See that good looking dude on the left? He's got FAR BETTER THINGS to do than conduct Freepathons! Come on, let's get this thing over with.
Posted on 07/11/2003 12:11:36 AM PDT by sarcasm
WASHINGTON -- Texas Sen. John Cornyn introduced guest worker legislation on Thursday that would allow illegal immigrants to work legally in the United States for three years, but falls short of a plan President Bush is preparing to unveil.
White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said Bush administration officials have met with Cornyn, a Republican, to discuss his bill, but did not commit the president's support.
Rather, Bush is set to pursue bold policies similar to those he had advocated to boost relations with Mexico early in his administration.
Those discussions, which included possible amnesty for some illegal immigrants, came to an abrupt end on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon.
"We are working with Mexico toward more orderly, humane, safe and legal migration, as well as consideration of a new temporary worker program that provides some path to citizenship," Mamo said of the White House's plans to restart negotiations with Congress over immigration proposals.
Cornyn's bill would allow illegal immigrants to temporarily work legally in the United States through employer sponsors. But instead of providing those workers with eventual amnesty, they would have to return home after three years. Once there, their applications for green cards would receive expedited consideration.
Cornyn acknowledged he would need the president's support to bolster his bill, but said he chose not to wait for Bush to unveil his immigration proposal because the time was right to begin pushing the issue.
Mamo did not know when the White House would officially release its plan, but sources in the Republican congressional leadership said there have been initial discussions with the White House over what might be possible in time for the 2004 elections.
Republicans hope a renewed interest in immigration issues will persuade Hispanics to support GOP candidates and not only help the party solidify its hold on Congress but also deliver Bush an easy re-election victory.
The goal may not be so handily won.
There are few issues that fracture Republicans more than immigration. And it is unclear whether even their popular president can move those in the GOP who have made a career out of opposing legislation that would give amnesty to illegal immigrants.
"We should never, ever, ever reward people for illegal behavior," said Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, the House's most outspoken Republican favoring limited immigration.
His biggest fear, he said, is that Bush will use his popularity from the war with Iraq to push through a guest worker program on what Tancredo called the false assumption that Hispanics will "automatically respond to that kind of pandering."
Opponents of guest worker programs also charge that guest worker programs of the 1950s and 1960s opened the doors to millions of workers who ultimately continued to live illegally in the United States.
Tancredo has a strong bloc of more than 100 Republicans who back his approach to immigration policy.
Late last month, 102 Republicans, including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, supported a Tancredo amendment that would have withheld homeland security funding from communities that do not force police, teachers and medical personnel to turn in illegal immigrants. Tancredo said that vote, though unsuccessful, suggests he has enough support to defy even the president on this issue.
On Thursday, however, DeLay said some kind of guest worker program is needed. He declined to discuss details.
Such a plan will need Democratic support to make up for the scores of Republicans likely to vote against it. But Democrats, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, have said any immigration legislation will need to include broad amnesty for at least some of the estimated 4 million illegal immigrants living in the country.
"There must be a mechanism in which you can ultimately earn your legalization ... by virtue of your labor," said Rep. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., the highest-ranking Hispanic in the House.
Bush's initial proposals in 2001 would have met some of those Democratic demands. During a visit by Mexican President Vicente Fox to the United States just days before the terrorist attacks, Bush said Americans need to "think creatively" to develop a guest worker program that links U.S. employers with Mexican workers, including undocumented immigrants who are already here.
But at the time, Bush also cautioned that workers who arrived illegally should not be placed ahead of those who have waited their turn.
A Mexican government official said Thursday that the United States recently has revived its interest in immigration reform talks, apparently motivated by the May deaths of 19 illegal immigrants who were locked in the back of a tractor-trailer abandoned near Victoria.
An immigration accord is "on the negotiating table," the official said. Bush and Fox are expected to "have a very specific discussion" about immigration before the end of the year, she added.
Cornyn hopes his proposal to give guest workers favorable treatment once they've returned home will satisfy enough moderates on the immigration issue to get a bill through the Senate.
He also hopes to garner White House support by couching his bill as pro-homeland security because it would crack down on employers who hire foreign workers without first sponsoring them. Cornyn said such a policy would root out terrorists "hiding the shadows" of the illegal cash economy, while protecting migrant workers by giving them a legal way to enter and work in the United States.
Chronicle reporter Jena Moreno contributed to this story from Mexico City.
See that good looking dude on the left? He's got FAR BETTER THINGS to do than conduct Freepathons! Come on, let's get this thing over with.
Those discussions, which included possible amnesty for some illegal immigrants, came to an abrupt end on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the World
Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon.
"We are working with Mexico toward more orderly, humane, safe and legal migration, as well as consideration of a new temporary worker program that provides
some path to citizenship," Mamo said of the White House's plans to restart negotiations with Congress over immigration proposals.
Bush will be a one term President. I know I can't vote for a man that is this far out of touch with reality. When he announced his plans with regard to illegal immigration it cost my vote last time. Here we go again.
Everyone who's laughing your arse off with jokes about the left coast and the problems we face here, just consider that this President is seeking to nationalize them.
Despite my note voting for Bush, I had high hopes. Sadly I was far more accurate in my predictions for Bush than I hoped I had been.
All we can do is stand back and let the Socialists of either party do their worst and join the Conservative backlash in the mid-term elections in 2006 and the Presidential election in 2008.
The worst of the first 2 years of Bill and Hillary will pale in comparison to 2004 to 2006 under the present Democrat or Republican (leadership???).
Maybe it's time for a realignment. It's time to email the potential Dem candidates for Pres and tell then how important the issue is to you, and to millions of voters. Get the discussion going, supporting our side, that way.
Maybe, just maybe, one of these Dems will be smart enough to realize the unsecured border/illegals/jobs going to foreigners is one big Achilles heel for the status quo.
There is a big push behind the scenes to make 'fully bi-lingual' a requirement for more and more federal jobs within various agencies.
This could be cause for a rift in the Democrat Party, if it became more widely known.
With a majority in the Senate and HOR, the Republicans would fight this nonsense if a Democratic President brought it up.
When the stupid and lazy realize that these future amnesties will lead to a requirement that they be fully, functionally literate in two languages to qualify for federal jobs, when they haven't been able to master one, what do you believe might happen?
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