Posted on 11/19/2004 8:57:23 AM PST by Independentamerican
Last week, President George W. Bush finally signaled his intention to push for the immigration reform plan he unveiled nearly one year ago. That’s good news for a proposal that offers a creative solution to a long-standing problem. The plan, designed to grant temporary legal status to millions of undocumented aliens working in the United States, met a chilly reception when it was announced in January. Bush did little to promote it during the presidential election.
( SNIP )
The measure is certain to face intense opposition. Republican members of Congress have argued Bush’s temporary worker program rewards — and therefore encourages — illegal immigration. Members of both parties see immigration as a security threat in the post-Sept. 11, 2001, world. Some unions believe immigrants will undercut U.S. workers.
-SNIP-
Concern that immigrant workers compete with U.S. workers for scarce jobs is equally mistaken. Most immigrant laborers fill positions that U.S. workers pass over — retail and service-sector jobs that pay low wages and require little skill.
-SNIP-
The Bush proposal takes a more enlightened approach. It sees immigration as a net gain for the economy and ties temporary legal status to gainful employment. It wisely stops short of amnesty by requiring immigrant workers to eventually return home
(Excerpt) Read more at mndaily.com ...
I have wondered the same thing regarding the immigration issue. Although I was quite opposed to the idea at first, I think I have started to see Bush's logic on the issue.
I think Bush is thinking that if they are here, they would have no fear of REGISTERING themselves---because it would NOT be illegal to hire them---and the govt would know WHO they are, WHERE they are and have FINGERPRINTS and PHOTOGRAPHS of them (and possibly DNA and retinal scans). We can TRACK them.
However, if they don't follow the REQUIREMENTS for them to stay (or leave within some pre-determined time), the govt also knows WHO they are, WHERE they are and have FIGERPRINTS and PHOTOS (and possibly DNA and retinal scans)---to get RID of them.
They would no longer have an incentive to work underground, and indeed, employers would have no reason to hire them without REAL registration. And once they are REGISTERED with the govt, they are PREMANENTLY IDENTIFIABLE, making it much harder for them to hide (and quicker to remove them) if they are sent back and they try to return to the U.S.
In one sense, I am concerned about my interpretation of Bush's plan: it is good to catch non-Americans who come to the U.S. illegally, but it could be used against Americans.
It kind of reminds me of the "gun control" registration issue. Because of knife and gun registration, Hitler was able to know WHO had guns and knives and WHERE the owner lived. That enabled Hitler to CONFISCATE the Jews' weapons that they could have used to protect themselves against Hitler's gestapo.
For a very interesting discussion of the issue, go to: http://www.jpfo.org
It is the website for Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership and they are ABSOLUTELY PRO-2ND AMENDMENT!
It's a plan all right. A plan to turn America into a Banana Republic. Employer-Employee Matching accompanied by a huge increase in the legal immigration quota which is already at staggering levels? What does THAT mean?
Well if that's the case then eventually they will run out "easier areas". The 'squeeze' has gotta begin somewhere and AZ is a great start. If they move to another border state then it will be easier to grab them. I'm at the point where I wouldn't mind if they land mined the border or put 50,000 Komodo dragons in the desert as a deterrent.
Tancredo has addressed your concern:
Tancredo:
My purpose in introducing the bill is to emphasize that what we have to do to enforce our own immigration laws is to focus on the enforcement side of things: defend your border, apply pressure to step up internal enforcement of immigration law. Then you can develop some sort of guest worker plan that allows people to are truly needed to fill the jobs that "no one else can fill" to come into the country for a short period of time. While they’re here, they cannot get amnesty, they can’t bring family, and they have to return home in order for them to be legally employed in the United States. You can only do that only if you control your own borders.
Is Tancredo's program risk free? No, nor is any action on this issue. Life is not risk free, but Tancredo's proposal has the best opportunity for success, and the best chance to stave off an amnesty of illegal aliens. Better by far than maintaining the status quo.
