Posted on 01/12/2009 4:59:05 PM PST by rabscuttle385
HOUSTON (AP) — President George W. Bush told a group of Texas reporters Friday that he regretted immigration policies were not reformed while he was in office.
"I'm very disappointed that it didn't pass," he said in an interview with correspondents from his home state. "I'm very worried about the message that said, 'Republicans are anti-immigrant.'"
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Please read below and point out the parts that were a "good deal" for Americans.
On February 16, 2001, just 3 weeks after his inauguration, President George W. Bush met with Mexican President Vicente Fox to discuss the terms of the Partnership for Prosperity Agreement (with Mexico). (See: Partnership for Prosperity Agreement (with Mexico))
The P4P agreement was signed on September 6, 2001.
On October 26, 2001, Bush signed the USA Patriot Act of 2001 into law. Contained in section 326(b) was the provision that allowed US banks to accept the Mexican Matricula Consular card as valid ID for opening a bank account.
Congress sent a request for opinion to Bush's Treasury Dept. about 326(b). Bush's Treasury responded:
“The proposed rules set forth the requirement that financial institutions would have to establish a customer identification and verification program applicable to all new accounts that are opened, regardless of whether the customer is a U.S. citizen or a foreign national. While the proposed rules prescribe minimum standards for such programs, they leave sufficient flexibility to permit financial institutions to tailor their program to fit their business operations. The customer identification program would have to contain reasonable procedures for identifying any person, including a business, that opens an account, setting forth the type of identifying information that the financial institution will require. At a minimum, for U.S. persons the proposed rules would require financial institutions to obtain the following information: name, address, taxpayer identification number, and, for individuals, date of birth. While a taxpayer identification number is not required for non-U.S. persons, a financial institution must describe what type of information it will require of a non-U.S. person in place of a taxpayer identification number. The regulations state that financial institutions may accept one or more of the following: a U.S. taxpayer identification number; a passport number and country of issuance; an alien identification card number, or the number and country of issuance of any other government-issued document evidencing nationality or residence and bearing a photograph or similar safeguard.”
This also contained a footnote (17):
“Thus, the proposed regulations do not discourage bank acceptance of the ‘matricula consular’ identity card that is being issued by the Mexican government to immigrants.” (See: Treasury Department Issues USA PATRIOT Act Report to Congress)
Note that no Mexican banks accept their own government's Matricula Consular card as valid ID for opening a bank account because the bearer's identity is all but untraceable. In contrast, thanks to Bush's Treasury Dept., almost all US banks accept it.
On June 17, 2002, Bush held a press conference. In this press conference he said that by 2010 he wanted to see 5.5 million new 'minority' home owners.
He called on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase commitments to the 'minority' market by $440 billion. (See: President Calls for Expanding Opporunities to Home Ownership)
Here's how he described the minorities:
Three-quarters of white America owns their homes. Less than 50 percent of African Americans are part of the homeownership in America. And less than 50 percent of the Hispanics who live here in this country own their home. And that has got to change for the good of the country. It just does.
In response to the mandate contained in the P4P agreement, the New Alliance Task Force was formed in May 2003. (See: New Alliance Task Force)
The NATF is a broad-based coalition of 62 members, including the FDIC, Mexican Consulate, 34 banks, community-based organizations, federal bank regulatory agencies, government agencies, and representatives from the secondary market and private mortgage insurance (PMI) companies.
Their goal was to open the Mexican illegal alien market to US banks and visa-versa using low-cost remittances as the bait. As Bush's 2002 speeches show he was talking about hundreds of billions of tax dollars to directly benefit millions of Mexican illegal aliens.
The NATF was organized into four working groups that were tasked with the following goals:
In 2004, Wells Fargo reported that they had signed up 400,000 new Matricula Consular accounts and at the time were opening up 22,000 new accounts a month. Keep in mind this is just Wells Fargo and that sub-prime lending would not reach its peak until 2005-2006.
The IRS says they've issued over 11 million ITINs since its inception. Mexico says they've issued over 5 million Matricula Consular cards.
But, none of this would be workable if ICE was deporting the banks' new customers. Once again, Bush swung into action, hobbling border and interior enforcement.
Worksite arrests of illegal aliens fell some 97 percent, from 2,859 in 1999 to 159 in 2004. Investigations targeting employers of illegal immigrants fell more than 70 percent, from 7,637 in 1997 to 2,194 in 2003. Arrests on job sites fell—precipitously, from 17,554 in 1997 to 445 in 2003. Fines levied for immigration-law violations fell from 778 in 1997 to 124 in 2003. Notices of intent to fine employers fell from 865 in 1997 to just 3 in 2004.
When the USA Patriot Act came up for renewal in 2004, some republicans wanted to remove the provision that allowed banks to accept Matricula Consular ID as the consular ID is unreliable.
Barney Frank (D-MA) and some of his Republican and Democrat friends swung into action to protect it:
Anti-matrícula proposal defeated; financial institutions can continue accepting consular ID's:
In a vote of 222 to 177, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan amendment, H.Amdt. 754, introduced by Reps. Michael Oxley (R-OH), Barney Frank (D-MA), Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), Ed Pastor (D-AZ), and Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX) to strike the so-called Culberson amendment that would have prohibited the Treasury Dept. from implementing regulations that allow financial institutions to accept matrícula consular identification cards as part of a valid customer identification program under the USA PATRIOT Act...
