Immigration Reform - So Few Words, So Much Meaning

There is a fine line that one should walk these days, when discussing the Presidency of George W. Bush. I say this because I firmly believe that the President is a good man. I believe that he is truly a Christian. Unlike a recent occupant of the White House, he does love and honor not only his wife, but his children, his parents, his extended family, his supporters and his God.

President Bush was handed a difficult task, in September of 2001. He has met that task head on, and in a number of ways, has provided an excellent response. His directives concerning Afghanistan and Iraq have been masterful. I am so glad that he had the foresight to appoint Donald Rumsfeld his Secretary of Defense, and Condoliza Rice his National Security Advisor. Both these individuals are sharp as tacks, and have obviously contributed towards the goals the President set for the nation, and seems to be achieving. Threading a fine line between being too receptive to those who wanted him to hold off some military moves, and taking a harder line suggested by the other end of the spectrum, President Bush seems well on his way to liberating for generations to come, the inhabitants of two nations in the middle-east.

There have been times when I wondered if the President were doing the right thing at certain points. This last Sunday, I along with others were pleasantly surprised at how well things have come together. The Iraqi people went to the polls in great numbers. Even those who had wished the President well in his efforts in Iraq, were relieved that the elections were so successful, I among them.

When it comes to the war in Iraq, when it comes to standing up against the leaders of Europe, when it comes to defining the path that we will take to repair Social Security, the President has my full support. I am very glad to have someone in the White House who advances policies on these issues, the way he does. His talk on these and a number of other issues is like sweet music to my ears. How sad I am that I must now talk about the fingernails on the chalkboard issue of our time, illegal immigration.

The President for all his power, for all his positives and all his good intentions, is still a man. He is a man that has many fine qualities. He is also a man that can and sometimes does make a mistake. I consider his desires to change certain aspects of our immigration policies, to be a colossal misjudgment. Unlike Iraq where I felt very uneasy, but avoided for the most part challenging the President's actions early on at Fallujah, and a few other places, I can see no room for compromise concerning the ongoing invasion of the United States.

This evening the President once again addressed the issue of immigration. Once again the meaning was crystal clear to those of us who disagree with him on that subject. Before I continue I want to be clear about something. I address this issue, because this is the issue where I find fault with the President. I don't do this because I am happy to have one issue to disagree with him on. I am very unhappy that I have to address this issue. I shouldn't have to at all, but this issue is important enough that I am going to address it continuously until the issue is resolved, the policies I cannot endorse are changed to protect this nation. That should be our overriding concern here. It is mine.

Here is what President Bush said this evening. This is the way I see the issues he raised.

America's immigration system is also outdated - unsuited to the needs of our economy and to the values of our country.

There are three issues in this charged sentence. I do believe that there are areas for improvement regarding the guidelines and procedures that govern Visas and short term visitors to the United States. I have no problem with the President trying to get a handle on who is entering our nation, how long they stay and whether they actually go home or not. This is not just an issue with Mexico. It's an issue that confronts us across the board with all who enter this nation. In this, I can support the President. I believe he is wise to address this component of the immigration issue.

Where the President and I part ways, is when he implies that our economy can't meet it's needs without poor, uneducated, unable to be financialy responsible for themselves, men and women from foreign countries. If the President were addressing the problems of the world's poor, I might be more inclined to listen to his proposals, but he isn't. This isn't about the world's poor. It's about one nation's poor. Yes, illegal immigration has an multi-national component to it, but it is primarily one nation that is flooding ours with it's citizens. I can't help but address this fact. It's true and so this one nation is addressed more than any other, for it's sordid practices.

When it comes to the issue of values, it is clear the United States is second to none when it comes to philanthropy. Our citizens give medical, educational, housing and other forms of help to the citizens of Mexico in Mexico. Physicians, nurses, teachers, aid workers, volunteers have been conducting mission work in Mexico for as long as I can remember. This represents our values. We are a good-hearted people who wish the best for the Mexican people. We gain no pleasure from seeing their national leaders abuse them, and I am firmly convinced this is the true condition of Mexico.

Values are not one-dimensional, and they don't exist in a vacuum. Extending a helping hand to millions of new Mexican poor each year is an admirable goal. The question is, how do you achieve that? Do you allow them to pour across your frontier in an endless stream that creates instant slums where ever they go? Do you allow them to swamp your communities, health care and education resources? Do you allow them to soak up tens of billions of dollars of funding that citizens have every right to expect to be spent on their local community and state needs? The answers to these question are a resounding no.

If I want to help someone out, I dig in my pocket and donate the appropriate amount based on what I can afford, what the actual need is. If you were to do that with my money it wouldn't be right. When the government does it, it's not right either. In fact, it would show a complete avoidance of reasoned values to do such a thing. Please don't talk to me about this nations values, while suggesting that I and hundreds of millions of other U.S. Citizens will have to hand over our hospitals, schools, infrastructure, and even a portion of our futures, so this can be facilitated.

We should not be content with laws that punish hardworking people who want only to provide for their families, and deny businesses willing workers, and invite chaos at our border.

