Posted on 03/30/2007 10:08:31 AM PDT by DBCJR
A White House plan devised with Republican senators would grant work visas to undocumented immigrants but require them to return home and pay hefty fines to become legal U.S. residents.
The draft immigration legislation is the first stab ... to address the presence of 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants ...
Under the plan, undocumented workers could apply for three-year work visas, which the plan dubs "Z" visas. They would be renewable indefinitely but renewal would cost $3,500 each time.
The undocumented workers would have legal status with the visas, but to get a green card, making them legal permanent residents, they'd have to return to their home country, apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and pay a $10,000 fine.
The plan also tries to make border security a priority by requiring 18,300 Border Patrol agents and 370 miles of physical fencing be in place, as well as electronic monitoring of the southern border ongoing before a temporary worker program could start.
The plan is far more conservative than the one the Senate approved last year with bipartisan backing and support from President Bush. That plan, whose principal architects were Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., allowed illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S., work and apply to become legal residents after learning English, paying fines and back taxes and clearing a background check.
Critics dismissed that bill as an amnesty.
...
Kennedy appeared at a news conference in support of immigration reform with evangelical leaders, including Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty. The leaders said they plan to exhort their congregations to push lawmakers ...
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
We need to address: 1) automatic citizenship upon birth here. 2) eliginility for the benefits of citizenship. 3) how do we know who is here, what purposes they are here for, and how do we track where they are going & what they are doing? AlQaeda cells are becoming multi-national and cross-gender. We can't tell by looking.
There is no clean-up related to the actual security issues currently present. This is a no enforcement solution.
Crazy ideas, like 370 miles of fence??? Why bother?
The fine thing is non-competitive with the smuggle option. If they get over here cheaper by smuggling, and the we are soft on execution of the law, what do you think will happen? "Gee, if I am illegal, I don't pay taxes either... My kids born here are Americans, and we all get benfits!" The party goes on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAaBgMmSrJo&mode=related&search=
More details here --> http://www.numbersusa.com/index
We need to start those phones ringing in Washington so that our REPs know that Americans don't want this...
NEW IMMIGRATION PLAN....How bout let's enforce the ones we got now?
A tweak here and a tweak there and you get the same old, same old.
Illegal aliens do not have to leave and are allowed to stay legally.
That equals AMNESTY.
Bush and Kennedy are NOT together on this, and those of us who want to stop amnesty better wake up and understand what is happening here.
We ARE going to get a bill. It can be a bad bill, or a horrible bill.
Kennedy is pushing a bill like the one from last year in the Senate. I THOUGHT we'd be lucky to get off so easy, but I was wrong. The republicans are ready to push a bill that isn't nearly so liberal as that one.
We can FIGHT this republican bill, which will guarantee that Kennedy's bill will pass, and Bush WILL sign it,
Or we can get behind the republican plan, hold our noses, and be thankful that it isn't worse after last november's elections.
My guess is we'll choose the first, because of irrational exuberance over our ability to control the votes of congress.
Disclosure -- I've always supported a restrictive guest worker program, AND the ability for people here illegally to be allowed to apply for citizenship. So while I opposed last year's plan as too liberal, I don't need them to move as far to the right as some people here would.
Meet The New AMNESTY, Same As The Old AMNESTY
The RAPE of AMERICA continues.......................
"The undocumented workers would have legal status with the visas, but to get a green card, making them legal permanent residents, they'd have to return to their home country, apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and pay a $10,000 fine."
And what about the millions upon millions of illegal aliens that are NOT working...who's going to sent THEM home???
And, if they have 'legal status' with visas, why would they bother paying 10,000 dollars in order to become citizens??
How about including a provision where only the WORKER can come here to work? Send families back.
What about including a provision where they are ineligible for government benefits, since they are not citizens?
What say we end anchor babies while we're at it?
And, oh yes, BUILD THE DAMN WALL!!
"I've always supported a restrictive guest worker program, AND the ability for people here illegally to be allowed to apply for citizenship. So while I opposed last year's plan as too liberal"
What about it was too "liberal"? It sounds like just what you wanted.
>>Bush and Kennedy are NOT together on this....We can FIGHT this republican bill, which will guarantee that Kennedy's bill will pass, and Bush WILL sign it<<
Sounds like they are not that far apart.
>>and those of us who want to stop amnesty better wake up and understand what is happening here.<<
How will the Bush version stop amnesty?
>>My guess is we'll choose the first, because of irrational exuberance<<
Or on principle, because both bills are wrong.
