Posted on 02/12/2008 6:25:03 AM PST by 3AngelaD
House Democrats are crafting a “scaled-down” immigration reform measure despite the political minefields that surround the issue, the Roll Call newspaper reported Monday. It says that Hispanic members — including Rep. Joe Baca — are seeking five-year visas for illegal immigrants who pay fines and pass criminal background checks. Baca, a California Democrat chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Baca said the prospects for a compromise package were discussed in high-level meetings that included Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who chairs a key immigration subcommittee, Roll Call said.
The paper added: “It’s unclear if the behind-the-scenes discussions will actually result in a bill coming to the floor, but Democrats say drafts of legislation already have been written and are being vetted behind the scenes.”...
(Excerpt) Read more at statesman.com ...
We have to avoid the fiasco of 1986.
The proposal must not be an ad hoc just this once amnesty proposal.
I would also submit it would go alot farther if they would just not insult our inteligence with this BS they-will-pay-a-fine-so-its-not-reaaaaaly-amenesty.
Build a real TANGIBLE smart fence, even in the impractical places as proof positive for the citizens.
Also do not forget we ALREADY have USCIS laws on the books which provide for a rolling amnesty program via a harship visa for those who have been here for 10 years. http://www.uscis.gov .
It used to be six years but was upped in 1996. In 1996 they made stricter laws on immigration by doing things like abolishing the achor babies. Thereafter the US citizen child went with the deported parents because custody follows the parents not the citizenship.
“I’m not saying that enforcement isn’t A key.
However, even enforcement isn’t going to cause 15 to 20 MILLION people to leave this country.”
Well then let me say it for. Enforcement is THE key. Oklahoma and Arizona have already proved that within a month the majority of lawbreakers will start to leave after they lose all their free handouts and can’t take anymore jobs for citizens and legal immigrants.
Our country issues over 250,000 work visas a year already and rewarding people that break the law is not only wrong but it spites in the face of the many who followed the law in the first place.
Sorry for the typos, I’ve got a head cold you wouldn’t believe right now.
Bless you for your service.
Where are the majority of these unskilled workers from NOW?
Yes, ANY illegal alien has broken, at least, one of our laws. Can you honestly tell me you haven't broken, at least, one of our laws at some point in your life?
If I was one of these people, living in squalor in Mexico, unskilled, with a government that didn't care, and had the chance to come to the USA and work, whether legally or not, I very likely would do the same thing.
I'm not making an excuse, I'm saying I understand.
If an illegal alien has lived, and worked, here for 5, 10, 15 years, never had a brush with the law, and can support themselves I don't see any reason to make them pick up and move to another country JUST so that they can apply for the same job they had from outside the USA.
I may think differently now than I did some years, or even months, ago but that's how I see it now.
As long as there are other states, with laxer laws, to move to.
Do you truly believe that, even, 10 million illegal aliens will move out of the USA without violence because they aren't able to find a job?
I'm not saying we couldn't deal with it but if we can keep the good ones and make the bad ones go away without the violence, isn't that a better plan?
Indeed.
Yesterday we heard from Chertoff that the FBI is six months behind in background checks for legal immigrants... and the solution is -- why, yes, of course -- simply skip the background checks.
In the defeated omnibus bill, the FBI had 24 hours to come up with a background check, and if they didn't, why, yes, of course -- the illegal got a renewable Z visa, without a background check.
Security? We don't need no stinkin' security.
You are still unclear on the concept. Rule of Law is a principle. It does not change. Laws can be changed. And yes, I am prepared to face the consequences, such as they are, of encouraging the the self-deportation of those who came in illegally in direct violation of our laws. What it sounds like you want to do is to change the law to say that people who broke the law yesterday, or last year, or 10 years ago, get a “didn’t have to obey the law in the first place” free pass, and get to collect the benefits that you and I will be taxed to provide to them.
Come on! I’m sure you could tighten your belt a little more to accommodate our guests. Bush, McCain, Feinstein, and Boxer are just being generous and kind-hearted by opening our borders. The least you could do is cough up the money to help pay for their generosity.
Those despicable traitors are desperate for the Mexican vote, aren't they? We've got to cause them another nightmare because once illegals get the vote, we are finished as a nation! Man the phones and let's pile it on them again!
Service in the U.S. military is a privledge and honor that should be reserved for citizens, not for criminal illegal aliens that have no respect for our laws.
Sigh...I wish I could laugh, but it hurts too much. :-(
Claro que si. Or, perhaps, eso, si, que no.
The unskilled pool artificially affects the markets.
For example, a while back the grapefruit pickers were brought into the USA from caribean islands. These were seasonal temporary workers. (ala hotel workers in the pochonos)
When the workers threatened to unionize and raise the cost of picking the grapefruit, the growers pooled resources and developed an outomatic grapefruit picker. This limited the number of human workers needed and the number of seasonal workers needed to be imported.
Countries like mexico use the export of unskilled labor as a raw comodity to relieve ecconomic pressures in their country. Ironic considering the world’s riches man lives in mexico.
Once again, I am not advocating a "path to citizenship" and I would rather see all illegals apply from outside of the USA for a temporary workers visa. I'm just not so sure that is a feasible solution considering the violence that I think would surely come about from such a move.
How do you investigate to find out who the “good” law breakers are? Many illegal aliens have several identities and multiple forms of forged documents.
And as soon as there is an “in” for them the “bad” law breakers will come up with all of the other documents they will need to prove they are “good”.
If they can’t work and the freebies dry most will leave. They got here somehow. They will likewise find a way to leave if being here no longer benefits them.
For those that apply from another country, how do we find out who the “good” ones are and who the “bad” ones are?
And bless you as well. All patriotic Americans are needed to argue for what is right. We will win because our cause is just.
A nation cannot exist without borders, a common language, and the rule of law.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.