Posted on 04/06/2006 8:33:43 AM PDT by STARWISE
WASHINGTON - In a last stab at compromise, Senate Republicans and Democrats reported progress Thursday toward agreement on legislation opening the way to legal status and eventual citizenship for many of the 11 million immigrants now in the U.S. illegally.
"There's been tremendous progress overnight," said Sen. Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) of Nevada, the Democratic leader, while Majority Leader Bill Frist also expressed optimism that a long-sought compromise might be at hand.
There was no immediate reaction from President Bush, who has made immigration legislation a key priority.
The developments occurred after Frist unveiled a new bill late Wednesday night on the subject as the Senate headed into a test vote on the most sweeping immigration bill in two decades.
In general, the legislation would provide for enhanced border security, regulate the flow of future immigrants into the United States and settle the legal fate of the estimated 11 million men, women and children already in the country.
It was the fate of the illegal immigrant population that proved hardest to legislate, and it has left the Senate on the verge of gridlock for days.
(snip)
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., as well as other key senators met before the vote to review terms of a proposed compromise.
In general, it would require illegal immigrants who have been in the United States between two years and five years to return to their home country briefly, then re-enter as temporary workers. They could then begin a process of seeking citizenship.
Illegal immigrants here longer than five years would not be required to return home; those in the country less than two years would be required to leave without assurances of returning, and take their place in line with others seeking entry papers.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Now I see that you've trotted out the old standby of open borders apologists, i.e. anyone who wants a rational immigration policy, and to exert even minimal control over our porous So. border-in other words, the vast majority of Americans that have been suffering from the stupidity advocated by people like you, and affirmed by our misguided immigration policies, for the past two decades-is an ignorant Luddite.
Even though you've demonstrated-repeatedly-your ignorance of basic economics and political science.
Whatever taxes illegal aliens pay-I can only assume your referring to sales taxes, since they are working illegally, off the books-is dwarfed by the amount of taxes that they do not pay, e.g. payroll taxes, state and city income taxes, as well as the amount of public services that they utilize, e.g. public education, public hospitals, etc...
You can regurgitate the same idiotic talking points cribbed from Larry Kudlow, or Dan Heninger-or whatever clueless Republican talking head agrees with your deluded belief that importing millions of uneducated, unskilled immigrants from a third world, economically stratified hellhole is going to be a boon for the American economy, but you are not convincing anyone.
You're not convincing us that your preposterous assertions have any validity, or that you have even the most rudimentary grasp of the consequences of unfettered, third world immigration into this country.
I am not the uncultured, uncouth hick that thinks importing slave labor from Mexico-as well as all of the attendant economic and cultural maladies that plague that country-is a good idea, so I would kindly suggest that you retire the insipid attempt at sarcasm, Schecky.
First of all, you're not good at it.
Secondly, it merely serves to illustrate how vacuous your fallacious argument is.
Yet you have no problem passing the costs of illegal immigrants on to the general public.
And by the way, what sort of "due process" do want an illegal immigrant to have? If they are charged with a crime and going to be put in an American prison then yeah, give them a trial but if they are going to be deported then they do not have the right to a trial.
Heres the compromise:
They will let all the illegals become legal and we lump it.
This is really great... Im not American, but youll see me at the mexican border soon enough if this goes through.
Fine, how about we build a wall everywhere but Texas and then we send Texas the bill for any social services or expenses that are illegals incur in other states?
Texas isn't against sealing the border - that is your fantasy. In fact many ranchers on the border complain that their land is used for crossings.
Well stated!
BTTT
Good thing that you are not negotiating treaties. All "people" have the right to a hearing, and a trial in America. To whit: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
It says Person, not born or naturalized citizen.
You've got to be joking?!
There is nothing "moderate" or rational about your stance, something that numerous public opinion polls-where the majority of respondents revile your position-attest to.
You're deluding yourself if you think that a majority-or even a significant minority-of Texas Republicans agree with your bizarre Mexico first, America last position.
I'm willing to bet that the rest of the state's non-Republicans agree with the position expressed by the vast majority of AMERICANS, although perhaps to a lesser extent.
Public sentiment and opinion polls do not equal due process. Yet. Those that advocate summary and administrative classifications of people are a threat to liberty, and our republic.
In case you haven't noticed, that's why we're debating this idiotic amnesty sham in the first place.
People have broken the law-illegal aliens-and now expect to be rewarded for their blatant criminality.
Thank goodness there are suckers like you who are willing to roll out the red carpet for our favorite invaders.
So do you agree with the leftists that we have many terrorist suspects being held illegally by the U.S.?
That is after all, the position that you just defended.
And then there's this:
...nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
You inadvertently posted the answer to your rantings against a "wall." The Federal government takes private property for ridiculous reasons; securing the borders is not a ridiculous reason.
Oh, and Texas is actually part of the U.S.; your fantasies notwithstanding.
Your imbecilic, trite talking point about a Mexican Mohammad Atta simply demonstrates the vapidity of your arguments.
Did you overlook the link to the terrorism database that I posted earlier, kind of like every other fact you've blithely dismissed throughout this thread?
You know, the article that illustrated just how Mr. Abouhalima was able to take advantage of a loophole in the last ingenious amnesty that the same brain trust on Capitol Hill devised in 1986?
How he was able to exploit the same agricultural visa program used by those much-beloved illegal alien border-jumpers from Mexico in order to get into the United States...
Do you realize who that person is?
I'm going to just assume that your ignorance is widespread-and extends not only to the Constitution and economics, but to recent American history as well-and tell you who he was.
He was one of the chief conspirators in the first World Trade Center bombing plot.
So yes, some of those visas that you good ol' boys are so eager to dole out to our friends south of the border were used to destroy the World Trade Center.
Granted, he and his cohorts weren't successful in the endeavor...at least, that time.
I don't know why but I no longer trust anyone in Congress to pass a bill that is for the good of loyal legal Americans.
"You inadvertently posted the answer to your rantings against a "wall." The Federal government takes private property for ridiculous reasons; securing the borders is not a ridiculous reason." I am so sorry. I quoted that left-wing radical tripe. How can I ever atone for such an error? I will quote it again, with a link: "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html#amendmentv
This scribbling that you desire to stifle is also known as the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Of which Texas is an integral participant.
Yes, and many of those same scofflaws are the very people that you exalt, i.e. the ones who are systematically invading this country.
Thank goodness they were born in a country that has a stranglehold over our immigration policy, otherwise they might actually have to be held to account for their crimes.
Martha Stewart's trial would have gone a lot smoother if she had produced a Mexican birth certificate, or one of those nifty matricula consular ID cards that seem to be ubiquitous these days.
The DOJ wouldn't have even bothered going through the motions of prosecution, and would have simply absolved her of perjury right then and there.
People like you disgust me.
You slander brave patriots-such as Lou Dobbs-as "leftists" in order to obscure the fact that you consort with the most unreconstructed Marxists, sectarian leftists, and racist, violent Mechista/La Raza Unida effluvia that's contaminating our nation.
You can take your smug disregard for our laws and shove it.
I could care less what you unrepentent FROBLs think.
You were the same nitwits that apologized for Aunt Harriet, the DP World debacle, and every other misstep by this administration, so why should it surprise me that you would be willing to do the Mexican hat dance for Dubya's latest egregiously boneheaded blunder?
Not English speaking descendents of Swedes.
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