And why would you get so foamy about something you read in a newspaper column, without reading the bill for yourself or looking for the otherside of the argument?
Like I wrote earlier, the data base on foreigners can remain. Rather than track citizens forever, we track foreign students/etc. forever.
And why would you get so foamy about something you read in a newspaper column, without reading the bill for yourself or looking for the otherside of the argument?
If you got the facts, please lay them out. Safire would not write an editorial like this, IMHO, if there was a chance it would backfire on him. I don't think he's eager to get drummed out of the political scene.
GW Bush, on the other hand, wants to keep us safe. I believe that. And like all good, effective presidents who see potential dangers, he wants to increase his power. It is only natural. But the long term consequences could be severe.
Oh and BTW, they already have Orwellian survelliance, such as Echelon. Half of what Safire wrote is already going on even before GW. Did they ever shut down Carnivore?
We should deal with the phoney student and tourist visa holders first. Here's an illustrative story from my local newspaper:
Belmont County (Ohio) Northern Division Court Judge Frank Fregiato on Wednesday called for a nationwide manhunt for a Turkish man who failed to appear for a hearing on a traffic violation.
Bahadir Eker, 32, who said he was a tourist, but had a Bronx, N.Y. address, was stopped Oct. 26 by the Ohio State Highway Patrol on Mall Road near St. Clairsville for failing to obey a traffic-control device. A routine license check revealed Eker was driving with a suspended New York-issued license. Both charges are misdemeanors.
"I want this man pursued and arrested,'' Fregiato said Wednesday, adding that he wanted every piece of information posted to every authority across the country.
Eker needed a friend to act as a translator at his arraignment Nov. 8, stating that he did not understand English. He said he had been in the United States for seven months under a tourist's visa. After receiving no answer as to why his stay was so extended or why a tourist even needed an American driver's license, Fregiato had ordered that Eker provide proof of his passport and visa at Wednesday's pre-trial hearing.
"Just because you don't speak English doesn't preclude you from getting a driver's license,'' said New York Department of Motor Vehicles Deputy Director of Communications Mike Burns, who said Eker's license was issued in May 2001 and suspended because he failed to pay fines for two seatbelt violations.
Burns said Eker's license was obtained prior to new laws that require applicants to provide their actual Social Security registration card at the time they try to get a driver's license. Eker said in light of the happenings in Belmont County, investigators within the Department of Motor Vehicles are looking into how Eker obtained a license. "How he obtained a license is up to our investigators to see what proof he provided at that time,'' Burns said.
The court case captured the attention of a St. Clairsville man. Sener Calis told Fregiato that he was a native of Turkey and a United States citizen who took a day off from work Wednesday to offer his services as a translator. He said he left Turkey at the age of 18 to study engineering at The Ohio State University and has lived in the Ohio Valley since 1972.
"I love this country, and I don't want somebody from my home country to screw things up,'' Calis said after leaving the courtroom in Martins Ferry. "I don't want illegal aliens in this country, especially if they are here to bring harm to people.''
Calis said he was disappointed that Eker did not appear for the hearing. He said he wanted to serve as an impartial translator so court officials could know what was being said. "A friend would just translate whatever he wanted to,'' Calis said.
A spokesperson for the Charleston, W.Va. office for the Immigration and Naturalization Service said about 95 percent of those in the United States on a tourist's visa apply for some type of American driver's license, but that most are turned down because of their ineligibility to obtain a Social Security number. She said it is possible to obtain a Social Security number, but the applicant must explain why it is needed. [Does this make sense to anyone here?]
The visas are only valid for six months, she said, but the holder can reapply for an additional six months if the person can show financial support and a reason why the stay should be extended.
The spokesperson said Fregiato could order that Eker be deported because of his failure to appear, saying that is a violation of the visa regulations.