Another new buzz word to add to my growing list.
I am going to hold Bush's feet to the fire on this one.
Bush says he won't legalize immigrants.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, Bush said he hoped to work with Mexico on the matter, but said he would follow the will of the U.S. people.
"I don't think the wish of Americans is for an amnesty," said Bush, who added he had spoken about the issue with President Vicente Fox.
If the Bush administration has been reading the polls (and I know they have) then they know that the majority of the American people do not want amnesty. This ZOGBY POLL has some interesting information in it. Post # 77.
So Mr. Bush - do the will of the U.S. citizen and forget this amnesty insanity!!
I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to reason with the Bush-Bot and Neo-Con contingent on FR. No matter how compelling the logic and facts are they rush in with their straw man arguments and WH spin totally ignoring all reason. The fact is they don't want to know the real story. They have an agenda that supercedes the truth. And the irony is that if Bill Clinton pulled what Bush did with this Amnesty fiasco they would be all over him.
With the Bush-Bots it’s all about supporting Bush no matter what he does. With the Neo-Cons it’s all about keeping the immigration free for all going no matter what the costs are to America. The intellectual dishonesty of these folks is staggering.
You take one small section of a comprehensive law dealing with the security of our borders and characterize it as amnesty. Debating whether 245(i) is an amnesty or an extension is like trying to debate the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. Originally you said it was amnesty for millions, now it's a mini-amnesty.
Subsection 245(i) was part of the immigration LAW, but the provision expired. This bill reinstates the same subsection. BTW I said this the other day and you said I got that wrong. How could I be wrong on this point when all the language of the bill does is change dates in a few places. If the extension didn't exist in previous law, the section you quoted would have to spell out the entire process. You talk about a Bush Amnesty on top of a Clinton Amnesty as if there was moral equivalence between the two administrations on this topic.
Among other things, Clinton and Gore for political reasons directed their political cronies in the INS to IGNORE INS regulations re: FBI background checks which are intended to ensure that convicted felons didn't get green cards or citizenship papers. The Clinton-Gore INS bypassed the rules, letting an estimated 200,000 convicted felons become US CITIZENS in flagrant violation of INS regulations. Strike that, there is no moral equivalence, I was being too generous. The truth is, Clinton has gotten a free pass on these threads, except for a few obligatory "of course the democrats share some of the blame" type remarks when I specifically brought up Clinton's treason. Otherwise, there is nothing but venom and hatred on these threads which is directed not at the traitor who caused the problem, but for the decent guy who's saddled with it and is trying to fix it at the same time our nation is under attack!
As others have explained, without 245(i) an alien could still apply for lawful resident status only he would have to return to his country to apply from there. Section 245(i) lets them apply from here provided they have a qualifying relative or employee sponsor. Sponsorship means someone who is already here legally is vouching for the person. It cannot be someone who is here illegally, as some have erroneously claimed on the thread. It seems to me that a full-blown amnesty would automatically grant lawful permanent residence or citizenship status to someone who didn't meet the requirements. In other words, something similar to what Clinton did. What this section 245(i) does is save the alien the trouble of having to go back home to apply from there, which he could have done with no 245(i)
Under 245(i), they still have to qualify for lawful resident status like everyone else. I understand that without 245(i), an alien who is sent back would not be allowed to apply for 10 years, whereas under 245(i), they simply pay a $1,000 fine for being here unlawfully. The point is the people paying the fine are turning themselves in whereas the other group was caught here illegally. There's no incentive for illegals to become legal if the INS is going to punish them after they turn themselves in. If they went back home, they could apply from back home and no one would be the wiser. Had you called this a reinstatement of an existing process to extend the time for qualifying for immigrant status, which is accurate, everyone would yawn.