Posted on 05/12/2006 5:47:27 PM PDT by ohioWfan
I’m going to try something entirely new to Free Republic………..start a thread restricted to practical, positive. pro-active things that this huge forum filled with good people who love this country can actually DO about helping to solve the illegal immigration problem, and how we can ‘encourage’ our leaders at all levels to get their acts together.
This is not a thread for venting or attacking (Heaven knows, that‘s been done plenty around here!). Let’s keep it entirely positive……..no attacks on the President and ‘Bushbots’ or the GOP………or on each other, from EITHER side. No threats to ’kick the GOP bums out’ …….we all know that the risk of having Dems in power is too great for that irresponsible threat. NO name-calling from EITHER side……..’Jorge‘ and ‘El Presidente‘ both qualify as disrespectful name-calling. (Perhaps we can all just ignore anyone who tries to turn this into a hostile thread, and punch the abuse button, but NOT engage in battle with him/her). Disagree, but be respectful about it.
What we really need are practical things we can do……with links to key Senate and Congressional offices, the White House, as well as STATE and LOCAL government offices, examples of THOUGHTFUL and POSITIVE letters to our leaders that will actually be read, and responded to. Phone numbers, and ideas for THOUGHTFUL and POSITIVE phone calls to leaders. What we also need are specific PRAYER requests for you, so that those of us who believe that our God is the God of the impossible can be on our knees in prayer for the details of this immense problem. We need fervent prayer for the President and Congress, as well as our State and Local authorities. And we need Freeper creativity!
We are LEGION, and together, I believe we can make a difference in moving this engine down the track more rapidly.
There are people who are very angry with the President and the Republicans in Congress, and people who still respect and admire the President greatly, and are angry with the Republicans in Congress……..and even some who are NOT angry with the Republicans in Congress (OK……..maybe not..... :)………..but we ALL want to end this invasion, and help our brothers and sisters in the Southwest to have their safe and normal lives return, and prevent the invasion from moving further.
Those of us outside the region may not understand what things are like, but we want to, so if those of you in the affected states could give us more details about how bad this is, without belittling us because we don’t live there, it would be much appreciated. We know it‘s bad, and we care about it, even though we cannot fully appreciate it from where we sit.
There is a great work force of pro-Bush people out in freeper lurker land who have been shoved out of the discussion by bashers. There are lots of us who want to know what’s going on, but wouldn’t go on a standard immigration thread if our lives depended on it, because the disdain for us there is palpable. We may agree with the idea of a guest worker program, or we may not, but we don‘t want to be labeled just because our ideas are different.
So…… LET US HELP YOU, PLEASE! We are activists, and we are willing to work.
Tell us what we can do. Let’s band together on this important issue to do whatever we can do to put pressure on Congress, the White House, state and local governments………polite, respectful pressure……….as well as encouraging them when they do make good decisions, and see what happens.
What do you think? Can we be pro-active and actually get something done? Can we discuss this without rancor, but with the common goal in mind to rescue our beloved country from invasion?
If you think so, please ping those who will, without personal attacks, tell us their stories, and let us get involved in getting something done. This thread is not to place blame, but to come up with solutions.
This is America………..and we are Freepers! Let’s ROLL!
LOL, you're not too far from those tunnels either! The cops were parked where my street dead ends near the canyon, today at noon. I really wanted to drive by and ask what was going on.
Do you or anyone here know the source in Federal or state law that grants social welfare to the illegal aliens? if we had the source of these "programs" then perhaps they can be ended or repealed.
I'm partial to Duncan Hunter too. :)
Hey D, You bet. Bilbray has a major history going back to the 90s fighting the border issue and all the other problems that go with it.
This is someone that can be contacted to do the work we
are talking about.
I think you and I agree a lot more than this thread indicates! I'm all for expanding the tax base - in an orderly fashion with fair wages for all. I imagine a system where ConAgra needs 30 unskilled laborers in Omaha. They email DHS. DHS issues guest worker visas for 30 workers, ConAgra pays for their transportation to Omaha and even arranges for housing, and if the workers don't report to Conagra in 15 days, they get expelled and we replace them with people who will follow the rules. Once we ascertain who the rule abiders are, we let them work toward green card status and ultimately citizenship. My whole point is that the US is a big juicy apple, and we ought to be choosey about who gets a bite. If we just launch a broad sword apporach and allow 30 million people whom we don't know to become legal, we are as stupid as Europe thinks we are.
Well said, LB, but I'd concentrate on Step one in order to make it easier for congress-critters to understand.
Greetings Critter:
Step one
a.) They're here.
b.) They're not supposed to be here.
c.) It's your job to make them not here.
d.) Make them not here.
Sincerely,
Your Employer
Sort of like teaching your kid to walk. One step at a time.
"That alone would probably work but be prepared to lose their oil."
Allow the Social Security Administration, INS, and ICE departments to talk to one another.....turns out they can't compare Social Security Numbers with INS info due to "privacy" laws....and that there are something like over 2400 people using ONE Social Security Number.
Does anyone know what specific border control measures are proposed in the Bush/McCain/Kennedy approach?
Actually, it's much easier than that. In fact, all the laws we need already exist - they just need to be enforced by the executive - President Bush.
(1) We have a DHS/ICE - let them do their job.
