacy advocates were quick to claim that a vote against Real ID cards the previous evening doomed the bill.

Wednesday's vote showed that senators were willing to delete the portion of the labyrinthine immigration bill that would require employers to demand the Real ID cards from new hires. Because some of the bill's backers had insisted that the ID requirement remain in place--as a way to identify illegal immigrants--they were no longer as willing to support the overall bill.

"The proponents of national ID in the Senate weren't getting what they wanted, so they backed away," said Jim Harper, a policy analyst at the free-market Cato Institute who opposes Real ID. "It was a landmine that blew up in their faces."

In a press release, the two Montana Democrats, Max Baucus and Jon Tester, said they were happy that a pro-privacy approach killed the bill. "If Jon and I just brought down the entire bill, that's good for Montana and the country," said Baucus, who cosponsored the amendment deleting the employer verification rule.

[seekthetruth]

“Have you seen an actual letter informing the employer of the SS problem? I don’t have one in front of me, but it says explicitly that you can’t use the letter as a reason to fire the employee and there are penalties possible if you do.”

I had not seen an actual letter! That certainly has to be corrected if the employer is told they can’t fire the illegal employee!!

[gondramB]

>>I think you are supposed to ask the employee for the correct info. Si, si, try theees one, señor.<<

Exactly. I wouldn’t have another another social security number to try.

[bajabaja]

I must have read 90% or more of articles re Amnesty here and on blogs and news sites. In only one or two was there focus on the biometric ID. So while somebody is claiming credit, “I ain’t buyin’” -— and deleting the national ID from the legislation would not revive it.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Demand a border fence! Build it NOW!! Beef up the border patrol and close our borders!

U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121

U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121

White House comments: (202) 456-1111

Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep

Find your US Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Toll free to the US Senate:

1-800-882-2005. (Spanish number)
1-800-417-7666. (English number)

Courtesy of a pro-amnesty group, no less!!

[Dane]

What bothers me now is that Congress says an immigration bill won’t come alive again until after the 2008 elections. So what do they do now? I guess the same ole thing..........sit on their butts and try and figure out how to add more pork into other meaningless bills.

Yep enjoy your pyrichic victory, you all did nancy's job for her, all because of your animus towards people named Jose.

[DuncanWaring]

How many people named “Jose” do you employ?

[SirJohnBarleycorn]

No, it appears that the vote was merely a parliamentary move to derail the Clay Pigeon and should not be viewed as a substantive test of where the Senate stands on REAL ID:

******************************************

More Post Mortem [Rich Lowry]

A key moment was last night when the Baucus amendment on REAL ID wasn’t tabled. The Bargainers had been running through the clay pigeon, tabling amendments to get them out of the way so they could get to the Graham-Kyl-Martinez “apprehend and deport” amendment. Then, the plan was, that amendment wouldn’t be tabled, signaling that it would pass and giving some cat-nip to on-the-fence Republicans to vote for cloture. But Baucus wasn’t tabled, stopping the process before it got to Lindsey “Deportation” Graham’s creation. That helped blow away a big piece of the political strategy of the Bargainers.

A few shrewd conservatives had seen the potential here and voted against tabling Baucus—even though they didn’t support the amendment—because they knew it would throw a monkey wrench in the process. When Baucus wasn’t tabled because of those surprise conservative votes, a desperate Reid moved to vote on it right away to try to get it out of the way. But he couldn’t because he couldn’t get unanimous consent from opponents of the bill. Procedurally, he had been check-mated; politically, the cover of the Graham-Kyl-Martinez amendment wouldn’t be available; and it was downhill from there.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Mjk0YWU3NmY3MTZjY2U4YTAyODBmNDE0ZDRhNzNhNDQ=

[norton]

"How would you replace the $200 billion dollars of exports to Mexico?"

How would mexico replace $200 billion dollars of imports?

I'll do OK without new Huaraches and Tequila has become too "in" and therefore too expensive.

Besides, maybe the shops in downtown LA would be forced to find alternate merchandise that smells less offensive.

[Dane]

How many people named “Jose” do you employ?

None, I am not an employer, why should I be with you and your ilks fetish of knowing which every business employs.

You all make DUmmies look like capitalists, IMO.

[seekthetruth]

Illegal Immigration Reform & Immigration Responsibility Act of September 20, 1996
Provisions:

Established measures to control U.S. borders, protect legal workers through worksite enforcement, and remove criminal and other deportable aliens:

Increased border personnel, equipment, and technology as well as enforcement personnel at land and air ports of entry; Authorized improvements in barriers along the Southwest border; Increased anti-smuggling authority and penalties for alien smuggling; Increased penalties for illegal entry, passport and visa fraud, and failure to depart; Increased INS investigators for worksite enforcement, alien smuggling, and visa overstayers; Established three voluntary pilot programs to confirm the employment eligibility of workers and reduced the number and types of documents that may be presented to employers for identity and eligibility to work; Broadly reformed exclusion and deportation procedures, including consolidation into a single removal process as well as the institution of expedited removal to speed deportation and alien exclusion through more stringent grounds of admissibility; Increased detention space for criminal and other deportable aliens; Instituted 3- and 10-year bars to admissibility for aliens seeking to reenter after having been unlawfully present in the United States; Barred re-entry of individuals who renounced their U.S. citizenship in order to avoid U.S. tax obligations.

Placed added restrictions on benefits for aliens:

Provided for a pilot program on limiting issuance of driver’s licenses to illegal aliens; Declared aliens not lawfully present ineligible for Social Security benefits; Established procedures for requiring proof of citizenship for Federal public benefits

What happened is the above laws were not enforced!

[DuncanWaring]

That’s surprising considering the energy you put into bringing in more parasites.

[gubamyster]

ping

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

See also how McCain unintentionally played a part in the bill's defeat:

In a truly roundabout way, the immigration deal was sunk by John McCain.

[Global2010]

I am looking for the list on how the Senators voted, please direct me to it.

Steve Elliot from Grassfire.org has it but he wants $15 to share it. Uh no.

[N. Theknow]

And now another fun-filled BUT factless episode of:

Senator Knows Best

or

The Little People Are So Cute When They Think They Make A Difference To Us.

[mimaw]

I want a national ID card and I want it to be necessary to submit them at the polls to vote. I am more concerned about the sanctity of my vote than privacy. Hell they know everything about me from my SS#.

[RightWhale]

What about the bar code tattoo on the forehead?

[gondramB]

In princple we should be able to find the voting record here..I’m looking
http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/a_three_sections_with_teasers/votes.htm

[SirJohnBarleycorn]

<< I am looking for the list on how the Senators voted, please direct me to it. >>

Here is the breakdown on the Baucus REAL ID amendment:

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00234

[norton]

"I must have read 90% or more of articles re Amnesty here and on blogs and news sites. In only one or two was there focus on the biometric ID."

It's probably more simple than we are making it out to be:

The official line will be 'smart ID' because that is the element they need most to sell to the public.
Amnesty cannot be credited because the powers that be are determined that it is mandatory. They will actively downplay it as a barrier to 'reform' & it will not go away.

I look for two things in the fallout:
A publicity campaign about how benign a universal smart ID will be for everyone, in contrast to the 'racist' concept of monitoring only illegals (mexicans) striving for a better life (sic ) in our territory.
And, relaxation of even today's lame border enforcement to show the great unwashed (us) that we'd have been much happier had our congress been allowed to pass the 'great compromise'. Throughout the Senate circus they hammered the idea that failure to accept the fiat would mean less security - watch for proof.