Tancredo doubts he can block amnesty-extension bill

Denver Post ^ | March 8, 2002 | Bill McAllister

[sarcasm]

Friday, March 08, 2002 - WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Tancredo takes credit for thwarting the Bush administration's last effort to offer partial amnesty to thousands of illegal residents, but Thursday the outspoken immigration foe said he may have been outmaneuvered by the White House.

President Bush has struck a deal with the House leadership to place legislation that offers an extension of amnesty on its consent calendar before Bush heads to Mexico for a state visit next week, the Colorado Republican said.

That action should ensure quick House passage of legislation that Bush has repeatedly sought from Congress. It would allow an undocumented person to receive legal standing, such as a valid green card, by filing a declaration with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

It presumably also would require the person to have been in the United States by a certain date and have filed a declaration with the INS from an appropriate sponsor, such as a relative or employer, and pay a $1,000 penalty.

"The terms are still up in the air," said Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration, a group that has been allied with Tancredo. "We've heard to the effect that the president wants something to bring down to Mexico."

The initial Bush proposal, designed exclusively for Mexicans, once was high on the president's legislative wish list, but it was delayed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. However, as the president noted Wednesday in a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, he now is pushing for the extension of the amnesty program known by the section of immigration law that covers it, Section 245I.

The president hailed it as a way to reunite family, separated by the border. "If you believe in family values, if you understand the worth of family and the importance of family, let's get 245I out of the United States Congress and give me a chance to sign it," Bush told the chamber members.

Tancredo, the head of a congressional caucus on immigration issues and proponent of halting virtually all immigration, said he had blocked a previous attempt by Bush to push an extension of the amnesty program through the House. But this time, he said House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., had agreed to place the issue on the suspension, or consent, calendar, making it difficult to defeat the proposal.

The Senate might be more favorable to the bill than the House, expanding the numbers of individuals who can apply, Tancredo said.

[Victoria Delsoul]

You're bad! You're very, very, very bad! LOL!!!

[WRhine]

I've gotta say it again: the topper to this whole thing is that the children of these criminal parasites will get preference over my children in education and employment.

I agree. That is the most evil thing that our gutless, illegal alien pandering pols have done to us. To grant educational and employment preferences to children of lawbreaking Illegals over OUR kids is IMO an act of high treason. Another is our government catering to every whim of the illegal bunch here while our soldiers are out all over the world putting their life on line in the defense of this country. Can It Get Any Worse? I guess that is a dumb question.

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

...exactly why the Founders wanted a citizen legislature, so those elected to it would have lived among their neighbors and understood their problems.

It was not until I realized this state is being colonized from the south that I truly understood the importance of having legislators that could understand in concrete terms what their voters' perspective is. And the next natural observation is the elected officials in DC don't have a clue, don't want a clue, and if they begin to smell a clue will run the other way.

[kennyo]

As sneakypete said "It may be the oddest "club" you've even been a member of,since nobody WANTED to join it."

"I wouldn't join a club that would accept me as a member."-Groucho Marx

[Marine Inspector]

PING

House to Consider Amnesty Measure

[WRhine]

No, instead the true believer (or delusional thinker) blames those who disagreed with his fantasy for his fantasy's failure. When the immigration bomb detonates a few years hence Bush won't be blaming himself. He'll be blaming us for spoiling the wonderful world of mass immigration that would have worked so well if we hadn't been such nasty, hateful, uncaring White people who spoiled the dream by resenting the invasion instead of learning to love it.

You knocked that one out of the park Vallandigham. Great Post. I saw that side of Bush's personality a few times when he was running for president but wrote it off as Bush showing that he was not going to flip flop like Clinton did as president. In retrospect, Bush's humble guy act was just that an Act. I can see Bush reacting exactly as you said when the immigration disaster turns into chaos throughout America.

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

re: Hoffer's True Believer: easily one of the most important books from the Twentieth Century.

[goldstategop]

Dickie Pooh actually proposed a panoply of government services for illegal aliens. The voters didn't agree. I think the White House is politically tone deaf to people shouting "NO" for any more government handouts to non-citizens.