(2) The Feds routinely threaten to cut-off funding to states for little things like not setting speed limits at 55mph - it would be nothing to get state on board cutting off benefits and rounding up illegals if tied to monetary penalaties/rewards.
(3) We already have comprehensive IRS/SS Admin records on everyone - allow limited access to verify SS validity, and enforce employment regs to the EXISTING letter of the law for violators ie get rid of the counter productive I-9 rubber stamp process;
(4) Tell the Treasury secretary to stop the FDIC (bank regulators) running around helping local banks set up lending programs to illegals;
(5) Tell HUD to stop working with state housing depts in setting up mortgage guarantee programs to cover the illegal alien lending risks posed to local banks in #4 above.
I hope that you see that this is all very straightforward & simple. All the laws, rules, regs, oversight & procedures needed already exist - they just need to be exercised. The reason we have an illegal alien problem starts right at the top with Bush.
And the reason Bush has directly allowed illegal immigration is because it has a net-positive effect on nominal accounts (inflation, unemployment, GDP growth, etc.). Problem is, it backloads the 'true' costs onto our balance sheets in the form of debt obligations for schools, health, prisons, etc. In other words, it's an Enron situation all over again, only done on a more massive scale.
If Bush would just come clean and say, "Look folks, we have this little WoT going that will soon include Iran, and we need to have our economy humming to free up available resources to deal with this threat, so that's why I let in millions of illegals", then we might get somewhere.
But this coy BS is just what it is: BS.
Agree with every step, Lex.
Your conclusion to the fifth one is particularly wise.
The thing that has distinguished America regarding immigration is that all TRUE immigrants have assimilated into our culture while keeping their own identity (and giving us good food!)
Seriously............this is harmful to the Mexicans coming in. They will be hopeless without a facility to speak in English.
I know that there are some THIRD generation Mexicans who still can't speak English well. That would be like my still speaking Swedish. It's unthinkable! And it's taken a long time for this to happen. There's no overnight fix.
I think we're all on a roll on this thread. I hope somebody special is lurking.
Even though you and I have disagreed stringently on many matters I don't believe we have ever flamed each other when trying to get our points across. Here are my thoughts on the subject.
I think that any agreement that excludes and Israeli type fence is a no starter. Troops on the border now can be removed by the next administration, we need a fixed fortification that politicians can't mess with. Have you seen the thing? It is so tall that ten cars can be stacked on top of each other and they still will not reach the top.
It has censors to detect tunneling and attempts to blow it, hammer it, or climb over it. It has watch towers at even spaces, each equipped with electronic surveillance equipment, including all of the above.
And while Germany railed against the fence at the U.N. they promptly hired the Israeli contractors to establish the same barrier between them and the Balkans and other nations are looking into the feasibility of it for their nations.
Has it worked? Yes it has, terrorists attacks on Israel have declined dramatically and the terrorists have been reduced to exposing themselves to destruction by firing rockets into Israel.
We can't kick every illegal out that's not only impossible but irresponsible. They are only partly to blame for being here illegally when they received so many invitations to come from our government and business.
But the militant Azalaners, MS13, those soaking the Welfare System, those without jobs that hang out on parking lots, those whose main love and loyalty belong to Mexico, those who commit criminal acts need to go home.
That would cover two to three million deportations. We don't want to live with the Balkanization these elements bring to our country no matter which nation they originated from.
I live next door to an illegal family, they are fine people, good neighbors who have offered expressions of sympathy and help when my husband died. My son has pretty much grown up with their daughter Crystal. A good girl and a fine student. She and her siblings are the only ones in the family to speak English, Dad is a little better at it than the mother who speaks no English but we get our points across to each other without language by smiles, waves, and attempts at communication.
The down side is that as a landscape foreman he gets paid under the table in a job that an American could and would do for a slightly better salary. These neighbors are always working on making their home beautiful and making sure it is kept up, the hammers are always going.
Were I do enjoy that same benefit of skipping taxes, I might be able to replace my leaky roof, my old fence. But I can't because the rules are so different for me than for his family.
The most major, the most extreme measure that would guarantee no benefit to scum politician is that these people who came here illegally, should never be afforded nor attain the title "citizen". Not even my nice neighbors next door deserve the title Citizen because of the laws they broke entering here. They may have been offered the invitation to break the law, it was a personal choice to except the invitation.
This lack of ability for them and their children to attain the title Citizen removes the gold ring that the Political Parties hope to grab in the form of votes.
Even legal immigrants should not be allowed to vote until after ten years of citizenship. When politicians see that their dream of gaining vote advantage in an almost 50/50 split nation, their talk of poor families longing to be free and doing the jobs Americans won't do will not spill from their lying lips as often. We need to get very tough and have long mandatory prison time for executives and administrators of the Border Patrol and any other government agency that instates policies that work directly against the purpose of that government agency. Thanks for the opportunity to vent I feel like a cup of coffee now.
There's a long thread about it somewhere around. If I run across it I'll let you know.
God bless you, ohioWfan. What a wonderful and timely idea! I'm late seeing your thread so I'll have to catch up by reading it all and see if folks took a good idea and ran with it. Here's hoping.... :)
A preview of life in CA, I'm afraid.
Good post. Unfortunately accurate.
Some apartment complexes in HOuston back then had an negative profit steam (the operational expenses were higher than the revenue stream) before debt service, and were torn down.
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