Posted on 11/10/2004 7:47:55 AM PST by JesseHousman
MEXICO CITY-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed immigration with Mexican President Vicente Fox, but cautioned that revisions are up to Congress.
The chances that the U.S. Congress will overhaul immigration rules have increased with the end of the political season and the improvement of security along the U.S.-Mexican border, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday in Mexico.
But Powell cautioned that approval of the first major immigration changes in 18 years would depend on the new Congress that will take office in January.
''We don't want to overpromise,'' Powell told a news conference during discussions on a broad range of border issues. Joining Powell for his 20-hour stay in Mexico were five fellow Cabinet secretaries.
TOP PRIORITY
Powell met with Mexican President Vicente Fox, who has made migration reform in the United States a top foreign policy priority. Fox says the millions of Mexicans who work in the United States should have legal status there so they can live without fear of arrest and deportation.
During his discussions, Powell said he reaffirmed President Bush's ``plan to work with our new Congress to develop a temporary worker program to match willing foreign workers with willing U.S. employers.''
The comments suggested the Bush administration was giving priority to the provision in Bush's proposal that would give workers who still live in their home countries permission to work in the United States if they have a job offer.
LEGAL STATUS
A more controversial provision would allow undocumented aliens already in the United States to achieve legal status if they can prove they have employment. Beneficiaries could stay in the United States for three years, then be permitted to remain longer if certain conditions are met.
Many in Congress view Mexicans and others who entered the United States without official permission as lawbreakers, and are wary of doing them any favors. Mexicans constitute by far the largest illegal immigrant community, about 10 million people.
Bush and Fox agreed in 2001 to press for immigration reform, but the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks soured Congress on the idea.
Since the attacks, enhanced border security has been the dominant U.S. goal in relations with Mexico.
Fox said the time is ripe for an immigration accord.
''We have done all the analysis, diagnostics and problem solving possible,'' Fox said on the radio Monday. ``There's no reason to lose much time.''
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© 2004 Herald.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.miami.com
Calls to representatives!
Why reward a felon who illegally entered the U.S. with the gift of legal status, a slap in the face to those who got here legally.
He's right, time is running out on the oil fields PEMEX can easily or not so easily tap.
Mexico wants to off-load northward as many unwanted problems as possible before the well runs dry.
FYI........
Another OMG they are coming/we are doomed/ I'll never vote for Bush again/....... thread!
Whatta joke!
If you folks spend half the energy you currently spend worrying about illegal Mexicans, on some constructive solutions to the problem, we would all benefit.
If you paused for a few minutes, read our immigration friendly Constitution, studied our immigration friendly laws and gained a better understanding of our immigration friendly courts, you would better understand that compromises are going to be made and that doing nothing is not a option.
Like it or not, those residing in this country illegally for more than a few months have plenty of legal protections that cannot be taken away from them.
I lieu of this "SURPRISING" information, perhaps you might understand that some things just are because they are.
Stop waving your fist in empty air and do something constructive for a change.
Great, Bush is gonna nominate Alberto Gonzalez for AG.
Anyone expect a Latino immigrant AG to enforce immigration law?
I wasted my time voting.
I can't believe this $#**. I live is New England so this is just a news story to me but to the people in States along th border I feel truly sorry. Best of luck with your health care, schools, welfare............
Powell needs to step down, SHUT UP, and eclipse himself from the public stage - NOW!
Powell is a foreign policy ignoramus who is an embarrasment to the nation and to his President.
And Bush MUST be pressured through Republican Congressmen to FORGET an amnesties for these illegal invaders.
With every letter you send to a representative protesting the Administration's posture, make sure you cc Bush and cc Tom Tancredo of Colorado with a contribution for his political war chest. Maybe he will run in 2008, or generate enough heat to make Bush et al wake up.
American MUST take THEIR country back from illegal invaders and those who aide, abet and employ them!!
"An amnesty by any other name is still an amnesty, regardless of what the White House wants to call it," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, Colorado Republican and chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus.
"Their amnesty plan was dead on arrival when they sent it to the Congress in January, and if they send the same pig with lipstick back to Congress next January, it will suffer the same fate," he said.
Hold firm, Tom! Someone must stand for our Constitution.
Do you really believe that he does this on his own and is not the mouthpiece of the administration? He's following orders from above, and they're bad ones.
LQ
Absolutely, Cold Heat. Nice to see some good sense posted.
I voted for Tancredo.
Oh man, you're going to get flamed by all the knee jerk reactionaries here. Rational posts are not allowed in these kinds of threads. You must go off the deep end, scream about how much you hate Bush, and how you're never going to vote again.
I can't believe this is Bush's first priority. He didn't win on this issue. In fact, he knew it was a losing issue for his conservative base.
I don't know what the Bush campaign is thinking on this issue. I would ride the momentum of his conservative base that supported him, not make them mad.
This measure would effectively press the reset button on immigration. We would, for the first time in decades, be able to positively identify illegal aliens when they come forward to legalize their status. Most would do so in order to come 'out of the closet' as it were, so that they would no longer have to sneak across when they want to visit their families for Christmas, et al.
There is somewhere between 13 and 20 million illegals in-country today. For the most part, we have no idea who or where they are. September 11th 2001 showed us that this is not an acceptable situation. So this is a good thing, whether you like it or not. It will help in identifying those who are here for 'honest work' and those who are here to glom off the taxpayer. And it will give I.C.E. a leg up on figuring out who is trying to hide in plain sight.
This makes the best of a bad situation.
Like it or not, those residing in this country illegally for more than a few months have plenty of legal protections that cannot be taken away from them.
No, they don't have that many legal protections, though it's self-congratulatory for defeatists to say so. The key protection illegal aliens possess is the refusal of politicians of both parties to enforce the laws.
If you'll reread our Constitution yourself, you'll see that it is very friendly to the power of Congress to regulate and restrict immigration and naturalization as they deem appropriate.
The Bush proposal, which would legalize illegals without requiring them to return to their home countries, has no mandate and will be defeated. The acrimony the defeat will be determined by the amount of time it takes for President Bush to settle for a guest-worker proposal like Tom Tancredo's, which would require applicants to get in line in their nation of origin.
If President Bush pursues his efforts to legalize illegal aliens, he will be handing the Democrats a stick to beat him with in 2006, and his successor in 2008. Don't assume for a moment that a politician as shrewd as Bill Clinton won't see the opening, and advise his party to run for daylight.
"Fox says the millions of Mexicans who work in the United States should have legal status there so they can live without fear of arrest and deportation." Better yet, the US should build an electronic frontier the length of the border, including sensors for tunneling. If Mexico wants the rules changed -- a move that would only benefit Mexico -- it will have to sweep its own country clean of Atzlan and the Moslem terror network. That's something he can't or won't do.
It's still a losing issue, and will remain so indefinitely.
I don't know what the Bush campaign is thinking on this issue. I would ride the momentum of his conservative base that supported him, not make them mad.
Colin Powell just had an Arlen Specter moment.
It's very frustrating: Here in California 1 in 5 emergency rooms have already closed. These people "want to work" --- we keep hearing. But they are also lving here and many are getting sick. It's started a process of breaking down the public heath system.
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