[Oregon Coast Conservative]

To apply, immigrants must have a close relative or a job sponsor who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. The job or family relationship must have existed before Aug. 15, 2001, and the immigrant must have been in the country on Dec. 21, 2000

Well, this should cover about 99% of the illegals.

Gaylen Barksdale, spokesman for House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said GOP leaders want to bring the measure to the floor Tuesday along with a larger immigration security bill. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus, opposes amnesty and criticized the move by House leaders. They put the measure on a fast track, Tancredo said, "to have it available for the president to bestow on (Mexican President) Vicente Fox (news - web sites) as a little gift."

[FreedomFriend]

As a Born-Again Christian, I can say, adamantly, that Bush is doing the wrong thing.

Doesn't he realize that his goals to help the poor will only turn around and drag everyone down? Thus, all of us will be living in squalor conditions. Furthermore, I doubt whether two large cultures can live side-by-side, harmoniously. I don't think that it's possible. History has told us that it's very difficult. Furthermore, given the huge differences between the two countries, I doubt as to whether anyone will be helped by this. In fact, I know that only a few elites will be helped.

Like another poster said, why doesn't Bush use his high approval ratings to get behind the Constitution, protecting our borders, trying to stop abortion, etc. I know that without a doubt that the above mentioned, with the firm support of the President, would be greatly supported by everyone.

Is sanity gone? Is common sense gone?

[Egg]

Good article on the matter here. It probably deserves its own thread.

[usadave]

Oh, spirit of President Eisenhower, what would you do about illegal immigration? What's that you say, Operation Wetback II? Great idea!

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

Yeah, they didn't want to leave anyone out, did they?

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

interesting thread, this. So much civility and reasoned discourse. And unprecedented unanimity amongst same (hmm...). Pinch me, and bookmark this one, folks...it's one for the ages. G'nite.

[HeartbrokenMom]

I know, first-hand, the heartache caused by illegal immigration. My beautiful daughter ~ young, bright, talented, and college-bound ~ became involved with a young Mexican opportunist, with 14 siblings and many, many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, who are all illegal aliens and are all unskilled, uneducated, illiterate, non-English-speaking, and nearly uneducable. They laughed at the fact that still more of their family members "made it" across the border after the WTC tragedy. They have no values, morals, ethics, or standard of living ~ and instead they know how to steal SSN's, how to obtain false documents, how to evade the law, and when and where to change their names. My daughter lives in poverty, her future in the balance, our family torn apart, and my heart cries to think that this large group of people, numbering in the HUNDREDS from one family (not to mention friends back in Mexico whom they constantly encourage to "come on over"), could be granted amnesty ~ and just what would that change? None will ever make the slightest contribution to our society, none will become trained or skilled, and none will hold a loyalty to a country which is not their own. What could be more pathetic? I AM NOT ALONE. I found that there are COUNTLESS everyday Americans who have had the same or similar experiences ~ with their own painful stories ~ all because of ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. THIS is domestic terror at its worst. PLEASE STOP THE MADNESS!

[Oregon Coast Conservative]

I feel for you, my sister went through something similar as your daughter a few years ago. She was lonely after her husband left her, and she met an illegal from Nicaragua. I warned her that he was only after one thing, (no not that) but she wouldn't listen. After a couple of months, he asked her to marry her, and when she told him she wasn't ready for that, he took off. She tracked him down back in Nicaragua, discovering his wife of 10 years and 3 kids. Needless to say, it woke her up to reality, luckily before she ruined her future. I pray for your daughter to see the truth, before it ruins her life. And don't give up, it might take a while, but she probably will.

[Be active]

Well written and excellent article.

[HeartbrokenMom]

Thank you for your kind reply. I pray for every family all across America who has suffered tragedy stemming from illegal immigrants who wreak havoc on our way of life. I'm sickened, now, every time I hear Mr. Bush mention "family values," as though illegal Mexicans do anything to raise our standards. If they had any integrity or respect at all, they wouldn't be crossing the border illegally in the first place ~ and, once they arrive, they prove that they don't.