Posted on 10/19/2005 6:32:26 PM PDT by blam
'Soft' Bush vows to expel all illegal migrants
By Francis Harris in Washington
(Filed: 20/10/2005)
President George W Bush has promised to expel millions of illegal immigrants as part of a major new initiative to end fierce criticism from fellow Republicans that he is too soft on border security.
Mr Bush told senior congressmen and intelligence officers in the White House: "Our goal is clear: to return every single illegal entrant, with no exceptions." His words amounted to the toughest pledge on immigration from the Bush administration to date.
Mr Bush: 'You got people sneaking into our country'
Officials estimate that there are now 11 million illegal migrants in the country, most of them Spanish speakers from Mexico and other parts of Central and South America. They now outnumber legal migrants.
The president noted that "several million" migrants had been expelled since America began raising security on its southern border after the September 11 attacks.
But he pledged to do much more, acknowledging that the 2,000-mile border with Mexico was still too porous and that US border agents were seriously overstretched.
In further recognition of the fury felt by many Republicans, he signed into law an Act making available large amounts of additional federal funds to bolster immigration defences. The new Homeland Security Spending Act provides a further $1.8 billion (£1 billion) to provide 1,000 border patrol officers to add to the extra 1,900 hired in the past four years. Hundreds of additional agents will be taken on to track down illegal migrants who reach the American interior.
The funds will also pay for unmanned patrol aircraft, ground sensors and infrared cameras, as well as a new stretch of border fencing.
But while Mr Bush used tough language on enforcement, he again asked Congress to back his stalled plans to legalise the status of many of the migrants.
This would give large numbers of temporary visas to Hispanic workers, allowing them to stay in the US while filling gaping holes in the booming labour market.
"Enforcement cannot work unless it is part of a larger, comprehensive immigration reform programme," Mr Bush said. "If an employer has a job that no American is willing to take, we need to find a way to fill that demand."
Using language that turns off many Republicans and would surprise those Europeans who see Mr Bush as an instinctive Right-winger, he said: "You see, you got people sneaking into our country to work. They want to provide for their families. Family values do not stop at the Rio Grande river. People are coming to put food on the table."
Decriminalising the process would ease the crush and allow law enforcement officers to concentrate on the real issues, Mr Bush said.
"The fewer people trying to sneak in to work means it's more likely we're going to catch drug smugglers and terrorists and gun runners."
The government proposes to expand holding centres for migrants apprehended on the border to end the current "catch and release" scheme.
That has meant, for example, that although 160,000 non-Mexican illegal migrants were caught last year only 30,000 were expelled. The rest were handed a slip telling them to appear in court, but rarely did so.
For the 900,000 Mexicans caught each year, who until now have simply been dumped just over the border, which allows them to try again immediately, many will be bused or flown back to their home towns which can be hundreds of miles away.
In the words of Red Forman, "dumb ass"
I've got to call Bravo Sierra on Bush's tough talk. If he was serious Congress could authorize a couple of billion of dollars to build a fence across the southern border. The Israeli fence is less than $1 million/mile. Southern border is roughly 2000 miles. 1 million dollars/mile x 2000 miles = 2 billion dollars = CHUMP CHANGE!
Are you honestly saying that you would not be in favor of that even at the taxpayers expense, because I sure as hell would!
We cannot allow market forces to raise the wages.
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You just explained the whole situation in simple terms even i can understand!
Who falls for these charades?
Expel illegal alien invaders while also saying he wants to legitimize illlegal alien invaders who "work"??????
What crap! What decent conservative falls for this crap? All conservatives hould be outraged and demand restoration of our now disappeared national sovereignty.
Bush has done more harm to this nation than just in the Miers pick. This is what happens when liberals like Bush are put into office. Just imagine what will happen when Hillary gets in. The people of this nation have gone nuts--the standards set by voters for our leaders are nonexistent.
I think the Illegals should be hobbled then returned to
to the border in groups of fifty chained together, sort
of a mini batan death march, once they arrive at the border they would be forced to make bricks with straw
in the hot sun until our 2000 mile 30ft high and 10ft thick wall of denial is done, any left living after the completion would then be forced to walk to their place of origin and tatooed to ensure their quick ID if they were stupid enough to return again.
If I thought it was a realistic solution to our immigration problems I'd pay too. But it isn't...and it won't happen.
I don't blame Bush.
That may be a strange thing to say but the problem is enormously difficult. Deport illegals and seal the border and Mexico collapses into revolution and anarchy. Our citizens and interests in that country would come under enormous pressure. We'd probably be forced to invade to defend them.
I'm not sure any of our current leaders want to undertake such a project, regardless of their politics.
I don't blame Bush.
That may be a strange thing to say but the problem is enormously difficult. Deport illegals and seal the border and Mexico collapses into revolution and anarchy. Our citizens and interests in that country would come under enormous pressure. We'd probably be forced to invade to defend them.
I'm not sure any of our current leaders want to undertake such a project, regardless of their politics.
Uh, one of those "Bush" quotes appears to be the same as something Chertoff said yesterday.
And, another appears to be something he said to O'Reilly last year.
He might have said those yesterday, or this could be a misleading report. I favor that explanation.
Sure.
It's not useful to be too doctrinaire about categories such as liberal, conservative, etc. Individuals exhibit the full range of choices. It's easy to find those who choose a party for its position on one or two issues only.
Obviously, I should have assumed that he'd just keep saying the same things he always says.
Here's a transcript of Bush's recent remarks:
http://www.earnedmedia.org/wh10181.htm
"You see, we got people sneaking into our country to work. They want to provide for their families. Family values do not stop at the Rio Grande River. People are coming to put food on the table."
And, here's his appearance on O'Reilly from last year:
http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/002013.html
"Now look. People are comin' 'cause they wanna work ya' know. Family values don't stop at the border... If you can make fifty cents in the interior of Mexico and five dollars in the interior of the United States, you're comin' for the five bucks and, therefore ... and so long as moms and dads feel the necessity to feed their children, they're gonna come and try to make a livin'."
Must be a sweepstakes?? : )
I personally know leftists who don't approve blank amnesty - a case in example would be the Labour Party of New Zealand. It is officially a member of Socialist International but if you read their immigration policies the the policy of illegal immigrants Labour sounds much the same as Tom Tancredo.
But not American leftists in general. A general consensus is that the West outside the US is more leftist on all areas except race and immigration, in which the pendulum swings to the other side for the non-US West. Just this week we in NZ got a new foreign minister who is a paleocon on immigration.
I can't recall if we have ever seen this, but I wouldn't be surprised. New Zealand has pretty zero tolerance for overstayers and illegal immigrants but once you are out of the country you are still eligible of re-entering with a legal visa (though I think getting a visa for such people would be harder).
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