Immigration Amnesty Passes House

Fox News ^ | 03/13/02

[Enemy Of The State]

House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt said he would support the bill with the border security provisions.

WASHINGTON

[hobbes1]

The most serious quality of life issue facing us in that regard, TODAY, is the inability of the INS to deal with the backlog created in the last 10 years. Get beyond that, and start paying atention to who is Actually coming IN, and maybe, just maybe the next Mohammed Atta will be caught on his way in....Not having his visa upgrade sent to his school 6 mos. AFTER he drives a plane into a building.

Realistically, do you think they can just put the toothpaste back in the tube? Better to put the cap on, and watch what happens each time you open it going forward.

[skeeter]

If any of you think this vote wasn't rigged, you're kidding yourselves. Notice how many Texas Democrats didn't vote. Yet it passed by the slimmest margin possible. Seems some dealing was made to make it close, but not force the Tx Dems to do something their constituents might get made over.

Yep. The measure was passed by EXACTLY 2/3 out of over 400 votes. Lotsa wheeling & dealing by the hucksters in the House.

[ecomcon]

You just don't want to deal with the fact that the initiating act central to this whole issue is an illegal one. You know it, I know it, and the immigrant knows it. No amount of rationalizing is going to remove that foundational wrong that has been done.

It is a matter of respect. The more we continue with these "amnesty" programs, the less the immigrant will respect the laws of this nation. The stain of illegality remains. I will never respect the illegal immigrant, be they from Mexico, Canada or Europe. No matter how hard they work, no matter whether the government or unprincipled people like you tell me how I should percieve them.

[Marine Inspector]

this law only applies to people who filed for residency.

Wrong.

This law allows illegal aliens to file for residency. Any alien that entered the United Sates illegaly, and can demonstrate that the required family or employment relationship existed on or before April 30, 2001 is eligible to apply.

While they are currently hiding from the law, once they file the paperwork, they are immune from removal, until their application is approved or disapproved.

Please stick to subjects you know something about. Immigration law is not one of them.

[smolensk]

My wife's brother is a medical doctor in Russia and we've been waiting 3 years, and have about 4 more to go, in order to get him a visa.

We're thinking now of just having him come over on a tourist visa (if that is even possible to get) and just staying.

I'm really disgusted over this! Big Time!

If states could still secede in protest, I'll be all in favor! This is INSANITY!

[glock rocks]

bump !

[Marine Inspector]

The Object of lowering the threshold of scrutiny on this particular brand of illegals is to Clear out the INS backlog created by the previous administration.

Wrong.

Since INS has no idea who these people are, and has no paperwork on them, there is no backlog.

There will be a backlog soon, as 200,000+ illegals file new applications.

This was passed as a gift to Mr. Fox, and nothing else.

[Magnum44]

One word - Strategery!

I've held off judgement on this until more facts were revealed and now it appears that the bill is really the 'Border Security Bill', not the 'Amnesty Bill' the left would like us to believe. Yet another example of how the left and the media are trying to discourage/divide the conservative base. Yet another example of how we should be comforted that the new administration is really looking out for the interests of our nation and does not deserve the kneejerk rush to judgement/criticism it receives from many self proclaimed conservatives here. The only thing the left really got out of this was an brief extension of a (Clinton) policy that was already in place. And that policy actually helps us further define who the deserving immigrants are from the non-deserving. I don't like sending messages that circumventing the law has it's rewards, but this actually appears to be a winning proposition. Of course, if the Senate kills it, then the conservatives win as well.

Strategery!

[angkor]

If Armey thinks illegal aliens are being "victimized" by the United States Code, I wonder how he stands on rewarding criminality, and filling the already-overburdened INS with up to one million (or more) new cases?

I hope the Republicans can get some new votes out of this scheme, because they've just lost mine across the board.

[angkor]

a lot of people on FR hold an animus to people who try to make a better honest life for themselves.

Curious how you think one can begin "a better honest life" by committing a criminal act.

[2Trievers]

What I am hoping for, is to put the cap on the tube of toothpaste, cleanup the mess, even if it takes a decade, and proceed. We both know that won't happen ... there's too much back scratching on this issue and pandering to the Hispanic vote.

[Helix]

Just a few examples of exploitation of illegal immigrants. And you thought this legislation was about allowing them a “better way of life”:

From: News and Views | City Beat |

Sunday, July 08, 2001

Sweat & Tears?
Still in Fashion in City
Clothing factories skirt labor laws,
exploit immigrants
By BOB PORT
Daily News Staff Writer

Hundreds of garment factories hidden away in buildings throughout New York City repeatedly violate labor laws and underpay their workers to make clothes that end up in major retail stores. Ignoring wage and hour laws is standard operating procedure throughout much of the city's garment industry, a three-month Daily News investigation found.

