Posted on 04/19/2005 3:45:36 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
WASHINGTON — The Senate today blocked a measure that would have created a path to citizenship for an estimated 500,000 farmworkers and their families, dealing a setback to those who advocate legalization as the key to immigration reform.
The measure's supporters failed to secure the 60 votes needed to prevent a filibuster by opponents, ending the effort by Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) to attach the plan to an $80-billion emergency funding bill that mainly would pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Under the plan, any illegal farmworker who could demonstrate that he or she had worked in agriculture for at least 100 days in the 18-month period before Dec. 31, 2004 and meet certain other criteria would be eligible for temporary residency.
Once the worker obtained temporary residency, he or she would have to work another 360 days over at least the next three years and no more than six years to be eligible for permanent residency. The spouse and children of farmworkers who obtained permanent residency would also be eligible for permanent residency.
Opponents attacked the measure as a thinly disguised amnesty program that would only increase the flow of illegal immigration into this country, and said it was inappropriate to try to attach such a sweeping change to an emergency spending bill needed to supply troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Be Ever Vigilant!
Minutemen ~ Bump!
This is the Ag Amnesty that I refered to you earlier (Tancredo DL ban).
For once I agree with you. The Senate will indeed block every attempt to strengthen enforcement of our immigration laws, better protect our borders and make it difficult for Illegal Aliens to acquire false IDs. There are simply too many Senators who are in the back pocket of the OBL for any meaningful change in the open borders status quo at this time.
It only highlights just how disconnected the Senate, particularly the RINO leadership is from the American electorate.
Though I would not be so smug and assured that the Senate will forever do your Open Borders bidding. With the approval ratings of Congress and Bush plummeting, there very well might be some interesting developments that you and the OBL are not going to like in the next few years.
Given all the mounting problems in this country that are purposely being ignored by Congress and the Administration, the political environment is ripe for change.
I suspect they'll be able to keep us distracted with gay marriage and Janet Jackson's boobs for quite a few more election cycles.
Isn't that the truth. Congress will take on any cause with gusto as long as it doesn't involve tackling the critical problems confronting America that they were elected and paid to do.
If you say so.
Yes, accountability and accurate reporting are not something the media has concerned itself with for quite sometime now. Long gone are days of investigative journalism and public scrutiny of our elected officials--the central purpose of a free press. Things our press Used to Do.
With politicians moving freely through the revolving doors between the media, lobbying outfits, think tanks, it's all one big happy Beltway Family now. And it is precisely such incestuous relationships that has reduced the media to being no more than the unofficial propaganda arm of the American Welfare State.
The notion that some fair minded journalist would research what Ted the Swimmer did in 1966 with his sponsorship of the Immigration Act of that year which opened up a Pandora’s Box of mass 3rd world immigration which continues to this day and reveal the Swimmer's hypocrisy is simply ludicrous. That is a sure-fire way to end the career of an aspiring journalist...
Just pure speculation on my part..
A majority of the illegals cannot read Spanish either.
It is a very tough problem. There are no easy solutions.
True, but crisis of illegal immigration will only worsen under the present leadership, which has no intention whatsoever of doing anything but encouraging more illegal immigration.
The "reforms" being touted are mere cynical Beltway Speak for the passage of Amnesties with no change in the status quo of keeping our borders wide open and our immigration laws inoperative. In others words Congress, particularly the Senate and the Administration have “zero” credibility on this issue and can be counted on to do the wrong thing.
If our leadership was serious about illegal immigration they would be vigorously patrolling the borders and exercising penalties against employers of illegal aliens. That they don’t, even after the horrors of 911, tells you everything you need about how serious they are in tackling this crisis.
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