Bush's 'open door' slammed

Washington Times ^ | Friday, April 19, 2002 | By Jerry Seper

[End Times Sentinel]

While I agree with Mr. Tancredo in principle, I disagree with his trying to link border security with terrorism. While technically, yes, terrorists could walk over the border from mexico or Canada, the most important driver for shoring up our borders is stopping the raging torrent of mexicans sneaking into the U.S.

I haven’t heard a convincing argument for shutting this off and then deporting ALL illegals back to their homeland. I believe the majority of Americans feel this way and desperately wish that Bush would quit this pipe dream of trying to appeal to the hispanic community.

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

[TomGuy]

The Senate passed the Enhanced Border Security bill 97-0; however, the 245(i) Amnesty for Illegals was removed from the bill by Senator Byrd.

Gotta "thumbs up" to ole Byrd.

Now, somewhere in this there is the fodder for a joke about the Byrd and the Bush.

[EBUCK]

Exactly. Our current welfars situation cannot continue with the massive influx of un-marketable bodies. Good call.

EBUCK

[AmericanInTokyo]

Being seven months out now, with the vision of the World Trade Towers fading in America's rear view mirror, this incredulously emboldens pissants to once again actually stand up for porous, open American international borders.

I doubt you or some others would have had the intellectual mettle to even squeak a half of a sentence in support of open borders and 245(i) in the weeks and months following the initial attacks here by resident aliens and the War.

But it is safe to come out doing it now. America is forgetting. We are going back to sleep. We may well need even one or two more Pearl Harbors to wake us up to the fact we have lost our actual control of our national borders or tracking of resident aliens. Do you think alQaeda or other foreign terrorist groups have given up their designs for America and their glee at our loose INS/free amnesty security net?

Tancredo may be in the grandstands, but Bush, his INS and the rest are pandering down in the mud in front of the reviewing stands, all for Latino votes with our national security as a bargaining chip.

Most of us Freepers here kinda' don't take to well to that, you see.

[FITZ]

I didn't say that. I said it's silly to spend any money on the WOD knowing that most drugs come easily through the open borders we have with Mexico ---carried or driven through by legals and illegals.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Your ideas sound pretty good, but you realize that it wouldn't be enough to stop illegal immigration. I said this before, so listen again… Even if we build a 20-foot wall across the border and post soldiers every few miles -- which would be prohibitively expensive - some illegals would still find ways to get through. You indicated that, "After 9/11, many Americans were looking for ways to volunteer... How about creating a Border Patrol Reserve. A lot of patriotic, over-40 types woul be only too happy to serve." You just don't create a Border Patrol Reserve without proper training, equipment and supervision.

Seize businesses that knowingly hire Illegals, and auction them off.

I think Fascist governments would agree with that.

As long as the standard of living in Mexico is that of a third world country, we will always see desperately poor people trying to cross the border seeking work or welfare. A family on welfare in the U.S. enjoys a higher standard of living than millions of working poor in Mexico. Wouldn't you do the same thing in their situation?

We don't have an immigration problem with Canada because Canadians enjoy a reasonably good living standard of living. Also, Canadians who can't or don't want to work won't come here for welfare benefits since they're higher in Canada.

Your proposed solution means more expenditures and bigger government and it will not completely eliminate the problem.

My solution:

Limit welfare to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. That would greatly reduce government welfare spending, which means smaller government while removing the incentive for aliens seeking welfare to enter the country illegally. We'd still get illegal aliens coming here to work, but those aliens add to our economy by providing a valuable commodity (labor) at a lower cost than American employees would accept. OTOH, the illegal aliens who contribute nothing to our economy would no longer have an incentive to drain our welfare rolls.

. . .

[Amerigomag]

Take the $70 billion dollars that social services for illegal aliens cost us each year and you'd have $64 billion left over for military patrols.

Spot on!

The amount of tax dollars being consumed by illegal aliens is monumental. Whether through the use of social saftey nets or public education or the public infrastructure the expenditures are in the billions, not millions.

These problems are absolutely acute in the desert southwest and are substantial in all geographic regions of this country.

The remedies are simple and cost little. The savings these simple remedies generate would be more than sufficient to finance the more agressive remedies proposed by this author and others.

President Bush seriously underestimates the visceral reaction to the political pandering he's employing to broading his base through minority sympathy. I hope that his selfserving promotions do not cost the conservative movement the foothold on American politics that we've gained in the last 6 years.

[EBUCK]

Correct-o-mundo!!! That's why I can't understand RonPauls vote when 245(i) was in the House. Can't have both a welfare state and uncontrolled immigration. It's an either or situation. I'd prefer to have neither but we all know that will never happen. Good to see we can agree on something.

EBUCK

[Marine Inspector]

Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2001 - Title I: Funding - Directs the Attorney General, during each of FY 2002 through 2006, to increase the number of Immigration and Naturalization (INS) investigators and inspectors by at least 200 full-time employees over the number authorized by the USA PATRIOT ACT. Waives INS personnel limits.

Authorizes appropriations for INS, Border Patrol, and consular personnel, training, facilities, and security-related technology. Provides for machine-readable visa fees.

