Tancredo wins round 1 to build Mexico fence

WorldNetDaily ^ | December 17, 2005 | WorldNetDaily

[arnoldpalmerfan]

INVASION USA Tancredo wins round 1 to build Mexico fence House passes new border controls, with eye on deportations next year

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: December 17, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

Rep. Tom Tancredo WASHINGTON – It was a victory the once-obscure Colorado congressman savored yesterday.

When the House of Representatives passed a tough new border control bill last night, Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo was all smiles.

He led an often-lonely and sometimes seemingly hopeless fight not only against Democratic opponents but against his own party and his own president.

"Today, the House of Representatives passed a bill which strengthens our border security and begins to enforce immigration laws throughout the country," he said. "Over the last two days, reformers in the House have accomplished much: we have approved a security fence along our southern border, we have taken steps to end 'catch and release' nationwide, we have slashed funds to localities that shield illegal aliens, and we have gone after employers who attract illegal aliens to the U.S."

The House voted 239-182 to stem the tide of illegal immigration by taking steps to tighten border controls and stop unlawful immigrants from getting jobs. But lawmakers left for next year the tougher issue of what to do with between 11 million and 20 million illegal aliens already in the country.

The House legislation, billed as a border protection, anti-terrorism and illegal immigration control act, includes enlisting military and local law enforcement help in stopping illegal entrants and requiring employers to verify the legal status of their workers. It authorizes the building of a fence along parts of the U.S.-Mexico border.

One measure that Republican leaders wouldn't allow a vote on was a volatile proposal to deny citizenship to babies born in this country to illegal immigrants.

The issue next moves to the Senate, where Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., says he will bring up immigration legislation in February that will provide a framework for guest worker ideas that some see as amnesty for lawbreakers.

President Bush has proposed that illegal aliens be allowed to get three-year work visas. They could extend those for an additional three years, but would then have to return to their home countries for a year to apply for a new work permit.

The House bill would beef up border security with the help of local law enforcement and military technology, impose tougher penalties for smuggling and re-entry, and end the "catch and release" policy for illegal non-Mexicans. It makes drunken driving convictions a deportable offense.

The bill makes unlawful presence in the United States, currently a civil offense, a felony. An amendment to reduce the crime from a felony to a misdemeanor was defeated, with many Democrats voting against the proposal because they did not want to make it a criminal offense at all.

The House bill would also require all employers in the country to submit Social Security numbers and other information to a national database to verify the legal status of workers.

"Some said that we couldn't do it, that businesses are too addicted to illegal labor, that the problem is too complex for Congress to tackle," said Tancredo, the chairman of the 92-member House Immigration Reform Caucus. "When it became clear that the American people's demand for reform was too loud to ignore, our political foes changed their arguments and hid their intentions behind new language. Suddenly, amnesty was a 'path to citizenship,' an 'earned legalization,' or 'comprehensive reform.' We passed comprehensive reform today: we penalized illegal alien employers and secured our borders."

Tancredo added: "The fact that Congress was forced to discuss immigration reform in itself is a victory for my allies. Such a victory has been years in the making, and credit is due to the millions of Americans who attended town halls, wrote letters to the editor, called talk radio shows, and even defended the border on their own. I thank them whole-heartedly for their efforts, and I am deeply honored by the support they have shown me and my congressional allies."

Just a year ago, Tancredo said he could count his allies in the House on two hands. But Republican lawmakers began to see just how critical the issue was to voters in their districts. A recent poll showed border security second only to the war in Iraq as a motivating issue for voters.

"Today we savor our victory, but tomorrow we must begin the fight to ensure our victory becomes reality," he said. "I am well aware that this is a three-round fight, and while this has been a good round, we haven't delivered the knockout punch. The open borders lobby and its cronies in the Senate will undoubtedly attempt to attach an amnesty to our reform bill. The American people know what the Senate's plan is, and they will bring political punishment to any official that favors it. No backdoor amnesty -- no matter what you call it -- will become law. Americans demand real reform now and, thankfully, they may get it."

[Borax Queen]

It was perfectly ok for Kennedy in the 1960s to socially re-engineer the U.S., and OBLers have fallen right into his hands.

March 1, 2004 (already outdated)

"About 5.3 million undocumented immigrants from Mexico are living in the United States, according to estimates based on the March 2002 Current Population Survey (CPS) as well as census and other government data. Over one in every two Mexican immigrants is undocumented, compared with about one in every six for the remainder of the foreign born.

Mexico represents the largest source of immigration to the United States. Of the 32.5 million foreign born covered in the March 2002 CPS, 9.8 million or 30 percent were from Mexico; the next largest source, the Philippines, accounted for only one-seventh as many at 1.4 million. The rest of Latin America accounted for 7.3 million or 23 percent. Asian immigrants, at 8.5 million, made up 26 percent of the total foreign-born population. There were 5.4 million foreign born from Europe and Canada, accounting for 17 percent of all immigrants.

