Hopes dashed for many immigrant workers (gag alert)

Reuters ^ | June 29, 2007 | Reuters staff

[Baladas]

PHOENIX - For day laborers seeking work in a sun-baked parking lot on Thursday, defeat of President Bush's plans for an immigration overhaul has set back their dreams of a normal life.

The bill, which sought to give legal status to many of the 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, failed to get enough support in a make-or-break vote.

Workers standing around in searing heat outside a building materials store in Phoenix said hopes of an aboveboard life in this country of immigrants had crashed following news of the morning vote.

"Bush wanted to do something good, but the Senate wouldn't let him. It's disappointing," Miguel Gonzalez, 37, who has been in the United States for five years, said in Spanish.

For Juan Carlos Esquivel, 36, a day laborer from Mexico City with a wife and three children, the defeat made no sense.

"There's work to be done, we want to do it, and now we can't. So how can that be a victory?" he said, standing in the shade of a mesquite tree in a straw sombrero. "Everybody loses, and the economy will suffer."

Bush was unable to overcome fierce opposition from fellow Republicans who said the measure would reward an estimated 12 million immigrants for taking up residence in the United States illegally.

In Los Angeles, Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony, a key supporter of immigration reform on the West Coast, expressed regret about the Senate's decision.

"Without reform, our current system will continue to permit the exploitation of workers, the separation of families, and will handicap efforts to secure our nation's borders," he said in a statement

Janet Napolitano, the Democratic governor of the border state of Arizona, said she was "sorely disappointed" by the Senate's failure to act on the issue.

[luckystarmom]

When did it become okay for people to hang out in parking lots? It’s bad enough that we have the illegals here, but I am sick and tired of the home depot being filled with these men hanging around. It used to be loitering, and it used to be illegal.

I don’t even feel safe going to home depot by myself. I don’t like leaving my car parked in the parking lot.

[Sender]

Sorely disappointed because we can't convert all the illegals to Democratic voters in one wave of the magic wand.

Well that's just the way it is. Working is one thing; being able to vote about the future of America does not come with simply being here.

I have many mixed feelings about the plight of the illegals, but they are not going to be voting in America. To gain that right, they must follow the rules.

[Sender]

Sorely disappointed because we can't convert all the illegals to Democratic voters in one wave of the magic wand.

Well that's just the way it is. Working is one thing; being able to vote about the future of America does not come with simply being here.

I have many mixed feelings about the plight of the illegals, but they are not going to be voting in America. To gain that right, they must follow the rules.

[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!!

[nothingnew]

Also, Bush and Kennedy are draft dodgers.

Bush is a draft dodger? Since when?

FMCDH(BITS)

[panthermom]

The whole Mexican goverment just riles me up. When you really look at Mexico, our goverment should be shunning them. I don’t care if they are “neighbors”. They are blatantly corrupt. After 9/11 they did NOT have our backs, nor do they have our backs in the WOT. They send their criminals here and expect us to take care of them. Our relationship with Mexico shows how two-faced we really are. They are an extremely wealthy country, they have more than enough natural resources to take care of their own people if there was not so much corruption. Yet Jorge Bush considers them his best friends. It’s really disgusting.

[Travis McGee]

"Bush wanted to do something good, but the Senate wouldn't let him. It's disappointing," Miguel Gonzalez, 37, who has been in the United States for five years, said in Spanish.

I think I detect part of your problema, Miguelito.

[Lurker]

It's kind of funny how these reporters seem to be able to sniff out illegals with almost zero effort but your average ICE Agent can't find his or her ass with both hands and a map.

L

[Travis McGee]

In most Aztlan cities, ICE could use the people scoopers from Soylent Green.