Congress Nears Deal on Illegal Immigrants (breaking on cable networks)

AP/Yahoo News ^ | 4-6-06 | DAVID ESPO

[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.

[Prokopton]

I've seen that one and it's cute but..
I think a real statement could be made if the Republicans trying to raise money recieved a couple hundred thousand real pesos, one at a time.

[x1stcav]

Sure,

www.reconquista.us

[NELSON111]

Yeah, we'll show 'em. We'll all stay home or vote for some 'not a chance in hell' 3rd party candidate. Then the Democrats will take over the house and senate, and we can get everything we want.

So the solution is to just keep putting them in office and let them continue to ignore our voice? This is wrong and a vaste majority of the country believes it...not just republicans but dims too. They aren't listening to us anymore. Maybe they need a wake up call and if that means turning the whole shooting match over for a spell and making them use their filibuster power for a while...to REMIND them that WE THE PEOPLE are who they work for...then I am all for it. What good is it to send them there to represent ME if they are NEVER going to do it? And guess what...they aren't doing it. Right now...I would be MUCH MUCH more satisfied with a GOP MINORITY that was pissed of and filibustering everything and standing up for what was right than one that is caving into wrong every chance they get.

Maybe it is more important for you to win than be right...but not me. I would rather be enslaved under democratic majorities and be RIGHT than have a GOP congress and PRESIDENT that act more like the democrats of the 80's and early 90's than I ever thought possible.

If this legislation passes the SENATE (not the house..because they won't pass it), I'm done with the GOP until they clean their house. Why? Because I know my once beloved Governor and President GW Bush is happy about this legislation. He is "pleased" about it. He should be asking every one of these 5+ year illegal immigrants if they every had a FAKE social security card or FAKE ID and then prosecute them for having forged documents...like I would be.

But that's another area an illegal immigrant is going to get a pass on. The get to go ahead of the line...ahead of all those who have been waiting for years leagally...and they are also going to not be prosecuted for having fake documents (for those who do). And it's all sanctioned by our beloved GOP.

[NRA2BFree]

Question: How do you solve the problem of tens of millions of invaders entering your country illegally?

GOP leadership's answer: Make them legal!!

Stroke of the pen, law of the land! Pretty cool!

Exactly!! Stroke of the pen = betrayal of the American CITIZENS!!

[Bigun]

And they intend to enforce this how, exactly?

I would be VERY interested to hear the answer to that one myself! If someone happens to post a plausible reply please be kind enough to ping me.

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

And the answer is an unambiguous "no."

Look, I knew that Bush was going to be awful on the issue of borders-simply by judging the record of his family, if nothing else, you could tell that-but even I am astounded by how little he cares about American citzenship, or how dense he seems to be on issues of genuine concern to a majority of the American public.

I had taken it as a given that amnesty had been buried with the 9/11 massacres, but evidently I was incorrect.

[glowworm]

How would you locate an illegal? Apparently you seem to think that they are quite recognizable. Tell me. Unless you had some form of documentation, how would you profile an illegal alien without resorting to some kind of racial stereotype?

Hmmm.. How do you profile a child molester? It isn't about race.. It is about illegal activity. When it is noticed.. call a "911" type universal number and report it. Only the Left thinks of it as racial problem. There has to be a consecrated effort to rid the problem from our Country.

I just wonder why the estimated 10 million, or so, of illegal aliens get more attention than nearly 290 million of legal American citizens who are damaged? I think I would worry about the legal backlash over the illegal "gimmees".

[JeffAtlanta]

And you will set up your own central committe telling how people can run restaurants.

Requiring restaurants to abide by labor laws is not anything like the USSR.

[stylin19a]

The headline stinks...it should be "Senate nears deal...."

The House is going to stick this in the Senate's ear.

[kenboy]

Nope you better add most of the South American Countries to your list. It's not just Mexicans coming over.

I actually saw a recent piece somewhere about how Costa Rica's standard of living is so much higher than that of its neighbors that it's flooded with illegal immigration from the rest of Central and South America. People want better lives -- some want to work for it, some don't -- but either way, they want them.

[blackie]

Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!

Support our Minutemen Patriots!

Be Ever Vigilant!

[XJarhead]

Well, they are supposed to verify each illegal already. The real rub is that civil enforcement is very rare. To me, the key is making it strict liability for employers rather than only holding them liable if they "knowingly" hire illegals. Treble fines for employers who were negligent, and criminal liability for those who did it knowingly.

[tumblindice]

"And they intend to enforce this how, exactly?"

I think they plan on hiring that Dodge fairy the gays don't like to assist in early AM raids.
She waves her magic wand: Mexican `morning wood'. Boinnggg!

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

I'm not referring to world commerce, dummkopf.

You might not care in the least that your president is gradually, but inexorably, deracinating the American economy, eroding the middle class, and trying his darnedest to turn this country into a reflection of our neighbor to the south, but I do.

[Spiff]

All I see on these threads is alot of flame throwing, whining, moaning and threats of coming Apocalypse. It's boring.

Then go away. Or just ignore such threads. We certainly don't need your kool-aid drinkin', pro-illegal alien, race-baiting in them.

[sam_paine]

If we clean house now we'll have a stronger party later, if we don't the dirt will just continue to pile up. I'd rather do the dirty work now and benefit from it later than wait until there's nothing worth saving.

That's the point. Republican voters are NOT talking about "doing any dirty work."

I agree we should keep close track of the republican sell-outs and toss them out of office.

BUT WE SHOULD REPLACE THE RINO'S WITH CONSERVATIVES.

This talk of simply staying home, or voting for the leftist only encourages other republican congresscritters to pander to fickle "swing" voters further.

Speaking of doing dirty work, who's using FR to organize anti-RINO primary campaigns? Who's doing that dirty work? I haven't seen much other than the theory that "four years of president Clinton will guarantee a conservative win in 1996."

[buoybob]

I could make the rounds in Houston to every Lowes, Home Depot, UHaul place, and could EASILY come up with a thousand before noon. Just drive through the parking lot with a UHaul. (truck or trailer, it doesn't matter)

[XJarhead]

Hey, if there's a fence that's funded, and solid penalties for employers who violate hiring laws, I honestly could live with a limited "amnesty".

[CharlesWayneCT]

THis is the one big problem. Especially in the republican party, we seem so opposed to a national ID card, but without something that proves you are supposed to be here, how do you know who isn't?

You could approach the problem from a different angle. Put controls in at the places where people HAVE to interact with the system -- government service requests, school enrollment, etc. But there is a lot of opposition to that based on not wanting people to be afraid to "get the help they need".

A friend recommended we simply require that all wire transfers out of country of over $100 have to be reported to the IRS, with a Social Security number. Then the IRS can compare that with income records, and if a SS is found to be sending more money out than is reported, they can go after the people to see what's up.

But do you want to have to file a report to send money? Of course not, because WE ARE AMERICANS, and shouldn't have to.

Which, as you point out, puts us back where we started, how do you make the system work to stop illegals, without annoying legals?

The one thing the Senate does that is useful is that it requires all the illegals to REGISTER to get into the program.

But that's a crock as well, because you can't force the illegals to register, they already don't follow laws, and a system that requires the bad people to tell us about their activities isn't going to work.

They tried this in the last immigrant bill, and it just made the problem worse.

[jackadams]

A nutcase Bushie is on Rush calling us Buchanan nutcases. She is accusing Rush of splitting the party. Who split the party? We didn't, they did by supporting illegals. That's alright with her because she is a rich Wall Street Journal Republican. She's saying they are not assimilating because they are illegal and that's our fault for not making them legal. HUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH? Where is the logic!