Some of the fashion world's biggest names, such as Nicole Miller and Henri Bendel, use sweatshops in Chinatown and Manhattan's Garment District.

Some retailers also contract directly with New York sweatshops, cutting out the middleman for their private-label clothes, which are shipped to stores across the country. Within New York's illegal clothing workforce, which is mostly Chinese, there also exists a slavelike subclass: men and women smuggled here by so-called snakeheads, then put to work in factories as indentured servants.

Some have debts of more than $50,000 for their passage. Immigration officials see a gradual worsening of their exploitation.

Unions began fighting sweatshop conditions here a century ago. By the 1960s, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union had won a decent living for most of New York's then 300,000 garment laborers.

But the last three decades have seen domestic garment jobs vacuumed away by cheap foreign labor, leaving an estimated 60,000 sewing workers employed in about 1,500 factories in New York.

SNIP Article HERE

Another article about the wonderful opportunities for illegal immigrants in the fashion industry

Smuggling Debts Bring Servitude Immigrants work 100 hours a week to pay loanshark

and, since the exploitation doesn't stop at the border, here's another:

Landmark Study Shows Mexican Maquiladora Workers Not Able to Meet Basic Needs on Sweatshop Wages

Wow, I'll bet all the honest and hardworking illegal aliens are just jumping for joy at the prospect of landing one of these jobs. Or maybe it's only the immigrants/nonimmigrants who exploit both them and the system who will be really happy.

[Marine Inspector]

My wife's brother is a medical doctor in Russia and we've been waiting 3 years, and have about 4 more to go, in order to get him a visa.

I congratulate you and your wife's brother for you patients and respecting the law. The wait time has nothing to do with INS. The State Department only allows so many visa applications per year, and depending on when and where you file, depends on how long you must wait.

We're thinking now of just having him come over on a tourist visa (if that is even possible to get) and just staying.

Please don't. You risk everything you have waited for. If he gets caught, his application is gone and he will not be able to re-apply. Also, there may never be another amnesty (ya right) for him to apply for once here, and he will no be able to get a decent job while waiting. # more years and the American dream is his.

I'm really disgusted over this! Big Time!

So am I. I prayed that 9/11 would be the wake-up call to Washington. Yesterday, I learned that Washington does not care, and 9/11 means nothing to them.

Please check my profile for some very disturbing numbers.

MI

[angkor]

If they are here, already, then they should applaud this bill as well. The Object of lowering the threshold of scrutiny on this particular brand of illegals is to Clear out the INS backlog created by the previous administration.

You couldn't possibly be more wrong.

It is well known on Capitol Hill that the INS backlog is out of control, and that the agency is broken. Members of Congress routinely say that they get more complaints about the INS than any other subject ... by a wide margin.

There is nothing whatsoever in this bill that addresses the existing INS backlog. While you are correct in saying that this was caused by the previous administration, you've neglected to say that it was previous amnesties that have caused the INS to go into self destruction.

All this bill will do is to increase the number of cases INS must handle, which will result in an even more dysfunctional system, if that's imaginable.

There is no doubt at all that legal immigrants currently in the INS system are going to be screwed royally. There will be no applause.

[angkor]

If they are here, already, then they should applaud this bill as well. The Object of lowering the threshold of scrutiny on this particular brand of illegals is to Clear out the INS backlog created by the previous administration.

You couldn't possibly be more wrong.

It is well known on Capitol Hill that the INS backlog is out of control, and that the agency is broken. Members of Congress routinely say that they get more complaints about the INS than any other subject ... by a wide margin.

There is nothing whatsoever in this bill that addresses the existing INS backlog. While you are correct in saying that this was caused by the previous administration, you've neglected to say that it was previous amnesties that have caused the INS to go into self destruction.

All this bill will do is to increase the number of cases INS must handle, which will result in an even more dysfunctional system, if that's imaginable.

There is no doubt at all that legal immigrants currently in the INS system are going to be screwed royally. There will be no applause.

[fivecatsandadog]

"It is not right to let families be victimized by, if you will pardon the expression, bureaucratic indifference or incompetence," Armey said. "That is not right and we don't believe that is the way it should be."

ah sheesh.... that warm and fuzzy feely thing again...
The immigration portion of the bill would extend a deadline for giving **hundreds of thousands** of illegal immigrants the chance to apply for residency without leaving the United States. Many of those immigrants are here on work visas that have expired, but they did not leave the country, officials said. **WHO is going to TRACK these people?
A reinstated program would only apply to illegal immigrants who can prove they are spouses or relatives of U.S. citizens, legal residents or employees sponsored by employers before Aug. 14. Question: How much time will they be given to provide proof? Answer: enough time to blend in, disappear, and contaminate our water supply.