There are lots of bad guest worker plans in Congress that are simply veiled amnesties. President Bush is going to spend a lot of energy trying to get a guest worker program passed, so the best strategy is to make sure that the plan that moves is Tancredo's. However, it's also the plan the President is least likely to favor, therefore to get him behind it he has to understand that it's the plan most likely to pass. It needs to be worth his while to compromise, which is going to mean that folks who oppose any amnesty for illegal aliens need to take off their Utopian glasses and support Tancredo's plan, and also support President Bush if (and only if) he's willing to compromise and incorporate the BE REAL Act into his immigration reform agenda. Empower Tancredo by supporting his legislation and you increase his chances of being on the winning team.
People who legitimize the border invasion of illegals by claiming they fill menial jobs are forgetting that they also draw welfare in one form or another from our system and don't pay enough taxes to replace it. They get more social benefits than American citizens receive and are essentially raping our land.
I don't see Congress passing all sorts of new laws to control this - Bush is providing a plan where noone else has.
The failure is bipartisan. The plan proposed by President Bush would reward that failure and encourage more of it.
Do you have any objection to a guest worker proposal that would require workers to apply from their home countries?
I agree. These people are already here and working, so it's not like a sudden influx. As for the ones who are not working and have no intention of doing so (the criminal element, for the most part), they obviously aren't going to register. This means that we have some who are okay and have voluntarily registered and identified themselves because they are committed enough to know that it means a job. And then we have a much smaller pool of those who can be simply trucked back over the border when picked up.
Furthermore, this keeps the money flowing to Mexico, which has so far not been very cooperative because it relies on the income from its emigrants,regardless of their legal status. Keeping the money flowing legally would enable us to get more cooperation out of Mexico in dealing with the problem of illegal immigration, people smuggling, and non-Mexican immigration through Mexico.
Sitting around and fantasizing that all illegals will spontaneously vaporize if we just wish hard enough or that we will mount machine guns every two inches and blast them is no solution at all, although many people seem to think it is.
Alfalfa Bill Murray
William Henry "Alfalfa Bill" Murray was Oklahoma Governor from 1931-35. He was elected Governor with a record majority of 100,000 votes. He called out the national guard 27 times and declared martial law 34 times. He was called Alfalfa Bill because of his support of the new idea of planting alfalfa and other legumes to restore nitrogen to the soil.
Major Events and Legislation:
* Created Tax Commission to increase tax revenues by speeding collections.
* Increased Motor Fuel Taxes.
* Increased Coporate Income Taxes.
* Reorganized the Highway Commission.
* Created Department of Waterways, Power, and Flood Control to deal with Dust Bowl.
* Opposed the New Deal.
* Called out the National Guard against Texas in the "Toll Bridge War," July, 1931, to reopen an Oklahoma-constructed free bridge across the Red River which had been closed by the Texas governor.
* Used National Guard to enforce segregation and to collect tickets at University of Oklahoma football games.
But did the Reagan Amnesty demand some reforms in the Immigration Laws? Sounds like that's what's being attempted here. Reforms are a good thing!
Are you suffering under the delusion that we will have any say at all in what to accept?
I too am totally against illegal immigration. I am just wondering what the true reasoning as to why our government is not willing to just stop them at the borders. Too much money ? Too big a benefit for businesses ? No real terror threat ? They don't care that Americans are against this ? I don't know but it baffles me.
It's the same old song and dance: reward the lawbreakers with Amnesty and promise the very enforcment they're unwilling to provide now.
Do you object to Tom Tancredo's guest worker proposal?
It's not a delusion, amnesty for illegal aliens has been thwarted several times during this Presidency already. Illegal alien drivers' licenses were defeated in California and other states. Arizona just passed Proposition #200. The politicians know this.
President Bush wants immigration reform. Make the Tancredo plan the path of least resistence.
I agree.
The Bush plan can't work because it rewards lawbreaking.
Do either of you object to Tom Tancredo's guest worker proposal?
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