Posted on 04/11/2006 11:20:59 PM PDT by FairOpinion
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Following huge nationwide protests, Republicans on Tuesday moved to possibly change two key provisions in a get-tough immigration bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
One would turn millions of illegal immigrants into felons and the other has raised concerns that people who provide them humanitarian relief would be punished. Top Republicans insisted that neither is their intent.
Their verbal commitments to revisit those provisions came a day after hundreds of thousands of people held demonstrations nationwide, provoked by the bill that would also erect a fence along much of the U.S.-Mexican border.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, issued a joint statement, saying: "It remains our intent to produce a strong border security bill that will not make unlawful presence in the United States a felony."
They said an effort had been made earlier to change the bill to make "unlawful presence" a misdemeanor, but it was rejected mostly by Democrats in the Republican-led House.
They also blamed Democrats for stalled legislation in the Senate, which would bolster border security and provide most of the estimated 11.5 million to 12 illegal immigrants in the United States a path toward citizenship.
A spokeswoman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said, "clearly Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist are feeling the heat from the hundreds of thousands of people around the country rallying against the (House) bill that Republicans supported."
Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, said, "Actions speak louder than words, and there's no running away from the fact that the Republican House passed a bill and Senator Frist offered one that criminalizes immigrants."
Millions of people have made their voices heard in support of a comprehensive immigration reform plan and now it is time for action, not empty rhetoric," Kennedy said.
Earlier on Tuesday, senior Republican aides told reporters it is not the intent of the House bill to crack down on humanitarian assistance to illegal immigrants.
They said key House Republicans were prepared to try to revise language in the measure to eliminate such concerns -- if and when the bill is sent to a House-Senate conference.
"We don't want to arrest nuns and priests," said one aide.
The aide cited a letter sent last week to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has voiced concerns that the bill could make them a target for prosecution.
The bill reads, in part, "whoever -- assists, encourages, directs or induces a person to reside in or remain in the United States (illegally) -- shall be punished ...."
The letter to the Catholic bishops was signed by Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King of New York and International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde of Illinois.
In it, they wrote, "We can assure you, just as under current law, religious organizations would not have to 'card' people at soup kitchens and homeless shelters under the House bill's anti-smuggling provisions.
"Nonetheless, we stand willing to work with you and other persons of good will to ensure humanitarian assistance efforts are not mistakenly ensnared in this moral effort to end suffering at the hands of human traffickers," who bring illegal immigrants into the United States for a profit, they wrote.
So where were all these people during the Clinton years, when millions of illegals came in, and nobody raised their voices about it?
And now some people are acting, as if it had started with President Bush.
"The republicans need to drive this fact home that the democrats are behind this and it was their plan."
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Exactly. But unfortunately they allowed the Dems to tar them and aren't fighting back.
This begs the question, why aren't they?
That is amnesty pure and simple. The mere talk of it has about tripled the number of border jumpers in just the last week. It would get a lot worse for years to come. Then there are all of the extended family members of the "11 million" that would be coming legally in the next few years. Kiss any conservative elective seat goodbye forever, much less Republican.
By the way, the numbers of border jumpers increased within two days of last weeks "spontaneous" protests.
Because we are in charge.
First of all they are already required by federal law to check documents. It is already a $10,000 fine per illegal employed. But the objections of difficulty checking documents is very well addressed in H.R. 4437. There are very reasonable protections for employers in cases where the gov. verifies a worker's documents and they are later found to be fraudulent. The database is already in place too.
Are you putting that forth as a serious argument? because the facts are certainly bogus. If it was even half true it wouldn't hold water because they certainly wouldn't make a law retroactive to employers.
The law has been on the books for a long time and it's unenforceable.
Did you ask for your gardener's papers, and even if you would, how do you know whether they are real or forgeries?
As I said, the answer is to stop them at the border, instead of expecting private people or business people to become forder enforcement agents.
No ex poste facto laws. If new laws come into effect, they have a date when they become effective. What you did in the past doesn't matter.
Kind of like drinking when you were 20 when the drinking age was 18 ages ago. You're not going to get busted for that when they raised the drinking age to 21 a few years down the road.
