Posted on 03/13/2009 6:30:02 PM PDT by GOPGuide
Condoleezza Rice said Friday that one of her deepest regrets from her time as secretary of state was the failure of the Bush administration to achieve real reform of immigration laws.
"We need immigration reform. I don't care if it's for the person who crawls across the desert to earn $5 an hour, or for Sergey Brin, who came here from Russia and founded Google," she said at an economic summit at Stanford University. "As a country, we can't have people living in the shadows. It's just wrong. It's not only ineffective, it's wrong."
She said immigrants were critical to the country's financial health, and that reform was needed to fuel the next round of economic growth.
"If we ever lose that and start to believe somehow that it is instead a threat to us to have those people come here, we are going to lose one of the strongest elements not only of our national wealth, but also of our national soul," she said. "One of my biggest regrets was that we were not able to get immigration reform."
Rice's remarks came as she kicked off a daylong conference on the challenges facing the U.S. and global economies. Rice returned to Stanford earlier this month as a political science professor and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution after exiting the Bush administration in January.
Speaking to a crowd that included George Shultz, also a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a former secretary of state, Rice said the global fiscal crisis could shake international confidence in free trade, fiscal discipline and other hallmarks of the financial system the United States has promoted abroad.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Rice proved to be a lightweight as Secy of State.
Now she is proving to be delusional on this amnesty kick.
But what does she care - she will have a life of wealth and liesure, probably hiring the same illegals she loves.
George Bush’s greatest failing was his open borders and amnesty programs. He has guaranteed a Democrat government for 40 years and a descent into third world status. The war on terror will fade from memory as we become Alta Mexico.
Our Fish and Game laws are 1000 times more draconian than our immigration laws. If I poach a deer, not only do I lose my gun, I lose my truck. Risk/reward factor is very high. If I hire illegal immigrants I may get fined but probably not. We need to shut down businesses that knowingly hire illegals. Counterfeiting SSN should be as hard as counterfeiting a $20 bill.
If the restaurant/farming/construction industries were not allowed this cheap labor subsidy, the vast bulk of illegal immigration would disappear. A few here and there is not going to break the country, but entire portions of the country are now inhabitted by people who will never speak our language nonetheless make attempts to assimilate. That is certainly not GOOD for our country.
Invaders are the future! I am surprised she didn’t say that we should disarm and allow them to live in our homes.
Turn them around and let them crawl back.
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.
I hope I am over wary; but if I am not, there is, even now, something of ill-omen, amongst us. I mean the increasing disregard for law which pervades the country; the growing disposition to substitute the wild and furious passions, in lieu of the sober judgment of Courts; and the worse than savage mobs, for the executive ministers of justice. This disposition is awfully fearful in any community; and that it now exists in ours, though grating to our feelings to admit, it would be a violation of truth, and an insult to our intelligence, to deny.
We do need immigration reform. Just not the way Obama and the Kennedy's want it to happen. A free for all, come anyway you want, we will support you.
I don't care if it's for the person who crawls across the desert to earn $5 an hour,
There it is. Welcome all those who will work below poverty level for the good of our economy. We will pay the extras you can't afford by stealing more money from taxpayers.
"As a country, we can't have people living in the shadows. It's just wrong. It's not only ineffective, it's wrong."
It is scary to not know who these people are. Sleeper cell terrorists or just hungry farm workers. Pedophiles, perverts, murderers. If they are here legally we can track them like any other American citizen. We pay for them now so we might as well get them to pay taxes for some of it.
Controls must be in place to take a little at a time or we are doomed. The minute Obama says open the gates, they will need more food stamps, section 8 and medical care for free. They will also dip into Social security they have not funded their whole life. One article said no amnesty or immigrants for 10 years then consider maybe 10,000 a year.
They should come here with the hope of becoming more than the governments low income workers. Some of these amnesty idiots talk like all they are good for is the jobs no one wants. That's not the American way. I hate that the ones who are here legally are many times thought of as the same as the illegals.
Condi really changed sides towards the end of her position or was it just me that felt that?
ROFL!
Ha! I remember how many FReepers wanted her to run for president because she’s female and black.
Don’t look now but they plan on trotting out JEB to lose to Obama in 2012.
I think they should live in her home, W's, and McCain's. The Gitmo prisoners can live with the Obamas.
More idiocy from the Bush open-borders camp.
The only immigration reform I want to see is to have the damned laws enforced for once. Look up “deportation”, Rice.
Yep, force them to crawl back. ;-)
The best immigration reform would be an electrified fence on the souther border and legal immigration.
She is a RINO and always has been.
Hard to say since she never explained her position on ANYTHING.
check out this thread.
Why is it wrong?
I know, I know, she'd be better than what we got but that's not saying much. Pick a name at random from the phone book and it would be better than what we have.
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