Title II: Interagency Information Sharing - Directs U.S. law enforcement and intelligence entities to share alien admissibility- and deportation-related information with INS and the Department of State until implementation of the information sharing plan provided for by this title.

Amends the USA PATRIOT ACT to eliminate an Office of Homeland Security alien screening report requirement.

Directs the President to: (1) report respecting admission- and deportation-related law enforcement and intelligence information needed by INS and the Department of State; and (2) develop a related information-sharing plan within one year of enactment of the USA PATRIOT ACT. Requires such plan to provide source and privacy protections. Provides criminal penalties for information misuse.

Amends the USA PATRIOT ACT to advance the deadline from: (1) two years to one year for development and certification of a technology standard to certify the identity of alien applicants for admission; and (2) 18 months to six months for a related report.

(Sec. 202) Directs: (1) INS to fully integrate its databases and data systems; and (2) the President to develop and implement an interoperable law enforcement and intelligence data system (with name-matching and linguistic capacity, including at least four priority languages) for visa, admissibility, or deportation determination purposes, which shall include the INS integrated system.

Directs the Central Intelligence Agency to issue certain reports and guidelines required under the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998.

Authorizes appropriations for name search, linguistic, and reporting activities.

(Sec. 203) Directs the President to establish the Commission on Interoperable Data Sharing, which shall: (1) monitor information misuse protections under the alien screening plan; (2) provide oversight of the interoperable data sharing system; and (3) report annually to Congress. Authorizes appropriations.

Title III: Visa Issuance - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (Act) to direct the Secretary of State (Secretary), upon issuance of an alien visa, to provide INS with an electronic version of the alien's visa file prior to the alien's U.S. entry.

(Sec. 302) Sets forth technology standard and interoperability requirements respecting development and implementation of the integrated entry and exit data system and related tamper-resistant, machine-readable documents containing biometric identifiers. Requires a visa waiver country, in order to maintain program participation, to certify by October 26, 2003, that it has a program to issue to its nationals qualifying machine-readable passports that are tamper-proof and contain biometric identifiers. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a Terrorist Lookout Committee at each U.S. mission; (2) provide consular staff with visa screening training; and (3) provide for the use of terrorist-related intelligence in such activities' performance.

(Sec. 306) Prohibits the admission of an alien from a country designated to be a state sponsor of international terrorism (as defined by this Act) unless the Secretary has determined that such individual does not pose a risk or security threat to the United States.

(Sec. 307) Conditions participation in the visa waiver program upon a country's timely reporting to the United States of its stolen blank passports.

Requires INS to perform a check of lookout databases prior to permitting an alien's U.S. admission.

(Sec. 308) Directs: (1) the Secretary and the Attorney General, as appropriate, within 72 hours of notification of a lost or stolen U.S. or foreign passport, to enter such passport's identification number into the interoperable data system; (2) the Attorney General to enter into the system such information on passports lost or stolen prior to the system's implementation; and (3) the Attorney General to enter such information into the interim system prior to the interoperable system's implementation.

(Sec. 309) Directs the Attorney General to ensure that refugees and asylees are issued work authorizations, which shall contain fingerprint and photo identification.

Title IV: Admission and Inspection of Aliens - Directs the President to study the feasibility of establishing a North American National Security Program (United States, Canada, Mexico), including consideration of alien preclearance and preinspection. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 402) Amends the Act to: (1) require commercial aircraft or vessels arriving at, or departing from, the United States to provide immigration officers with specified passenger, other occupant, and crew manifest information; (2) prohibit carrier entry until such information has been provided; (3) provide monetary and non-entry penalties for noncompliance; (4) require electronic manifest transmission by January 1, 2003; (4) provide the Attorney general with waiver authority; and (5) direct the President to conduct a feasibility study regarding such provisions' extension to commercial land carriers.

(Sec. 403) Directs INS to adequately staff ports of entry.

Title V: Foreign Students and Exchange Visitors - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to direct the Attorney General to develop an electronic means of verifying and monitoring the foreign student and exchange visitor information program, including aspects of: (1) documentation and visa issuance; (2) U.S. admission; (3) institution notification; (4) documentation transmittal; and (5) registration and enrollment.

Requires an institution to notify INS of the failure of a foreign student or exchange visitor to enroll within 30 days of the registration deadline.

Increases student data collection requirements. Specifies information required for foreign student visa applications.

Sets forth transitional foreign student monitoring requirements, including: (1) restrictions on visa issuance; (2) INS notification of visa issuance; (3) institution notification of U.S. entry; and (4) INS notification (by the institution) of failure to enroll. Directs the Attorney General to provide the Secretary with a list of institutions approved to accept foreign students or exchange visitors. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 502) Provides for INS and Department of State review of institutions authorized to enroll or sponsor foreign students and exchange visitors.

Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to extend the deadline for presentation of biometric border crossing identification cards.

(Sec. 602) Directs: (1) the Comptroller General to determine the feasibility of requiring each nonimmigrant alien to report annually to INS respecting his or her address and employer's address; and (2) the Secretary and INS to study alternative approaches to for encouraging or requiring Mexico, Canada, and visa waiver countries to develop an intergovernmental network of interoperable international electronic data systems.