These sentences are some of the most charged sentences I've ever seen. At once they are complex, a misdirecting slight of hand, and dishonest.

Mr. President, your fellow citizens are hard working people who are trying to provide for their families. What about folks like us? Why do you seek to punish us so that others can get services for free that we cannot? Why should non-citizens get free health care while we have to pay through the ying-yang to get it? Does it really seem like good values to you, to allow businesses to pay sub-scale so that illegals can work, when I and my fellow citizens have to pay so much for their health care, education, and other assorted freebies? Why should we subsidize these businesses this way? Does it seem like a good idea to flood this nation with people who have only a 4th to 8th grade education? How will they put a roof over their head on minimum wage? Who will feed clothe and house them? Who will pay for the deliveries of their children? What community can thrive with tens of thousands of these poor people in their midst? We are talking about instant slums across this nation. Some localities will be besieged in greater numbers than others. Where is your compassion for them?

Mr. President, there is only one group causing chaos at our border. It is the illegal alien who has shown themselves unwilling to respect the laws of our nation. When you frame the debate the way you have, you simply side with them. And I might add, you side with them against us. Why? What did we do to deserve this?

It is time for an immigration policy that permits temporary guest workers to fill jobs Americans will not take, that rejects amnesty, that tells us who is entering and leaving our country, and that closes the border to drug dealers and terrorists.

Mr. President, I'll make a deal with you. If you respect me, I'll respect you. Please do not insult my intelligence by claiming these will be guest workers. At this very minute, you are loathe to send anyone back to their nation of origin. How can you expect me to believe that in six years, you'll be sending anyone back to the nation of their origin then? You know as well as I do that these guest workers will bring families that we, not they, will pay for. They will develop homes here. They will invest years of their lives here. Who are you trying to kid? You're not going to send even one of these people home. Instead you will be asking to up the quota.

Here's another question for you Mr. President. Is it fair to the other citizens of the world to have millions of Mexican citizens enter our nation through expanded immigration quotas, while they have to go through all the same procedures they always have? Would it be a good idea to open up our guest worker program to all the world's poor? Should we allow millions from every poor nation around the world, to enter our nation each year? If not, then how do we justify it for one nation?

Here's a problem you haven't seemed to consider. If we allow two million worker permits per year, do you think that will end illegal immigration? It won't. Those who can't get in under any quota you set, will continue to come over the border as they always have. You'll immediately have a worker entry program, the continued illegal immigration on top of that, and the folks who were here when it all started. We're looking at thirty million people within five years. We have ten to fifteen now. We'll let another million or two in each year legally. We'll still have illegal immigration. And while all this goes on, we'll still have hospitals and schools inundated at a rate double what it has been.

Where is the solution in this Mr. President? What will it resolve? We'll have infrastructure crumbling faster than before, health care and education already on the ropes, placed on life support.

Illegal immigration will still see millions of undocumenteds coming across. Gang and terrorist group members among them.

You see Mr. President, you would have to close the borders to illegal immigrants for this plan to work. Unfortunately, you have refused to do that. In light of that your plan will never work. This nation will just be torn apart one neighborhood at a time at an even faster rate than it has been, until someone finally turns out the lights.

I sure wish I didn't have to address this issue. This plan doesn't make sense on any level. With that last comment, I'll just concede that folks in Washington won't be able to resist it. What a sad day for America it will be, when this plan hits the ground running.

"I’ll probably get flamed for saying this but my thoughts are that George W Bush sees what his father called 'A New World Order'... when his father said in 1991,

“Now, we can see a new world coming into view. A world in which there is the very real prospect of a new world order. In the words of Winston Churchill, a "world order" in which "the principles of justice and fair play ... protect the weak against the strong ..." A world where the United Nations, freed from cold war stalemate, is poised to fulfill the historic vision of its founders.”

“ To me this is a scary thought!"

No flame from me. Just a spotlight...

And yes, scary thoughts indeed.

Great post, and worth mentioning again...

"And while we are talking about 'jobs American's won't do' how about the job you promised us you would do? How about doing your job of enforcing our immigration laws? By your refusal to obey your oath of office to faithfully execute the laws you are putting this country and every individual citizen at tremendous risk of terrorist attack as well as undercutting the ability of millions of Americans to earn a living and become self-reliant. We have already seen the results. Our prisons are full of illegal immigrants who have victimized American citizens and we are finding it harder and harder to achieve and sustain a middle class lifestyle because of the competition of illegal third world labor."

Minefields. Razor wire fence with alarms. Destroy all the "humanitarian" stuff we put in the deserts to make their invasion easier.

Ya know, I bet a Roman Senator said the same stuff about those illegal aliens invading Rome: Teutons, Goths, Visagoths, Vandals, etc.

My only hope right now is that the GOP would rather protect their behinds and maintain political power than move this amnesty crap forward and lose political power.

I'm not convinced the question "Is it right or is it wrong?" crosses their minds much anymore.

Good post, Aunt Bee.