Well guess what, NOBODY GIVES A RAT ABOUT YET ANOTHER ATTEMPTED AMNESTY!
Bit by bit, speech by speech, another fumbling attempt to shove a 30 million mexican peasant amnesty on the American Taxpayers, President Bush is bringing us closer to an absolute clean sweep of the republican party to dump the current near total infestation of political pimps and money mongers to be replaced with MEN like Fred Thompson (run Fred RUN!) With President Bush's personal agenda ignoring the will of the people I will watch with a severe case of the warm fuzzes as a new and responsible Republican Party respond to the simple dictum of "from the consent of the governed" and dumps the current crop of near traitors from 2008 to hopefully 2016 and beyond.
Nope. No more nose holding. That BS is just about done. We are going to see more "drafting" of real leaders not worthless skum liers that clame they are "conservative republicans" when in fact they are @zzholes.
DONT tell me I have no choice except for Bad or Worse. I will find a way out and leave you "holding your nose."
If this was the typical bill where, after a few years, people would wake up and see how bad it was and fix it, I might agree with you.
But if the Kennedy bill gets passed, the illegals are all getting amnesty, they will never have to leave, and they will all be granted citizenship, making it nearly impossible to correct the mistake.
The republican plan does NOT give these people citizenship, and while it allows them to stay and work, it's on a plan that does not include citizenship.
Citizenship requires them to leave the country. I can't say what else it requires, the details aren't being published. My plan requires those with less than 5 years to leave the country and wait until their turn comes up. It allows those 5 years or more to pre-register and be pre-screened. If they pass screening, they can pay a yearly fee to stay while they wait in the back of the line for citizenship.
So they might become citizens, but only after everybody who followed the legal procedure are served, and then only under the quota system, not an automatic right like the democrat's plan.
We did the "no compromise" thing last year, and now we have a democrat congress to deal with so it's no likely we'll get what we want. And if we push republicans to throw out their plan, the democrats will PASS their plan.
This isn't like an election where two years later you get to go again with the right candidate. If the democrats pass their immigration bill, we will NEVER get to pass another one.
The republican plan seems to NOT grant automatic citizenship to all the illegals. It could be the basis for something that is tolerable. At LEAST read the plan and consider it in light of the alternative before rejecting it and essentially chosing Kennedy's bill. Cut of your nose to spite your face if you like to torture yourself, but do it in an informed way.
Well, arn't you just the little surrender monkey!
well here is a new concept for you.
No "comprehensive" anything. It is what you don't see here that tells me much about why you promote surrendering. You see it as "We did the "no compromise" thing last year, and now we have a democrat congress to deal with"
Americans see it as "We did the "no compromise" thing last year," and we held the line and we do not have 30 million illegal aliens loose in this nation laughing about their brand new amnesty. And yes, we took some hits on that but that is part of the fight. Apparently you want to start waving white flags around just because we got one bloody nose.
The only bill a majority of Americans want is the one that authorizes funds for the mass transportation of the illegal aliens to the closest u.S. border.
You are more than welcome to stick your rear end in the air but I will fight this attack on the nation just like I have other attacks to this nation in the past. Your “we can’t win” sniveling makes me sick.
To be very honest, looking at your reply, you will never "get it." You will go along to get along and you will always be a miserable creature. Here is a good quote from history that sums it up.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
Ok, your spanking is over, go starch your flag
Sad that you agree with plans to give away our nation.
What is it about alcoholism and support for open borders?
"President Bush today made a point of praising one of the Senate's strongest supporters of illegal alien amnesty, Senator Edward Kennedy. President Bush said Republican lawmakers are working closely with Senator Kennedy on what is called comprehensive immigration reform, or amnesty.
President Bush said Senator Kennedy is "One of the best legislative senators there is. He can get the job done."
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0703/14/ldt.01.html
We already have guest worker programs in the form of H1B, H2B, E-1, E-2, E3 Treaty, Nurse, O-1, P Visa for Athletes and Entertainers, TN Nafta, etc. visas. Hundreds of thousands are already working here under those programs.
You are advocating amnesty for those who violated our laws by entering our country illegally and for identity theft. What signal does that send to potential illegals wanting to enter and to the millions of those who are standing in line abroad waiting in line to enter legally?
The first thing that needs to be done is to shut down the supply of illegals coming in through our borders and from visa overstays. Until we can demonstrate that we are seriously committed to stopping the flow of 500,000 to 1 million illegals entering annually, no action should be taken on those already here. We made the same mistake in 1986.
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