Posted on 05/24/2006 8:44:08 PM PDT by La Enchiladita
BOAZ - Lewis Lee, an immigrant from Northern Ireland, says he isn't a racist. He doesn't have anything against Hispanics.
But since they are the immigrant group in the news today, there is one word Lee would add to the national discussion.
"With these Mexicans, the country is happy to ignore the law and let companies ignore the law," Lee said last week. "It's very unfair."
Lee, 57, is speaking out as the debate on changing America's immigration law reaches a key moment. The U.S. Senate could pass its version of reform this week, setting up a final reconciliation with House legislation passed late last year.
Generally, the House favors a harder line on immigrants in this country illegally and an emphasis on border control. There is more support in the Senate for allowing an easier path to U.S. citizenship for millions of mostly Hispanic illegals working here now.
Lee has been in America since Nov. 7 of last year. He applied for permanent legal residency in April 2005, so the process took about eight months. It cost about $1,300. Three years from the day he became a legal permanent resident, he is eligible to apply for American citizenship, which he plans to do.
Lee has no real complaints about the process he went through.
"I was in the military and police in Northern Ireland," he said last week. "I had no felonies, no health problems. I was squeaky clean."
Lee, also a former truck driver, faced a detailed "vetting process looking for any felonies or illnesses that would have made me a drain on the economy or the U.S. welfare system."
Lee has a monthly pension from his career as an Irish police officer. American immigration officials liked that, he said.
So, Lee and his wife, Lori, an American citizen, arrived in Boaz last November. They chose Alabama by searching the Internet for the cheapest places to live in America. "The South seemed to be best," Lee said.
The first task was finding a job. Driving a truck - a job he'd done in Ireland - seemed a good bet. "I knew I'd have to get used to driving on the right side of the road," he said.
"Most (truck-driving) schools guarantee you a job when you graduate," Lee said. "When they found out I was a permanent resident (but not a U.S. national), they couldn't guarantee me one. In post 9/11 security rules, some companies wouldn't take me."
And, American citizens are not the only galled by favoritism being proposed for Hispanic illegals only.
But the Ignorant, uneducated peasant will work for lower wages and can be more easily manipulated.
That's, evidently, what Bush and the Senate want. Bush and the open border Republicans care more about cheap labor than borders or nationhood. The Democrats see hordes of stupid peasants to add to the entitlement plantation.
An eay prediction for the WH & Senate
Voluntary tax compliance rates will tank
DC & Mexico wrote the rules
DC & Mexico can reap the whirlwind
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Yes Ginsberg - it would "prudent" to head south
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And you didn't post your little Ginsberg!
Good post La Enchiladita!
Of course, that doesn't stop moronic Anglo HR managers from asking her if she would "take off for immigration protests."
"He applied for permanent legal residency in April 2005, so the process took about eight months. It cost about $1,300. "
It bugs me that they are calling the $2,000 fee for amensty/legalization a 'fine' or even 'significant fine', when in fact, it is little more than a processing fee charge.
Thanks for a data point that confirms the skepticism and cynicism.
Too bad the guy didn't try passing for Muslim in Missouri.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1573558/posts
That racket may be on the way out though...provided the FBI does its' job.
He should have just come in, overstayed his visa, and taken the upcoming amnesty like any normal 'immigrant'.
Here since 2001 on H1b visas, they both are employed and pay local, state & federal taxes.
The nursing home employing my friend's wife, the RN, is desperate to keep her and is contacting the local congresscritter's office plus lawyers.
Meanwhile millions of Mexicans and Central Americans stream happily across the border, completely illegally, completely unhindered.
I suspect this guy speaks for every would-be American on planet earth who's forced to play by the rules and wait for years for his/her turn in the INS quota. Every single one who cheats is displacing an honest one who waits.
They even wanted police records for every place she lived for my 90 year old mother....mum don't have a driving licence much less a police record.
Needless to say her bag was searched at the airport.
Fox has been touring our state today.....I'd like to ask him if he'll open his southern border like he wants our border open....
this stuff has got to stop.....
that, or we need a rabid bunch of breeders putting us on even ground....
Our government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington, and they tracked her calves to their stalls.
But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give them all a cow.
This is it, cherry!
As if what the Senate is proposing isn't bad enough, there is specific favoritism towards giving Hispanic illegals only a "pathway to citizenship."
Ping!
Thanks for pinging the "peeps." I got busy elsewhere...ahem.
So, tax compliance on the decline...hmmm, not a bad idea.
In fact, one of the best!
Great responses, all. The unfairness is infuriating, not to mention the out and out hypocrisy of our so-called lawmakers.
Oh, BTW, check the USCIS site to see who is heading up the agency these days...
http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/newsrels/RCM_050306PR.pdf
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