Free Republic

Workers, employers won't bother with Bush's temporary visa plan When my Mexican immigrant wife, Ines, and I visited her family in Mexico three years ago, one of my brothers-in-law, Alejandro, and his family thought that because my wife is a naturalized U.S. citizen, that she could petition for their swift legal immigration to the U.S. U.S. citizens may petition for siblings of any age, but not for the siblings' spouses or children. We agreed to fill out the necessary paperwork to start the petition process for Alejandro (and three of Ines' other siblings) once we returned to California, and Alejandro...

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's expression of support for giving legal status to immigrants drew congressional criticism Wednesday but heartened advocates. At a town hall meeting in Miami, Ridge said the country needs to "come to grips" with an estimated 8 million to 12 million illegal immigrants and "determine how you can legalize their presence." He also said during a visit to Florida on Tuesday that the immigrants should not be rewarded citizenship. Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security, said Wednesday in Miami that Ridge's comments simply reflected the debate in Congress on immigration. "Secretary Ridge addressed it...

<p>It is a full year before next year's national elections, and Democrats are already up to dirty tricks. On air yesterday, commentator Sean Hannity made public a leaked memorandum that detailed a Democratic plan to use classified intelligence information to attack President Bush politically. The memo suggested that Democrats "pull the majority along as far as we can on issues that may lead to major new disclosures" and then "pull the trigger" against the administration. West Virginia's Jay Rockefeller, the ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, admitted that the memo was written by his staff, but downplayed its importance. The scandal will be difficult to cover up.</p>