Posted on 08/16/2003 7:09:51 PM PDT by VU4G10
Illegal immigration into the United States threatens the future of the nation, a Colorado congressman told Mesa County Republicans on Friday. U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Centennial, drew two standing ovations from about 100 Republicans, even though he acknowledged his stand on illegal immigration runs counter to that of the party's leader, President Bush. Forcing a national debate over illegal immigration transcends party loyalty though, he said. At issue, he said, isn't so much whether the United States will have a Balkanized future, but whether it will have a future as a nation at all. Illegal immigration combined with "the cult of multiculturalism" and the welfare state threaten to undermine and bankrupt American institutions, he said. Tancredo joked that he actually was on his way to California to get in on the governor's race. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Sentinel, however, he said the stakes actually are a bit higher than a governor's race. He has visited California on several occasions with the hope of forcing illegal immigration to a top-level issue in the 2004 presidential race. One vehicle, he said, might be a referendum in the nation's most populous state that would limit access to any government services to citizens or legal residents only. "Even if I'm 180 degrees wrong," he said, "the subject at least deserves a debate." Tancredo said he advocates securing the nation's southern border using a 20,000-strong Border Patrol combined with high-tech equipment to prevent illegal border crossings. A guest-worker program might be in order for industries that couldn't otherwise find employees, but no such program could work without a secure border, he said. It's particularly important to secure the border, he said, because it isn't used only by Mexicans seeking employment. "Huge numbers" of Middle-Easterners frequently cross the border, often helped by Mexican drug gangs who charge $30,000 for the use of their expertise, he said. "I don't blame them," he said of illegal immigrants looking north for opportunity, but he noted the Mexican government relies heavily on money sent by illegal immigrants to their relatives to bolster the economy. That amounts to about $10 billion a year, a third of the Mexican gross domestic product, he said. Tancredo urged the Mesa County Republicans to insist that all candidates be held to account on illegal-immigration issues. Even if offices such as city council or county commissioner seem to have little to do with illegal immigration, candidates still should be forced to take a position. "Get them on record," he said.
I don't think you have the first clue about what the existing laws, effective Administrative rulings, or controlling court precedents are.
The function of our military should not be to provide humanitarian aid for some foreign country or be used as a diversion for a president's escapeds (as under Clinton). But to protect our borders and round up the illegals.
OK, Dante, this is your job ... "round up the illegals". What's your plan?
I agree but many of them could just be naive.
What's rally happening is that we're just importing in more democratic voters. Here's a good article.
Clinton’s Subtle, but Historic, Redefinition of U.S. Immigration Policy Commentary by Ira Mehlman Federation for American Immigration Reform Spokesman January 10, 2001 The Clinton Administration is now a part of history, and historians are just getting started assessing the Clinton legacy. There will be plenty to keep them busy. There were remarkable successes in managing an unprecedented period of economic expansion, the first budget surpluses in three decades, and of course there were notable failures in the area of health care reform and personal integrity. Among the records set during the Clinton years was the largest sustained wave of immigration in America’s history. Some 10 million new immigrants arrived in the U.S. during his presidency, and by the time he left offices there were nearly 30 million foreign born residents, accounting for more than 10 percent of the population. But perhaps more significant than the sheer numbers of people who settled here during the Clinton years, was the dramatic redefinition of the purpose of immigration policy and the relationship between immigrants and their adopted country. Two subtle, but significant shifts occurred during the last eight years that are worth noting: U.S. citizenship was turned into a political commodity, and immigrants became America’s “customers.” After losing control of both houses of Congress in the 1994 election to the Republicans, Clinton embarked on a program to reshape the electorate in a way that was more to his liking. In addition to using his considerable powers of persuasion to win back public support, he set about creating a new American public. The administration directed the Immigration and Naturalization Service to mint new citizens in time to vote in the 1996 elections. Under the direct control of Vice President Gore, the Citizenship USA program was tasked with naturalizing as many noncitizens as they could possibly find in time to participate in the next election. The plan succeeded. Democrats have eliminated the Republicans’ majority in the Senate and have significantly eroded their advantage in the House. An analysis of voting patterns across the country shows that voting by new citizens has been the deciding factor in numerous elections, and in nearly every case, has broken to the Democrats’ advantage. That immigrants are playing a