Mexican immigrants account for about one-fifth of the legal immigrants living in the United States. This large percentage is actually a legacy of the legalization programs of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), under which about two million formerly undocumented Mexicans acquired legal status. In terms of the annual inflow of legal immigrants, about one in seven are Mexican. This share is substantially larger than the legal flow from any other country.

Mexico is also the single largest source of undocumented immigrants."

http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=208

[nicmarlo]

bttt

[nicmarlo]

Since there's really no population argument, I think that the whole debate comes down to who is coming into the country more than the fact there's immigration.

Actually, it comes down to our Country having immigration laws and ratios; these were put into place because, as you may not be aware, the United States does not have a money tree growing in its back yard, nor does it have unlimited resources and land mass.

[Itzlzha]

Since there's really no population argument, I think that the whole debate comes down to who is coming into the country more than the fact there's immigration. If there was a sudden influx of immigrants from Canada, I don't think that anyone would mind. (In fact, the Canadian border is wide open and easy for terrorists to use, but I don't here anyone griping loudly about that). The whole thing has a racial/ class based element that I think is unfortunate.

OK...for one, I want all the borders sealed! Canada as well, and I am EXTREMELY concerned about Canada, as the Martin corruption just LOVES Islamazis, and they are sneaking in from our North where they were welcomed!

Secondly, why do all you OBL-ers have a mental block with the word "ILLEGAL" when it's paired with immigrant?

I don't care WHERE you are from...if you come here ilegally, you are gone. There is no racial component except from the OBL crowd...need proof? How about these words...note the bold passages...

"Year 2000 GOP's Bush Calls for Increasing Legal Immigration Levels

George W. Bush endorses the "demographic revolution" that Bill Clinton said he hoped would end "European culture" in America, the GOP presidential hopeful went on to call for a lifting of the legal limits on immigration.

In an interview ignored by the liberal press, as well as his GOP rivals, Bush told the editorial board of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, that "we ought to increase legal immigration." ......

Family values don't stop at the Rio Grande River," he said. "If you're a mother and dad, and you got kids to feed, and you're making 50 cents and you see someone in Iowa making $50, and you care about those kids, you're coming."

Bush suggested that because Americans aren't skilled enough to handle the demands of an economy driven by high-tech industries, "we ought to increase legal immigration for our country's advantage. The high-tech world that we are now dominate is dependent on educated folks, but we're short of workers. It is to our advantage to encourage high-powered, smart people to come into this country," he said.

So here we have proof in his own words, that Mexico is preferred over "European Culture".

Now who's racist?

As far as class goes...note the wage comment by Bush...those cheap laborers really help depress American wages, and that is good for business, but not for lower class Americans who cannot compete in the markets being manipulated by Illegal Immigrants and their accomplices in Gub'Mint and Business!

THAT is a class issue.

Your side loses

[Accygirl]

I am concerned about terrorism, which is why I want to to close the Canadian border. That's where there's been the most documented terrorist incidents. However, you don't here anybody complaining about that, but you hear much complaining about the Mexican border, which is much more heavily regulated.

I, however, have nothing against people immigrating to the U.S. for jobs nor do I have any problem with them because they are poor/ uneducated. A good half of my ancestors were Irish Catholics, who came over to this country during the Potato Famine. They were all poor and illiterate and probably had to listen to nasty comments similar to the ones thrown by y'all against Mexican immigrants. However, despite that, they settled in Chicago, started successful businesses, and became productive members of society. The same, I believe, applies to most immigrants today.

[Accygirl]

But those ratios are outdated and discriminate against people from developing countries.

[nicmarlo]

There are immigration laws and ratios.

Too bad if you don't like them.

They're there for a reason.

Do you open your own home, indiscriminately to others, as well?

[Borax Queen]

You haven't answered anyone here about how many millions of people you plan to support in your gated community or with your own money? You sure seem ready to give our sovereignty away since you are saying we have no right to control who enters and instead have to support the millions of people who want to come here.

200,000 immigrants a year, on average, up until 1990, now 1 million a year plus at least another million illegal aliens, and you say we are discriminating? I can hear that tiny bleeding heart violin playing in the background all right.

[nicmarlo]

My great-grandparents came here during the potato famine, too, LEGALLY.

[Accygirl]

No, but I also believe that there should be higher legal immigration quotas or a guest worker program for people from developing countries.

[Accygirl]

Of course they did, because there was no quotas restricting them from entering the U.S. If faced with today's immigration laws, most would have probably ended up immigrating to the U.S. illegally.