Tancredo doubts he can block amnesty-extension bill

Denver Post ^ | March 8, 2002 | Bill McAllister

[sarcasm]

Friday, March 08, 2002 - WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Tancredo takes credit for thwarting the Bush administration's last effort to offer partial amnesty to thousands of illegal residents, but Thursday the outspoken immigration foe said he may have been outmaneuvered by the White House.

President Bush has struck a deal with the House leadership to place legislation that offers an extension of amnesty on its consent calendar before Bush heads to Mexico for a state visit next week, the Colorado Republican said.

That action should ensure quick House passage of legislation that Bush has repeatedly sought from Congress. It would allow an undocumented person to receive legal standing, such as a valid green card, by filing a declaration with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

It presumably also would require the person to have been in the United States by a certain date and have filed a declaration with the INS from an appropriate sponsor, such as a relative or employer, and pay a $1,000 penalty.

"The terms are still up in the air," said Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration, a group that has been allied with Tancredo. "We've heard to the effect that the president wants something to bring down to Mexico."

The initial Bush proposal, designed exclusively for Mexicans, once was high on the president's legislative wish list, but it was delayed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. However, as the president noted Wednesday in a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, he now is pushing for the extension of the amnesty program known by the section of immigration law that covers it, Section 245I.

The president hailed it as a way to reunite family, separated by the border. "If you believe in family values, if you understand the worth of family and the importance of family, let's get 245I out of the United States Congress and give me a chance to sign it," Bush told the chamber members.

Tancredo, the head of a congressional caucus on immigration issues and proponent of halting virtually all immigration, said he had blocked a previous attempt by Bush to push an extension of the amnesty program through the House. But this time, he said House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., had agreed to place the issue on the suspension, or consent, calendar, making it difficult to defeat the proposal.

The Senate might be more favorable to the bill than the House, expanding the numbers of individuals who can apply, Tancredo said.

[1lawlady]

Thanks for the ping.

I've written my letters, made my phone calls, and prayed my heart out, and this is what I get...the selling of my birth right to the highest bidder.

As I drove through my central coast of California city today and through the new homes that are being built I didn't see one American construction worker. Not one was speaking English, and many of the newer cars and trucks owned by these illegals sported "Mahaoacan"(sp?)frames on California license plates. I thought of how many American folks I know who would like to have those construction jobs. I also thought how for each of these illegal workers, there are three members of his/her family living on my taxes. I thought about my local newspaper editor censoring any dissent that might offend the "Hispanics Among Us."

I thought about these things, and I was disgusted and broken-hearted. This is neither moral nor right by any measure. It does seem hopeless, and yet I have hope; for as long as their is breath, there is life. As long as I live I will stand against this enslavement of my people, (Americans of every color or creed.) I will resist to my very last breath this insidiousness.

MAY GOD BLESS AND PRESERVE THIS HONORABLE REPUBLIC AND GRANT HER PEACE FROM HER OPPRESSORS FROM WITHIN AND FROM WITHOUT!!!

[heleny]

Now that the 245i extension has passed, is it possible to raise the $1000 filing fee to, say, $5000 or $10,000, and add requirements for background checks?

The higher fee should subsidize the background checks and deportation costs for illegals. If legal residency has a supply-and-demand curve, perhaps the higher price will keep demand lower, too.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

The amnesty Reagan signed in 1986 was big mistake. It was the one thing he did I didn't like. But it was a mistake the Republicans should have learned from. And the Legislation did contain employer sanctions, which supposedly was to cut off future illegals. They've yet to be enforced. That's why illegal immigration continues. That and because of never-ending amnesties.

[jragan2001]

Your quote "america is filled with suckers" reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode where a group of aliens land on earth and look like potential friends of man and do things like stop wars and grow vegetation in deserts. However, at the end somebody catches on and finds out after it is too late that the people are nothing but a cookbook ingredient as potential food for the aliens and the people are taken away in a spaceship and told that they will be going on a trip through the solar system. Yes, Amerika is being sold up the river.

[sarcasm]

Bush will probably find a way to waive the fee.

[A CA Guy]

Amen, I will work against W the next election.

[Guynethia]

Ah yes, I just heard the "La Cucaracha" vegetable tuck horn a few minutes back. Folks in the Southwest, better get used to that glorious sound ringing through your once-safe neighborhoods day in, day out.

[GirlNextDoor]

Ron Paul ?!

[Regulator]

to raise the $1000 filing fee to, say, $5000 or $10,000

They'll just steal it. No one will arrest them. They have more rights than we do. They can commit crimes and the government absolves them.

[heleny]

So Hugh Hewitt just hung up on me when I called his show to talk about the bill that just passed regarding immigration and why he was not covering it.

You can call Roger Hedgecock at 1-800-600-KOGO right now. He's discussing this topic (and others) this afternoon. He doesn't like the open border. His show is 3-6PM Pacific, in San Diego, or you can listen online.

[Sunnyvale CA Eng.]

See you all in 2006 or 2008! No Republican votes for me until then. George W. Bush is a dispicable traitor, an I regret ever voting for him or touting him as honorable.

You got it. I'm finished with GW and the repubs for the foreseeable future too. No more money, no more of my time, none of my votes to any of these bastards. People, we are witnessing what the death of a culture looks like as it happens. Tragically, it's ours.

[A CA Guy]

Get the conservatives out there to vote for that think that way and I will vote. As far as the next couple of elections - Payback is a b!tch!

[AnnaZ]

New Republican Party Motto...  The Rule of Law: We Pretend Louder

LOL!!!

[jragan2001]

Going back through the YEA list, I see Henry Hyde's name on there. What a loser! This was the same RINO idiot who had a speech on the House floor about the History of the "Rule of Law" during Clinton's impeachment. I still have his whole speech on the House floor on tape courtesy of the Rush Limbaugh show from that week. I wonder why doesn't the Rule of Law apply to illegals like it did Mr. Clinton???? If anybody from his district reading this post, rise up and toss his lard %##@#$ out of office!!!

[majordivit]

In my opinion, if Al Gore was President and proposed this same legislation we would have heard howls of protest from the same so called conservatives in the house leadership(Tom Delay, Dick Armey..etc) who voted for it today. So much for principled conservatives in the house leadership.

[Regulator]

Since it was before 5:00 PST I called Randy Cunningham's office and shouted at the guy: "you have just lost the base!"

Randy Cunningham and Steve Ritchey were my heroes in the air battle of May 1972, the last big offensive of the war for the NVA. I thought Cunningham had more guts than anyone. Runs around calling himself the "Duke" like John Wayne. BS. I don't think the real Duke - screen or personal - would have rolled over for a sleazy move like this.

[Brownie74]

One year from now, do you agree or disagree that President George W. Bush's job performance rating will be as high as it is today?

Agree 16 % 358 votes
Disagree 83 % 1865 votes
Not sure 1 % 18 votes
Total: 2241 votes