One thing that Bush mentioned last night is building the medical clinics in poor neighborhoods. Wanna make a bet in to which neighborhoods these medical clinics go? While we will be cutting back American citizen programs, I wonder how much will be given to the illegal aliens? I doubt that emergenccy medicaid will be cut. Medicaid is one of the government handout programs that has been constantly growing.

Another topic that hasn't been discussed today is Laura Bush heading the gang force. I can't figure that one. Will this be another branch of government?

Don't need to seal borders for illegals. That's the problem. Far too many people think we need to build walls and put thousands of troops on the border.

Just stop giving them any reason to come. No school, no healthcare, no rights to rent or buy property, no driver's licenses, no health care, no employment. Fine, imprison, and de-license anyone or any business that knowingly employs illegals -- and permanently deny citizenship or right of entry to any illegal found in our Country without papers.

More importantly -- stop rewarding illegal behavior with the absurd interpretation that a person who invades your country and procreates, is able to claim citizenship for his or her child based on that illegal act. The notion that the founders thought that being born here after an unlawful invasion would give citizenship rights is without any support)

Yes -- stop incentivizing illegals to come -- and they won't come. But as long as we make it worth their while, the whole of the U.S. Military could not stop the silent invasion.

How would you stop the illegal aliens?

Schools are not for the benefit of the parents or the kids. They are for the benefit of our entire community and state.

The key word in this would be our as in the United States of America not Mexico. We should not have to spend more money to educate children who do not speak English due to the fact that their parents will not learn any more than they have to for the work place. Speak total Spanish at home instead of trying to help their children by learning and teaching them English. Maybe you should read some history of Immigrants to this country.

I don't disagree with what you've said. It still might take the army to stop the big drug cartels that are trying to kill all the border agents and putting out "jihad" on the FBI. What you said won't completely fix it, the organized crime has become much too important an element.

Just stop giving them any reason to come. No school, no healthcare, no rights to rent or buy property, no driver's licenses, no health care, no employment. Fine, imprison, and de-license anyone or any business that knowingly employs illegals -- and permanently deny citizenship or right of entry to any illegal found in our Country without papers. You know Iron Eagle, I was all for the "wall thing". But you are so right, if we quit giving them what they want, they'll quit coming. Anyone who rents to them much less "employs" illegals should at least face the fines. Ah, how nice that would be...

I'm going to have to save this post, so we can see how well your predictions pan out in the aftermath.

Always aware of course, that many govt. proposals in final form bear little resemblance to the promises made during speeches.

'Twill be interesting to see--how it turns out, and if you are right or wrong, and how much wiggle room your supporters and detractors on this matter insist on, as events unfold.

Cheers!

"Being" here illegally is not a crime.

il·le·gal ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-lgl) adj. Prohibited by law. Prohibited by official rules: an illegal pass in football. Unacceptable to or not performable by a computer: an illegal operation. n. An illegal immigrant. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- il·legal·ly adv.
illegally adv : in an illegal manner; "they dumped the waste illegally" [syn: illicitly, lawlessly] [ant: legitimately

Here now you know the meaning so your theory again is blown.

There's no other way to put it! The president is proposing that we find out who the immigrants are, collect information on them, and then make allow them to become guest workers if they choose...if they choose not to, then presumably we deport them.

I might have more confidence in this statement if I saw effective enforcement of many laws on the books now--as opposed to arbitrarily harsh enforcement in a few cases, coupled with abuses of innocents in the name of the cause. And simultaneously 'looking the other way' from many of the most egregious offenders.

Cheers!

Stop the BS bayourod. No one here thinks all Hispanics are criminals and you know it. But since you want to bring crime and race to the front of the pack, let’s take a look at it. Whites are the majority of Americans, yet whites commit the least amount of crime. Blacks and Hispanics are the two largest minorities, yet, together they commit approximately 90% of the crime in this country. Why is that bayourod? Now let’s look at illegal immigration. Mexicans are approximately 95% of the illegal population and other Hispanics boost that number to approximately 99%. That leaves 1% for the rest of the world. Of course that one is easy to figure out, Mexico is right next door. Now, very few people care about the race of the illegal alien; it's not about race, it's about crime and the cost of that criminal activity. Now if you wish to keep bring race into the argument fine, I'll keep pointing out that Hispanics commit more crime then whites, a fact you argue with. Let’s look at the Texas top ten most wanted; 9 Hispanics and a Black; Very telling. LAPD’s top ten is the same. New York’s top 25 is split about 50/50 Black and Hispanic.

Very telling eh!? Let us also never forget that 100% of those here ILLEGALLY are CRIMINALS. Add to that, 100% of all US Citizens that knowingly hire these CRIMINALS are CRIMINALS themselves. I know I'm stating the obvious MI, but some here just can't (read that refuse to) grasp it. Blackbird.

Rents to them? My question is what do we do with illegals who we have allowed to buy property. They're being financed with the use of an IRS ID card (supposed to be for tax purposes only) by Fannie Mae and a bunch of other financial institutions. What do we do will an illegal who believes (does he, doesn't he, I don't know!) has property rights?

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