[Sabertooth]

KevinDavis: Again, Bush did not propose in any shape of form any type of Amnesty!

cmac51: Which is responsible, Bush presenting a plan which he states does not include amnesty or the media and opponents who claim Bush is proposing amnesty?

The Amnesty proposal of President Bush is, in fact, an Amnesty, no matter what he tries to call it, and a repetition of the past.

Effect on Illegal Aliens	Reagan Amnesty	Bush Amnesty
Legalizes millions, but not all, Illegal Aliens.	Yes	Yes
Charges a fee to Illegal Aliens for legalization.	Yes	Yes
Initially grants temporary, not permanent status to Illegal Aliens.	Yes	Yes
Provides path for subsequent permanent status for legalized Illegals.	Yes	Yes
Provides path to eventual U.S. citizenship for legalized Illegals.	Yes	Yes
Wasn't officially called an Amnesty	Yes	Yes

Take the Reagan Amnesty Pop Quiz!

[CMAC51]

The Amnesty proposal of President Bush is, in fact, an Amnesty, no matter what he tries to call it, and a repetition of the past.

As an authority on the subject, perhaps you can answer definitively. Is there a penalty (monetary or otherwise) that a currently illegal alien pays for guest worker status that an alien who is not illegal does not pay for guest worker status? I have heard the question answered yes, but not by an authority. I have not seen enough details of the plan to answer the question authoritatively myself.

The answer, whatever is correct determines if an Amnesty is involved.

According the Marion Webster dictionary, an amnesty is granting a pardon to a large group. A pardon is forgiving an offense without a penalty having been paid.

If a penalty is paid, no amnesty exists. The argument is then over how appropriate the size of the penalty is, which I would presume is negotiable during the formation of any bill.