And why not create documents that are much harder to forge and then hold employers accountable? Employees are accountable to their employer if they accept counterfeit currency. No reason that employers, if legal immigrats are given an identification that is as difficult to forge as is our currency, shouldn't nor couldn't be expected to hire only legal citizens.
I think Republicans aren't fighting back or attacking the Dems on many issues, where they should because of some notion of "taking the high road" and expecting people to figure out the truth.
But since the Dems put forth a full propaganda campaign, the Republicans end up losing in the court of public opinion.
I think if President Bush and the Republicans would have been talking to the American people and explaining to them the situation in Iraq every day, and refuted every time the Dems lied about it, Bush's approval would be at least at 65%.
I don't understand WHY you won't gather even bigger counter demonstartions PRO immigration reform law?
If americans against invaders then why not to show it to them and legislature?
The Year 2006 is an election year. After watching all the Democrats over the past few days talk of granting rights to illegal aliens I got a brainstorm of an idea: put some illegals on the ballot against them.
We could do it in New York against Senator Hillary Clinton and in San Francisco against Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Since no Republican will ever carry either place we could put them on the Republican ticket.
What would the Dems say against this? That the people they're against are illegal? They want "rights" for these people. Isn't one right the ability to run for office? If the left raises a big stink, we'll just accuse them of racist, sexist, homophobia. We'll have our candidate recount tales of his family wandering the desert bare foot through cacti.
I'd really love to see what the Dems would say. Our candidate could even promise to work for half the salary of a Congressman (dare I say, do the work for a wage no American would accept?) It's okay though - he'll never see the money drained away in income taxes (if Congress even pays them.) He'd be an illegal.
I can even tell you how to answer tough questions:
#1 What do you think of the war? I think it's good. Who cares if a bunch of Americans die, we won't be taken away for the fighting: we're not citizens.
#2 What do you think of Abortion? My Catholic upbringing says that I need to be against it. It's okay though - if I ever need one I'll go home to Mexico (where it's legal) for the weekend.
#3 What do you think of gun control? I don't care about it. I'm not a citizen, I'll carry a gun if I want too.
So there you have it. I urge all Americans living near these areas to go in and vote for our illegal candidate. So what if you'd break the law to do it? We never really liked those laws anyway.
Having the GOP battle the democrat's lies with Truth would go a long way with the American voter. It remains to be seen if they have the fortitude for the battle.
Sure it is. Just because Senators like Chuck Hagel tell the INS to back off does not mean it's unenforceable. INS (ICE) is underfunded, fund it. INS has been told to lay off. They can be told to enforce. It's not at all hard to find the illegals. I've seen it done in Albuquerque.
Did you ask for your gardener's papers, and even if you would, how do you know whether they are real or forgeries?
You didn't read the article in the link I gave you did you? It works just like the NICs system for firearms purchases. The employer makes a phone call and in 5 - 15 minutes gets a yea or a nay. If he gets a yea and it later turns out there was some problem he is off the hook. Simple as pie.
I have never hired a gardener nor has 90% of citizens of this country. I have been an employer though, in construction, and I never hired and illegal. All of my employees were American born. But that was in the '80s.
If I had my way the employers would be strung up by their heels and beaten within an inch of their lives.
Posted by JeffHead Jeff links to Mexica.org's 'after protest' pic fest. You can see there what the marchers thought they were marching for.
A poster for Friday’s march. March 31. This poster lists the Latino orgs that are promoting the protests. They are all communist/socialist front orgs.
Here is my analysis of what is going on behind the scenes.
Here is some evidence that 'amnesty' increases illegal entries. These people knew before the demonstrations that the time was ripe.
Smith Act of 1940 This is the U.S. statute that ought to apply to the organized gathering of tens of thousands of foreign nationals calling for the overthrow of our country.
H.R. 4437 At this link you will find a good exegesis of the only bill that doesn't offer some type of amnesty/pathway to citizenship/excuses for illegal entry. It is harsh on employers but has reasonable protections for employers who verify documents that are later shown to be false. It explains that the databases necessary are already in place. It provides for border security.