(Sec. 604) States that this Act shall not be construed to impose requirements that are inconsistent with the North American Free Trade Agreement, or to require additional documents for certain nonimmigrant emergency or in-transit-aliens for whom documentary requirements are waived.

(Sec. 605) Directs the Attorney General to report annually respecting aliens who fail to appear at removal proceedings after release on their own recognizance.

(Sec. 606) Directs the Department of State to retain every nonimmigrant visa application in judicially and administratively admissible form for a period of seven years from the date of application.

[EBUCK]

One of them is in Fox's hand, can you guess which one it is? (a hint....it's not the Byrd)

EBUCK

[FITZ]

I agree very much with your plan. In addition, any immigrant found committing a crime like using stolen Social Security cards would be sent back and never allowed citizenship. I know too many people who are dealing with the issue of their Social Security numbers that were stolen and used by someone living in another state and find out when applying for jobs with background checks finding something on them.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Bump.

[harpseal]

BTT for what would be an exellent idea. However, I doubt anyone in government has the B*lls to even consider it.

Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

[RnMomof7]

President Bush is the leading obstacle to controlling illegal immigration in this country and his "open door" border policy is a threat to national security, the Republican chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus said yesterday.

This says it all

[Pa' fuera]

beefing up the border is useless if the INS & State Dept. are inept at detecting fraud by those who use the legal channels to immigrate. I live in San Diego, where 40,000 cars cross into the USA daily, filled by people going to work without work permits but with border crossing cards. How do they get the border crossing cards? By establishing that they work in Mexico and have "roots", so that they don't use the border crossing cards to immigrate. Every morning, our INS lets these people in to "go shopping", when they know full well that they are going to work and that they have lied to the State Department on their border crossing card applications.

[RnMomof7]

Lets be real.. True border control would require at least 500,000 to maybe 1,000,000 border agents. The cost of doing this would be crazy so what do we do. We here control the borders, control the borders but nothing about the dollars it would take to really make it happen. You say use the military like O'Rielly keeps harping on but the numbers are the same so we'd need half a million more military troops with probably 150 Billion dollars added to the defense budget?

For those of you that are interested, I have summarized some of the policies and regulations concerning the US Border Patrol in El Centro , CA.

1. Agents are not allowed to chase loaded vehicles that break traffic laws.(ex. Going 1 mile over the speed limit.)
2. Agents are not allowed to chase vehicles into residencial areas.
3. Agents are not allowed to chase illegal aliens if they make it a mile north of the border wihtout a supervisors permission.
4. Agents are not allowed to patrol large swathes of American soil due to the potential of violent assaults by the aliens.
6. Agents are required to give juice and crackers to the aliens.
7. Agents on stationary positions known as "X's" are not allowed to move from their position to chase aliens.
Apparently the Border Patrol has gone from a policy of law enforcement to a policy of appeasement. You would think, given the circumstances, that USBP policies would be the opposite

.HERE

This is how the Border Patrol runs under Bush..There is NO effort to protect our borders..we pay a fortune for make believe cops that are littler more than a welcoming party for illegals

"Provide for the common defense"..UMMMMMM seems to me that would mean a constitutional demand to protect our border..

[EBUCK]

Limit welfare to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. That would greatly reduce government welfare spending, which means smaller government while removing the incentive for aliens seeking welfare to enter the country illegally. We'd still get illegal aliens coming here to work, but those aliens add to our economy by providing a valuable commodity (labor) at a lower cost than American employees would accept. OTOH, the illegal aliens who contribute nothing to our economy would no longer have an incentive to drain our welfare rolls.

I don't think you are seeing the long view here.

With all this amnesty talk the same folks you think would go home because of the lack of gubment assistance would have the opportunity to become citizens. As citizens they would be able to collect welfare just the same.

Your solution is actually already in place (actually in name only). The first reason it doesn't work is because of the children borne to illegals in American hospitals are American citizens and are elligable for assistance along with their parents. The second is the ease of forging oneself into citizenship.

Increased numbers of patrolmen, a wall, or a militarized border would slow the crossings to a trickle compared to what we have now. The only real solution is to stop them at the border.

EBUCK

[Brownie74]

Thanks for the pings.

Of course you are right about punishing and seizing businesses that hire illegals Saber. The laws are already on the books - lets enforce them. What's going on at Tyson Chicken? I haven't heard anything about them lately.

Tancredo Fan:

President Bush is the leading obstacle to controlling illegal immigration in this country and his "open door" border policy is a threat to national security....

How can anyone possibly consider voting for this air head again? Not me!!

ADIOS JORGE!!

[Victoria Delsoul]

With all this amnesty talk the same folks you think would go home because of the lack of gubment assistance would have the opportunity to become citizens.

Amnesty talk is just that. There is no amnesty that I'm aware of.

The only real solution is to stop them at the border.

How? Explain please.

[Brownie74]

As I said before, forget about Fox and Castaneda. Without Bush they are nothing. Concentrate on Bush. If we beat Bush we also beat the other two.

We need your namesake for president.