significant role in American politics is nothing new. What changed during the Clinton years is that altering the political landscape became an objective of immigration policy. In much the same way as employers have used immigrants to change labor market conditions to their advantage, the Clinton Administration used them to create an electorate more to their liking. The second subtle, but important, change that occurred under Clinton was a redefinition of the relationship between immigrants and the American nation. One of the priorities set forth by Clinton’s INS commissioner, Doris Meissner, was to improve the agency’s “customer service.” Certainly no one who has ever dealt with INS would dispute the need for improvements in the way the agency treats those who are going through the immigration process. But Meissner’s repeated description of immigrants as “customers” was more than a matter of semantics. The choice of words reflected a very significant change in attitude. In the past, immigration was seen as policy designed to serve the interests of the nation. As such, there was a general belief that it was the responsibility of the immigrants to go the extra mile to accommodate themselves to the social, cultural and linguistic norms of the country. As customers, that relationship is reversed. It is the nation that must bend over backwards to accommodate the “customers,” and provide whatever services and programs they need. Under the customer model, if immigration creates overcrowded schools, or exceeds the capacity of public health care system, you don’t reduce immigration. Instead you build as many schools and emergency rooms as the “customers” require. Under the customer model, it doesn’t matter whether immigrants have marketable skills, or that more than one-third have less than a high school education. It becomes the nation’s obligation to deal with the needs of the immigrants. Very often it is the subtle policy changes of a presidential administration that define its legacy. Clinton’s subtle manipulation of immigration policy could prove to be among the most long lasting imprints he leaves on America.
I don't know why GWB doesn't see that he's making his re-election more difficult in 2004 by continuing this policy.
Then you are not in the percentage I mentioned, either.
And, just like with the last poster who felt compelled to tell me that I wasn't describing him - I think the whole border system needs serious revamping, ASAP.
Coupled with that, we have the start of the massive retirement of the baby Boomers, just picking up speed and still quite a ways from reaching its peak.
What this translates into is a serious decrease in the worker to retiree ratio needed to maintain Social Security viable for the Boomers and beyond.
I read a report that the entire working population of Mexico could be brought to the US by the year 2030, and it would not be sufficient to fill in the gap.
Fix Social Security and you have the start of a "fix" for the illegal immigration problem.
The end of the "fix"?
A program that would allow guest workers to travel back and forth across the border to work. This used to be the case, and once it was stopped, the immigrants were forced to remain on this side of the border.
Let's see, you hold Bush accountable for not taking a strong stance on this issue, but you will take no stance at all because it may lead to your being dimissed from an internet forum?
Maybe it's not all that important an issue to you after all.
Give us a link to this article.
Ya know, Arne, it's guys like you that strengthen my resolve to begin earnestly planning for the inevitable end of this country. As a CA resident who's been there and done that vis-a-vis Prop 187, it's clear that we're nearing the end-game of the first stage - resistance.
Next comes acceptance, with those capable of staying deploying different/various strategies to protect their wealth and assets. I've begun to research in detail how the upper classes maintain their positions in Mexico City, Rio and Sao Paolo. In the meantime, the vast middle will retreat further inward to other states until they too succumb to the invasion.
And all the while, you and the other dark agents who benefit from either proactively advancing the cause of illegals, or purposely playing the role of 'expert' to pose those 'tough' questions about seemingly intractable issues (which, by the way, any dilettante in any field can do with similar ease - just play back the same details with a ? mark), make it obvious to anyone with any sense of history that this is how all great civilizations fall: from within.
There's just too much money riding on the fall by our country's internal enemies.
WHY ARE THE REPUBLICANS BRINGING THIS UP NOW AFTER WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN INVADED!!
Racist racist racist blah blah blah. You fool no one. The largest bloc of illegal aliens are Mexicans with Central Americans in second place. Shut down this flow at the Mexican border.
LOL! The open borders pipedream of the libertarians. For entertainment purposes only
You people have no answers, you're just whiners. If the politicians, courts and bureaucrats in California or Arizona are mistreating you so, move to Eau Claire, Fort Wayne, Frankfurt or Walla Walla. If you don't like the Mexican culture, there are roads that lead to Provo. If you're fearful a newly arrived, non English speaking/10th grade educated foreign national can do your job with the same productivity and expertise, you better revisit your employment skillsets.
Get real.
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