Understand that the provision that the protesters say is 'racist,' that makes illegals felons, was inserted by the Dems a short time ago. That clarifies why Hillary happened to discover the immigration issue a week before the marches. Why she demonized Republicans as "making Jesus a criminal."
Keep in mind just who organized these protests. Who provided the tens of thousands of T-shirts, the thousands of professionally made signs, the hours and hours of promotion on Spanish language radio and TV stations. It has been noticed that Islamic orgs names and logos appear on some of these signs as well. Remember that NEA teachers and administrators are the ones who have assisted the march organizers by providing bussing for their students, hoisting Mexican flags at school and overlooking the truancy.
Don't forget that the last two Presidential elections were nearly 50/50. Think about how our Congress is looking for a way to appease these foreign nationals through legislation. No election necessary. The outcome of legalizing 11 million illegals and encouraging more to come will be a solid lock for the left forevermore in national elections. We don’t need an ‘immigration’ bill. We need and want a border security and illegal aliens bill. An immigration/guest worker bill can come after that is done.
Mexico is Rich- Mexican wealthy play American taxpayers for suckers
Good thread for any that missed it. It should really make you mad.
Every dollar spent in U.S. taxes for social services for illegal aliens frees up additional cash to be sent south as part of the annual remittances which provided $20 billion in 2005. According to the CNN news show Lou Dobbs Tonight (3/21/05), "Remittances, as they're called, are expected to become Mexico's primary source of income this year, surpassing the amount of money that Mexico makes on oil exports for the first time ever."
Mayans in Chiapas Region Convert to Islam
The bill that was just defeated in the Senate was an amnesty, plain and simple. But take a look at what these treasonous scumbags tried to hide in it. They will be back and we can expect more of this if we do not act decisively.
Hidden Bombs (Extremely Important Article on Immigration)
The second nasty surprise? Just before the committee approved the bill on the evening of March 27, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) offered the "DREAM Act" as an amendment. It passed on a voice vote.The DREAM Act is a nightmare. It repeals a 1996 law that prohibits state universities from offering in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens. The principle, of course, is that no illegal alien should be entitled to receive a taxpayer-subsidized benefit that out-of-state U.S. citizens can't get. But the committee's bill allows illegals to be treated better than those U.S. citizens on tuition.
Watching the protests on television made me realize that we have no representation.Our elected officials care only for themselves retaining their power.Our country in being invaded and we can do nothing but watch it happen,and it is and will happen.
Republicans will lose badly in 2006. It's inevitable. Bush has the lowest ratings ever. Republicans can't even muster more than 50% support of Republican voters! What we need is REAL leadership and real decisions need to be made! We can't afford any more of this indecision. This selling off of the country needs to stop immediately. Laws need to be respected.
I'm still in shock that so many Republicans were willing to go along with that thoroughly noxious, reprehensible Senate 'compromise' last Thursday. It's just so maddening. This invasion has been going on for year after year. And when our politicians finally get around to confronting the issue, they cave! They care more about alien criminals than our own border security.
Here I've been doing all I can (voting and contributing and beyond), for years trying to preserve this country against the twin enemies of leftist culture on one end, and the Islamic terror scum on the other... yet now I find people in my own Party ready to hand over the country. Good grief, why even bother fighting Al-Qaeda anymore? What's the damned use? There's not even going to be a country here worth fighting for. Just another third-world, socialist-leaning cesspool. It's halfway there already.
This is really the last stand. If something isn't done immediately (fences, walls, deportations, whatever), America is no more. And I'm going to curse the sell-out contingent of Republicans to my dying breath. I expect such treachery from the Dems, not 'my' guys. Damn, I could just chew nails right now!
LOL!
This may come as a shock to you, but 90% of us don't HAVE gardeners!
We even mow our own lawns! (those of us fortunate enough to HAVE lawns!)
Welcome to the New USA: By the Gated Community Members, of the Gated Community Members, and for the Gated Community Members. All others stay outside -- and please, don't disturb Our Mexicans on their way to work!
ROFLMAO!
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