In countering Culberson’s allegations that the FBI and the Justice Dept. were opposed to the bipartisan amendment to preserve the use of matrícula consular cards, Bachus presented a letter for the record written by Deputy Atty. Gen. James B. Comey and addressed to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. The letter, dated Sept. 14, 2004, stated:
The Department of Justice fully supports the Administration’s current policy under the USA PATRIOT Act that requires banks and other financial institutions to establish reasonable procedures for the identification and verification of new account holders, which is set forth in regulations of the Department of the Treasury. Therefore the [Justice] Department supports the Oxley-Frank-Kolbe amendment to H.R. 5025 that preserves these regulations. . . . The Department of Justice, including the FBI, continue[s] to work closely with the Treasury Department on this and other issues related to halting all financing of terrorists.
In the final roll call vote, 49 Republicans supported the Oxley-Frank-Kolbe-Pastor-Hinojosa amendment and 16 Democrats opposed it. This legislative victory was a joint effort by financial institutions, immigrants’ rights groups, consumer groups, and many others who worked in coalition to defeat, once again, efforts to limit the acceptance of consular ID cards by banks, credit unions, thrifts, and other financial entities.
In Bush's June 17, 2002 speech, he also called for the creation of the American Dream Down Payment Fund.
And so here are some of the ways to address the issue. First, the single greatest barrier to first time homeownership is a high downpayment. It is really hard for many, many, low income families to make the high downpayment. And so that's why I propose and urge Congress to fully fund the American Dream Downpayment Fund. This will use money, taxpayers' money to help a qualified, low income buyer make a downpayment. And that's important.
And, the 108th Congress (2003-2005) responded with the American Dream Downpayment Act:
Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to: (1) authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to State and local participating jurisdictions for downpayment assistance and related home repair to low-income, first-time home buyers; and (2) limit family assistance to the greater of six percent of the purchase price or $10,000. Requires a participating jurisdiction to include intended grant uses in its fiscal year comprehensive housing affordability strategy under such Act.
Sets forth State and local jurisdiction allocation formulas. Permits fund reallocation.
Requires the Comptroller General to report respecting the impact of such grants on a State-by-State basis.
Terminates grant authority after December 31, 2007. Authorizes specified FY 2004 through 2007 appropriations.
Makes the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 inapplicable to such assistance.
The act was authorized to appropriate up to $200 million per year of US taxpayer funds between FY2004 through FY2007 to go to Bush's 'minorities'.
The sponsor and co-sponsors of this $800 million giveaway:
Sponsor: Sen. Wayne Allard [R-CO]
Co-sponsors:
Sen. Samuel Brownback [R-KS]
Sen. Conrad Burns [R-MT]
Sen. Ben Campbell [R-CO]
Sen. Michael Crapo [R-ID]
Sen. Michael Enzi [R-WY]
Sen. Charles Hagel [R-NE]
Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R-AK]
Sen. Richard Santorum [R-PA]
Sen. Jefferson Sessions [R-AL]
In the 2004 election cycle, mortgage bankers and brokers poured nearly $847,000 into Mr. Bush’s re-election campaign, more than triple their contributions in 2000, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. The administration did not finalize the new rules until last month. (See: White House Philosophy Stoked Mortgage Bonfire)
He’s been enforcing the border since 2005...the numbers plainly show it.
You can forget that now too.
Just wait till the hometown folks ‘splain it to W when he comes back to live near them. He’ll get an earful at the coffee shops, BELIEVE me!
Compared to what’s coming...it was a good deal.
The Republican Party (and...FR) is infested with "pragmatists" who care more for power than abiding by one's core principles.
He should be worried about our nation being overrun with diseased, lawbreaking, freeloading ingrates, the majority of whom have no intention of assimilating.
Bush wanted amnesty back in 2001 but 9/11 foiled his plan for a few years...of course, he tried again the last few years until all of those “closed-minded” Americans (read: bigots and vigilantes) called their congressional representatives to complain.
Please, W is so blind on the invasion it is hysterical. The Dems would of lined right up and gone for anything he wanted if he had just made a good argument. As it was he lined up with the Dems. There is no defedning him on the invaders. He called me racists for not wanting an illegal invasion. SCREW him and his horse.
Yes, amnesty at 80 mph versus 100. I don’t see much difference.
You guys don't have the honor to admit when you are wrong and that GWB was a failure as a President...and a lying sack of dung about being a conservative. He used us like his father....and Thank God we are rid of him !
That is why he will be moving to his new ranch in Paraguay in very short order.
Dude nice collection!!!
Bush makes me want to vomit just hearing him speak. He will not be missed for the most part. Conservatives even had to push for Roberts and Alito. W really wanted Gonzales and Miers.
Your core principles helped elect Obama. Thanks. You could have rallied around the President on all of his immigration reform and been far better off than you are right now. Instead, destroying the President was preferable.
By the way, you obviously want the President to discard his core priciple...treating illegals with compassion. What makes your principles sacrosanct and his principle so easily trashed?
Do you consider yourself that superior?
You can go look it up yourself...
He’ll get an earful at the coffee shops
Why would reality set in? He will never come within miles of anything that resembles public health care or public education and illegals will be taking care of his lawn. And I doubt he will be spending much time in the local coffee shops. ;-)
History will forget what Bush didn’t do just before Obama rams it down our throats and ensures a permanant democrat majority.
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